Drinking during pregnancy harms 7,000 babies per year

Drinking during pregnancy causes more harm to the unborn child than tobacco smoke or cannabis, according to senior doctors. They want Government guidelines to be changed to tell women to avoid alcohol altogether rather than once or twice a week. Paediatricians - who specialise in the care of children - say as many as 1 per cent of babies born in England suffer behavioural or developmental problems due to alcohol exposure. There are 730,000 births in this country a year meaning as many as 7,000 could be affected. One consultant said that if women must have one bad habit while pregnant, it would be safer to smoke tobacco or cannabis than drink alcohol. Dr Neil Aiton, a paediatrician at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: ‘If it is a choice between a drink, a smoke or a spliff then ‘don’t drink’, would be my recommendation. ‘We have firm evidence that drinking alcohol regularly is damaging. ‘Cigarettes cause babies to be born a bit on the smaller side. ‘There is other evidence but it is minor compared to the long-term neurological and psychological damage that alcohol causes to the nervous system.’ Doctors are calling for government advice to be changed to state that women should not drink alcohol at all either while pregnant or trying to conceive. The current guidelines state that women should avoid it - but if they do choose to drink to limit it to one or two units a week. But there are concerns this is misinterpreted by women who assume they can safely have one or two glasses of wine once or twice a week. A large 250ml glass of wine contains about three units of alcohol and doctors say that women are unwittingly putting their foetuses at risk. Baroness Sheila Hollins, head of the British Medical Association Board of Science, said: ‘That is quite difficult advice to follow. People don’t know what a unit is. 'The BMA’s advice would be that the elimination of drinking during pregnancy is safest because of the uncertainties of drinking at low to moderate levels.’ The chief medical officer for England Professor Dame Sallie Davies is currently reviewing the guidelines and may change them later this year. Dr Raja Mukherjee runs for a clinic children and adults with foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs), a range of symptoms caused by alcohol damage in the womb, which is part of the NHS She says that although many children are diagnosed as having foetal alcohol syndrome - which has clear physical characteristics - foetal alcohol spectrum disorders are rarely picked up. Her clinic estimates that between 1 per and 3 per of the population is affected by FASDs but many grow up unaware of the cause of their condition. Article: 26th January 2013 www.dailymail.co.uk

What women don't know about their fertility

As surprising as it seems, about half of women of reproductive age have not talked to their health care provider about their reproductive health, according to a new study. As a result, the researchers, from the Yale School of Medicine, found that women between ages 18 and 40 weren’t aware of some the important factors that influence fertility and their ability to get pregnant, as well as about basic prenatal practices once they were expecting. Among the most notable findings, which were published in the journal, Fertility & Sterility : •30% of the women reported that they only visited a reproductive health provider less than once a year or not at all. •50% of the women did not know that taking multivitamins and folic acid are recommended to avoid birth defects. •A little over 25% of women did not know that things like STDs, smoking and obesity impact fertility. •20% did not know that aging can impact fertility and increase rates of miscarriage •50% of the women thought that having sex multiple times in a day increased their likelihood of getting pregnant •Over 33% of women thought that different sex positions can increase their odds of getting pregnant •10% did not know that they should have sex before ovulation to increase the chances of getting pregnant instead of after ovulation The significant gaps in the women’s knowledge about their fertility may also explain why 40% reported that they had concerns and questions about their ability to get pregnant. The researchers believe that as women put off starting families — the latest CDC report showed women between 25 to 29 years old have the highest pregnancy rates, compared to women aged 20 to 24 in earlier years — doctors, particularly reproductive health specialists, should have more opportunity for improving women’s education about fertility and pregnancy so they know what to expect when they are finally ready to have a child. Article: 27th January 2013 www.healthland.time.com Read more about fertility at www.prideangel.com

Gay and lesbian married couples in legal limbo in Utah USA

A federal judge’s decision to overturn Utah’s same-sex marriage ban allowed Matthew Barraza and Tony Milner to do more than just get married. It opened the door for Milner to become legally recognized as the parent of their 4-year-old son. The couple moved quickly to get adoption paperwork started so that Jesse, their blue-eyed, cowboy-boot-wearing little boy, could have both of his parents recognized, not just Barraza. But those plans were frozen after the U.S. Supreme Court brought gay marriages to a halt and Utah Gov. Gary Herbert instructed state agencies to stop granting gay and lesbian couples new benefits. Now, Barraza and Milner are among hundreds of newly married gay and lesbian couples in Utah stuck in legal limbo. The couple is one of four in a new lawsuit filed Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union suing Utah over its decision not to recognize the gay marriages, which the ACLU claims has created wrenching uncertainty. The state’s decision prevents the couples from getting key protections for themselves and their children, the lawsuit says. “Heaven forbid, if something should happen to one us, Jesse would have the security of having the other parent take care of him,” said Milner, 34. “Now, because of the state’s refusal to recognize our marriage, this peace of mind is once again out of reach.” The other couples in the lawsuit cited a range of concerns that include emergency medical decision-making and health insurance. Marty Carpenter, the Utah governor’s spokesman, responded by saying that Herbert “has said throughout this process that his responsibility is to follow the law. That is exactly what the administration is doing, and we respect the rights of those who disagree to take their grievances before a judge.” More than 1,000 gay and lesbian couples rushed to marry after a federal judge in Utah overturned the state’s same-sex marriage ban on Dec. 20. U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ruled that the ban violates gay and lesbian couples’ constitutional rights. Those weddings came to a halt on Jan. 6 when the U.S. Supreme Court granted Utah an emergency stay, something two lower courts denied. After the Supreme Court issued the stay, Herbert told state agencies to hold off on moving forward with any new benefits for the couples until the courts resolve the issue. Agencies were told not to revoke anything already issued, such as a driver’s license with a new name, but they are prohibited from approving any new marriages or benefits. More recently, the state tax commission announced that newly married gay and lesbian couples can jointly file their taxes for 2013. The state made clear it was not ordering agencies to void the marriages, saying instead that validity of the marriages will ultimately be decided by the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is weighing an appeal from the state. John Mejia, legal director for the ACLU in Utah, disagreed with that assessment, saying the marriages performed during the 17-day window when gay marriage was legal are valid no matter what the court rules. He said the couples have vested rights in their new unions and should be able to move forward with efforts to make partners legal guardians of children or add their spouses to their health insurance or pension plans. It could take more than a year for the courts to rule on Utah’s same-sex marriage ban, especially if it moves to the U.S. Supreme Court, Mejia said. “They’ve put a giant question mark over the lives of all these people that have married,” Mejia said. “We’re seeking a declaration that these valid marriages must be recognized.” Utah has 20 days to file a court response to the suit, said Salt Lake City attorney Erik Strindberg, who is working with the ACLU on the lawsuit. The state could ask a Utah judge to put the case on hold until the federal appeals court rules, Strindberg said. But the ACLU would fight such a request, he said. The ACLU believes the federal government has taken the correct stance on the new marriages. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder came out days after Herbert’s decree and said the federal government will honor the gay marriages and grant benefits. That means that same-sex couples who were married in Utah can file federal taxes jointly, get Social Security benefits for spouses and request legal immigration status for partners, among other benefits. There are currently 17 states that allow gay marriage, with Utah and Oklahoma in limbo pending decisions by appeals courts. Article: 22nd January 2013 www.washingtonpost.com

Friends who met at college discover they have the same sperm donor father

Mikayla told the Tulane Hullabaloo that she first made contact with Emily last summer while searching for a possible roommate on Facebook. 'There was an online survey, and we were both interested in Wall [Residential College],' Mikayla said. 'I was looking at the survey, and I was looking at Emily’s answers and I saw that we had a lot in common.' By then, Emily had already secured a roommate but the two continued to talk and became fast friends when they met in person on the New Orleans, Louisiana campus this fall. Both quickly figured out that they were conceived by a donation from an anonymous donor. But neither thought much of it, even when they figured out that both of their donors were Colombian. Mikayla's lesbian mothers Heidi and Debra Stern-Ellis used an anonymous sperm donor to have their daughter two decades ago. When the girls went home for winter break, Mikayla told her moms about her new friend with whom she had so much in common. Mikayla's mother Heidi remembers looking through the donor list two decades ago and while there were some 1,000 donors on the list, she doesn't remember any others with Colombian ethnicity. After seeing pictures of Emily, and remarking on how much she looked like her own daughter, she told Mikayla to text the girl asking for the sperm donor's number. Emily sent the number and it was a match, completely taking the two girls by surprise since they had been joking to schoolmates that there was a '25 per cent chance we're sisters'. Following the life-changing realization, the interests the girls shared before make much more sense. Both will perform in Tulane's upcoming production of the Vagina Monologues which means they may be taking after their father who listed drama as one of his interests on his donor profile. They also share the same mind when it comes to fashion, both buying the same fleece sweater without the other one knowing on Black Friday. For Mikayla, finding her half-sister in a college friend is proof that she's at the right school. 'For me Tulane just felt right, and this is one of the many things that proves I made the right decision,' Mikayla Stern-Ellis said. 'We thought [going to Tulane] she’d just find an education, but she found a sister,' mother Debra Stern-Ellis said. The two have since changed their Facebook profile pictures to an image of them hugging. After posting the picture on her profile, Mikayla wrote: 'An invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, and circumstance.' Article: 21st January 2013 www.dailymail.co.uk

Woman feels deprived of the identity of her sperm donor dad

The film Delivery Man, about a sperm donor who unwittingly fathers more than 500 children, has been panned by the critics. Its cloying sentimentality, clumsy symbolism and implausible plot certainly grate; but for me, as a donor-conceived adult, it is important that the feelings of people like me have been brought to light. In the film, the donor's offspring get their happy ending: a warm and loving relationship with their biological father (and plenty of hugs, shared sunsets and burger-flipping opportunities too). In the UK, the reality is that donor-conceived people born before 2005 have no right to know the identity of their donor. All I know about my father is that, one day in August 1971, he went into an office in Harley Street, masturbated into a bottle, was paid and left. In all probability that is all I will ever know. Not for me the chance of asking for his details, as would be the case if I were adopted. The doctor who facilitated my conception is now dead, and in any case he claimed, when contacted years ago, that all his records had been destroyed. My mother's husband was infertile. I called him "Dad" for 15 years, until I discovered by chance that my two siblings and I were donor-conceived. "Donor-conceived" is a clumsy term, because, in relation to me, the man in the clinic was not a donor. He gave something to my mother, but nothing – less than nothing – to me. He is, or was, my father, but by co-operating with my artificial conception, he deprived me forever of the possibility of knowing him. I do not know his name, what he looks like, what his personality is, what his voice sounds like. I do not know my paternal grandparents, my aunts and uncles, my cousins. I did not know, until I lost it, how much my sense of identity was rooted in my knowledge of who my parents were. Incidentally, discovering I was donor-conceived was in many ways a relief, since by that point "Dad" had been imprisoned for indecent assault of a child; but even though I was liberated from a genetic link with him, I was also cast adrift from who I thought I was, and from all the stories that make up a family's sense of identity. My sense of exile was all the more acute because, ironically, I had spent several years researching my family tree. It turned out that I had nothing to do with those illiterate peasants in Leicestershire after all. The peculiar thing about donor conception is that on the one hand it privileges genetics: the fertile partner gets to be a real, biological parent. On the other hand, it says that genetics do not matter for the other half of the gametes, and that as long as a child is "wanted", he will have everything he needs. Unfortunately, that is not true. I do not have a relationship with my father, and not just because of my mother's husband's criminality; I do not have a father because my mother, with the help of the medical establishment (and the law) deliberately deprived me of one. My mother claimed that her infertile husband was my father, so my birth certificate perpetuates a lie. Until I was married, my non-father was my next of kin. I do not have a father, or the sense of identity that goes with one. I do not have any knowledge of half of my roots, my father, my medical history … so every time a doctor asks me, "Any family history of …?" I have to tell them I do not, and cannot, know. And this deprivation, though diluted for my children, persists for them too. When my youngest daughter was diagnosed with cancer at one year old, I wondered whether this was another unthought-of consequence of the casual trade in gametes 40 years ago. My mother was assured, I presume, that only healthy young men were used. Certainly things were different in those days. My mother told no one of our origins, and planned never to tell her children either. She insisted on family likenesses to a degree that is embarrassing in hindsight. I suppose this shows that she knew that origins mattered, even though ours were based on a falsehood. Nowadays it is deemed to be an acceptable lifestyle choice for a woman to choose to have a baby using donor sperm, whether or not the baby will have even a semblance of a father figure. Birth certificates can even legally ratify the fantasy that a baby can have two women – or two men – as her two parents. Apparently it is enough for someone to want a child: that wish demands to be fulfilled, with scant regard for what the child might be deprived of. I, and others like me, beg to differ. There is no Hollywood happy ending in sight for us. Article: 16th January 2013 www.theguardian.com

Court delays wife's request to retrieve sperm from husband in coma

The High Court has suspended an emergency order authorising sperm to be collected from a man in a coma. The man unexpectedly suffered a cardiac arrest late last year, which put him in a vegetative state from which he was unlikely to recover. An application was made by his partner to a High Court judge on an emergency basis by telephone on Christmas Eve. She sought permission to retrieve and store his sperm to allow her to conceive his child through fertility treatment in the UK or abroad. She says they planned a family together, and that this is what he would have wanted if he could consent. The court initially ordered that she could harvest his sperm. However, the man’s condition has since improved and he is no longer in any immediate danger. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (which oversees fertility treatment in the UK, including the law on consent to the storage and use of sperm in fertility treatment) therefore applied this week for the order to be re-considered. Mrs Justice Carr has now ruled that, as the man is no longer in immediate danger of dying, more time should be taken to consider things carefully, and the case should be heard over two days in February, addressing first and foremost what is in the man’s best interests. She said that if his condition worsens, his partner can apply for another emergency decision. We will continue to watch the case with interest. It follows two previous decisons of the High Court (including the well known Diane Blood case) allowing widows who had already collected sperm from their husbands in similar circumstances to export that sperm abroad to allow treatment. However, this is the first case to rule on consent to sperm retrieval. Since these rules are separate from those concerning the use of stored sperm, this will be an important case. There is more information about gamete storage and consent on our website.

Best friends became brothers in our new gay family

Some of those fighting marriage equality these days, want you to believe that there is only a single possible right way to create a “real” family. The way they suggest is by means of unprotected, unplanned, procreative sex. Or, as Nan Hunter observes, “accidental procreation” which then warrants 1500 protections and benefits by means of a “bribe (for) heterosexuals “ to get married. Only the biologically created family deserves marriage, they argue, and all the rewards to stay together. The notion is insulting and absurd, not only for same sex coupled families, but for opposite sex families as well. Real families come together in a variety of ways, the best of which is when all the members love each other and deeply desire a lifetime bond. That is what happened in my family. My partner and I had pursued various options to expanding our family beyond the two of us. We explored surrogacy, and we explored private adoption. All potential routes to family have pitfalls. As we were going through our evaluation process, I remember discussing the options with a total stranger at an airport. She saw me pouring through literature and shared stories of her numerous miscarriage heartbreaks on her way to having a family. “Whichever way you choose, just know it can be hard, but it will be OK and worth it,” she stated as we said goodbye. My partner and I ultimately chose fostercare/adoption. Having come from recovery experiences ourselves, it was a great fit. We understood the situations of the birthparents without judgment, and we understood the real need of the children as well as the obstacles they might face. We committed, trained and waited for the call for a placement. We got numerous calls for toddlers on temporary care. Those were great experiences. Then, we got a call about a newborn baby, born six weeks prematurely to a heroin addicted mother. He weighted 4 lbs, and had heroin exposure himself. He was to be ours for the foreseeable future. I carried him on a sling on my chest for the next few months. We had to make sure he got a sufficient amount of nourishment in each feeding to avoid brain damage as we went through the process of supporting his birth parents through possible reunification. When those efforts failed, we went on to full adoption. We named the baby, now ours, Jason. As Jason passed his one year birthday, we opened up our home for the potential of adding a sibling. We got a placement. She was a beautiful baby girl, and she looked just like Jason did when he was a newborn. We had warm feelings to keep her, but were equally enthused that her birth mother was responding well to the recovery program. We supported that momentum and looked forward to a safe mother and daughter reunion. Meanwhile, good friends of ours, another foster family, had a 10 month old little boy placed with them. He had been discovered abandoned in a trailer. My partner often did play dates with them, and the little boy in their care and our son Jason became very close and attached. They seemed to speak a common language, playing well together. My partner called me at work one day, “You have to come see this little boy and how he and Jason are. I told the other family that if anything was a problem with their placement, to let us know and we would love to take him.” I was alright with this, but a little guarded as our plan had been to have a boy and a girl—not two boys. Plans change and life takes over. When I got home that evening, the play date was still going on. I will never forget the moment that I first saw Jesse. He was crawling around the corner headed toward the dishwasher as I was headed the other way… and we locked eyes. It was one of the most profound moments of my life. Here I was with direct eye contact with this toddler and the look between us said it all… “Hi Dad, I am your son. Hi Jesse, I am going to be your Dad.” A week later, it happened. The fostermom called and asked if we were serious about our offer. It turns out that her family had to move into very tight quarters temporarily and she was much better equipped to care for the baby we were nursing, than Jesse, the rough and tumble toddler . So, we called the authorities, and made the switch. Jason and Jesse, new best friends, were now on the way to potentially becoming brothers. I was worried however, being the working Dad, that I might not get to bond with Jesse as I had with Jason. I did not get to carry him on me for months, and saw him in the mornings before I left for work, and in time for a kiss goodnight when I returned. He was exposed to my partner, other fostercare providers and others more than he was seeing me. I wish I could say that road to brotherhood was trouble free. It was not. Jesse was still on a unification plan with a birth parent, and it looked like things in that regard might be successful, until one horrible weekend. Jesse came back from an overnight visit battered and bruised. We called the social worker immediately and the reunification attempts were closed. I slept by his crib for the next two weeks, and although he was normally a through-the –night sleeper, he awoke nightly screaming and crying. Controlling my own anger and pain, I grabbed him and held him, as nightly the reaction grew less and less until he was again able to sleep through the night. I don’t know if being there for him in that way was the factor, but our bonding was not an issue. As he has grown, we are lock step and almost able to read each other’s minds. As I look at my sons, I am filled with the awareness of a love for each that I could never fathom in my wildest imagination previously. The love I have for each is unique, each powerful in its own right, but its own “color” if you will. Jason is the son of my heart, Jesse is the son of my soul. Today they act as twins. Since he is physically bigger, they have decided that Jesse is the “big brother”. Since he was born four months earlier, Jason has been dubbed, by mutual consent, as the “older brother”. We do not have a “little brother” in the family. That is how two little best friends became brothers. It is how my gay family came together. We have a unique story, but we are not unique. All same-gendered parent families have a story. While my friend at the airport was right, “all ways can be hard”, all ways can also be miraculous, loving and intensely wonderful. How our families come together is being judged today, and in the next few months. It will be judged by the US Supreme Court. Our families are likely to be judged long after that as well, no matter what the results. And, no matter what the judgments on our value, I will always know the truth. I know how thoroughly REAL we are. I live it and I have seen it. I saw it as I looked into a little boy’s eyes for the first time in front of a dishwasher. Article: 15th January 2014 www.goodmenproject.com

Pride Angel Journey | One less pregnant lesbian, one more lesbian family

Another contraction. I crawled out of bed. When Sally found me, I was on the bathroom floor, doubled over as one nauseating contraction followed another. She phoned the birth centre, and after ten minutes, someone finally answered, by which time I was vomiting. I had been dreading the ten-minute, knee-to-ear backseat Yaris journey to the hospital but, despite three contractions, sick-bucket to hand, out in the cool of the night-time air, I felt a sort of purposeful excitement. And then horribly self-conscious as I hobbled through the main-entrance of the hospital in my pyjama bottoms, Bagpuss wheatpack clenched to my abdomen, Tens machine wires trailing. Suddenly it was all an episode of ‘One-Born-Every-Minute’; the next clip would be the pregnant lesbian being ushered back out again past a crowd of onlookers, in disgrace over inadequate dilation. But the corridors were dimly-lit and deserted. In the soft lights and quiet of the night, the birth-centre was even more spa-like than we had remembered. I located a coffee table over which to contract while the midwife went off to get a birthing ball. The mood was of excited relief – we’d been determined to avoid the labour ward and, while transfer due to complications was not out of the question, now my bath was running, surely they’d let me stay? Initially, I refused to be examined, for fear of being sent home again, but with a little persuasion from our midwife, I relented – eight centimetres dilated already; only two to go. Lowering myself gingerly into the pool, I felt the relaxing effects of the water. I knelt, leaning on the side where Sally held my hands. And the contractions continued. I tried gas and air, which didn’t seem to have much effect, but it gave me something to focus on. Having brought with us enough food to feed a small village, Sally was munching on ‘Thai Bites’, the smell of which I will always associate with the later stages of labour. At some point, things reached a peak – transition – and sometime afterwards, I was pushing, kicking my legs back through the water with the exertion. The presence of our midwife was reassuring – he hovered, sometimes just watchful in the shadows of the room, sometimes offering encouragement, checking progress with a mirror in the water. I remember a point where I wanted to ask “how much longer?”, but didn’t. And then after one of the pushes there was a release, and suddenly my insides were stilled; it was over. The midwife was passing me the slippery warmth of a baby and it was already incredible that it was this that had been inside me, this creature, this tiny girl, so real and wriggling and wholly new. Article: by Lindsey, West Yorkshire 14th January 2013

Eating red meat and pork may improve your fertility

Nutrients found in red meat play an important role in fertility levels and the general health of women and men planning a pregnancy, says an expert. The intake of red meat and pork can make a difference, reports femalefirst.co.uk. "Red meat is often associated with fertility in so-called 'old wives' tales' and has been traditionally encouraged in the diets of couples trying for a baby. Now we know from scientific research that the nutrients found in red meat really do have a role in normal fertility," said Carrie Ruxton from the Meat Advisory Panel. The Meat Advisory Panel is a group of healthcare professionals who provide independent and objective information about red meat. Most adults across the globe have chronically low intakes of selenium due to poor levels in soil. Hence, numerous reports implicate selenium deficiency in several reproductive complications including male and female infertility, miscarriage, preeclampsia, foetal growth restriction, preterm labour, gestational diabetes and obstetric cholestasis. Pork is an excellent source of selenium and can, therefore, go some way to boosting selenium levels in adults, thus supporting normal reproduction. Vitamin B6 is one of the most important vitamins for conceiving and fertility because it contributes to the regulation of normal hormonal activity. Again, red meat is a rich source of Vitamin B6. "The Government recommends that adults eat up to 500 gm of cooked red meat a week which gives the opportunity for four to five meat meals a week, including pork, ham, beef, lamb and bacon," added Ruxton. Article: 11th January 2013 www.dnaindia.com

Baby outcomes and birth risks revealed in IVF study

The study, which compared the outcomes of hundreds of thousands of births, looked at the risk of stillbirth, low birth weight, premature birth and infant death. Both traditional IVF, involving fertilisation in a glass dish, and the injection of sperm directly into eggs increased the chances of complications, the Australian researchers found. But a leading British fertility expert stressed that many of the problems may be related to patients' infertility rather than IVF treatment. Scientists from the University of Adelaide studied 17 years of data from more than 300,000 births in South Australia, of which 4,300 were the result of assisted reproduction. All forms of available fertility treatment were assessed, including traditional In-Vitro Fertilisation, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (Icsi) - injecting sperm straight into eggs - ovulation induction, and freezing embryos. "Compared with spontaneous conceptions in couples with no record of infertility, singleton babies from assisted conception were almost twice as likely to be stillborn, more than twice as likely to be pre-term, almost three times as likely to have very low birth weight, and twice as likely to die within the first 28 days of birth," said study leader Professor Michael Davies, from the University of Adelaide's Robinson Institute. "These outcomes varied depending on the type of assisted conception used. Very low and low birth weight, very pre-term and pre-term birth, and neonatal death (infant death) were markedly more common in births from IVF and, to a lesser degree, in births from Icsi. "Using frozen embryos eliminated all significant adverse outcomes associated with Icsi but not with IVF. However, frozen embryos were also associated with increased risk of macrosomia (big baby syndrome) for IVF and Icsi babies." Significantly, the study also looked at birth outcomes for women who found it hard to get pregnant but never received intensive fertility treatment. Their chances of experiencing complications were much higher than average. "Women in this group who eventually conceived without the help of invasive assisted reproduction gave birth to babies who were nine times more likely to have very low birth weight, seven times more likely to be very pre-term, and almost seven times more likely to die within the first 28 days of birth," said Prof Davies. "This may be due to the underlying medical conditions related to their infertility, or the use of fertility medications or therapies that are not recorded." Fertility expert Dr Dagan Wells, from Oxford University, said this finding indicated that fertility treatment may not be to blame for the higher risk of birth problems seen in patients. "Perhaps the most striking finding is that rates of prematurity, low birth-weight and infant death were highest of all for couples who had a fertility problem but eventually succeeded in conceiving without the help of IVF," said Dr Wells. "This suggests that the problems seen for babies born after IVF may be related to the patient's infertility rather than the treatment itself. In fact, for couples with reduced fertility, IVF seemed to lessen these risks compared to natural conception." He added: "It is very important that patients are provided with useful information concerning the risks as well as the benefits of any medical interventions they might undertake so that they can make an informed decision about whether a given procedure is right for them. "Although this study suggests that some adverse outcomes are higher in pregnancies conceived using IVF, it is important to understand that the overall risk of these problems remains low. As such, I doubt these findings will deter many infertile couples from using IVF." Sheena Lewis, professor of reproductive medicine at Queen's University, Belfast, agreed. She said: " We have known for some time that couples conceiving spontaneously after a period of infertility have poorer outcomes. This indicates that these problems may come from the disease rather than the fertility treatment. "Also a very positive finding in this study is that the use of frozen embryos eliminates all the adverse outcomes following Icsi. Freezing embryos is a routine procedure in fertility clinics and may be a useful option for those couples concerned about these findings." The research is published in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE. Article: 9th January 2013 www.telegraph.co.uk Read more about alternatives to IVF at www.prideangel.com

Charlie Condou talks about leaving Coronation street and being a gay dad

The 40-year-old is best known for playing sonographer Marcus Dent, who has had a turbulent relationship with Coronation Street’s other main gay character, Sean Tully, played by Antony Cotton. After a three year absence, Charlie’s character was made more prominent following his return to Coronation Street in March 2011. Although he is leaving the show for a second time, Charlie says he initially only planned to return on a three-month contract. The current decision to place his character in a heterosexual relationship with Maria Connor has been the subject of much controversy. Speaking to PinkNews.co.uk from a sedate coffee shop close to his home in Islington, north London, with his two-year-old son, Hal, quietly napping in a pram, Charlie is keen to defend the storyline and says: “When they came to me with that storyline, the producer who was gay said ‘we’ve had this idea. We want to look at what happens when a gay man who is completely comfortable with his sexuality, knows who he is, falls in love with a woman, and he will continue to identify as gay; he will be a gay man, he will be very clear about that, but he’s fallen in love with a woman’.” Charlie goes on to say: “And I know that the producer was good friends with Russell T Davis, and they had a friend who was a gay man who had done that and they had made the series Bob and Rose, based on the guy. I am aware that it does happen and I was interested. I have said this before, but if Coronation Street had come to me with that storyline ten years ago, I don’t think I would have been comfortable doing it because I don’t think it would have been giving the right message if you like, if that’s our job in soaps. “But I really do think we have moved on from that and I don’t think people are stupid anymore and I don’t think that they would see Marcus falling for Maria and think ‘he just needed the love of a good woman’, that’s not what we were saying in the storyline at all. We just wanted to explore it. In terms from a dramatic point of view it’s certainly not been done before. Marcus has also said that he doesn’t even consider himself bisexual, if he wasn’t with Maria he would be with a man, he’s very clear about that, and of course it’s soap, it’s never going to end well.” According to Radio Times, show executives have promised that Marcus’s involvement with Todd Grimshaw will “divide the residents of Coronation Street”. With a large hint that Marcus’s relationship with Maria is heading for the cliff, Charlie tells PinkNews.co.uk: “Of course at some point he was going to end up with a man again of course he was. So I was interested in looking at what happens and how to play that out. I’ve been quite behind the storyline, I know a lot of the gay community doesn’t feel the same way because Marcus was considered a positive role model, I totally get that, but I don’t know, sometimes I think people’s sexuality can be complicated and the storyline is may be just a sense of that.” When asked by PinkNews.co.uk if he would have considered staying in Coronation Street if his character had been given greater prominence, Charlie replies: “Possibly yeah, I mean you never know. It’s definitely true to say I’ve had a quiet year there and perhaps if I hadn’t, if I had been really busy I would have felt differently, but that’s the way it goes in soaps. Characters go through ups and downs, sometimes they focus on one set of characters for a period of time and then they move off and focus on others. It’s like that for everyone there but for me I was just getting a bit frustrated and it wasn’t worth being away from the kids just to be ordering a pint in The Rovers every now and again.” Once he leaves Coronation Street this summer, Charlie says being able to spend more time with his family in London is one of the things he is most looking forward too. The regular periods away in Manchester have been particularly hard on his 4-year-old daughter, Georgia. His children mean the world to him, and from a young age, the actor reveals he always wanted to be a father. “Definitely. I had always wanted to be a dad since I was probably about 13. I suppose it is quite rare for gay people in the public eye, although it’s becoming more commonplace with people like Elton John and David Furnish obviously, Ricky Martin, Neil Patrick Harris, people like that are doing it now,” Charlie jokes to PinkNews.co.uk, “I like to think they all copied me.” The actor previously wrote a column for The Guardian about his experiences of being a gay parent with the aim of raising awareness. “I think that was part of the reason I decided to be quite vocal about it,” he says. “The reason I asked The Guardian for the column was because when I was growing up there weren’t any gay people that I knew that had kids and it was something that I struggled with. Read more ...

Mom of twins tells her infertility journey

It still startles me that people make babies with sex. Privately. Easily. Fast. Then there's a birth, and no one looks back. For me, like many women, conception was an agonized, un-caffeinated blur of escalating medical procedures, followed by a pregnancy that seemed to last not the actual 36 weeks, but rather the whole 36 months it took to get there. The physical and emotional strain of those years lingers on into motherhood, like an inner mark as real as my C-section scar. Strange as it sounds, I feel more changed by the trials of infertility than by the transition to parenting -- and that's saying something, with my toddler twin boys turning 2 this month. I still identify with infertility, as if it were a chip I'd been given in AA, though in AA, you can stay forever, whereas with the "TTC" community -- "trying to conceive," in online parlance -- you leave the minute you succeed. Parents of multiples flock together and offer tremendous support, both tactical and abstract, and many of the twin moms I know probably conceived like I did, with DNA mixed in dishes and delivered by needle. Nevertheless, issues of post-infertility stress aren't explicitly broached. Most twin parents practice prison code: you don't ask what anyone else did to get there. When I lived in TTC-land, I had a term for mothers prone to excess oversharing: vagina ladies. Into this category fell any woman who used Christmas parties to talk about the details of gory birth or tricky breastfeeding, while childless me wiggled one leg nervously at the dessert table, gobbling a Santa cookie. How much were you dilated? My nipples cracked and bled! Even before I knew the extent of my infertility, I didn't think that baby-driven hardships should be so defining. In reward for my foolish assumption, fate has deemed that I become a vagina lady myself. This is another odd dimension of my post-TTC existence -- becoming someone who would have once greatly annoyed me. I've got my double-wide stroller, the kind that used to make me shudder. Though I consider my twins a miracle, I like the miracle to sleep, and I sometimes complain when the miracle wears me out. Once, I would have considered this akin to whining about how my pile of money was so heavy it hurt my back to lift it. Read more ... Article: 5th January 2013 www.huffingtonpost.com Looking for a sperm or egg donor? search profiles at www.prideangel.com

Pride Angel Journey | Contractions

An observer - a fly on the wall, a bedbug, a balled cat with its engine purring - could have been forgiven for believing I'd taken up with some odd cult and was partaking in a nocturnal ritual as every twenty minutes I leapt out from under the covers and knelt on the floor, leaning on the edge of a bed scattered with crumbled bits of fresh lavender. I breathed heavily and as quietly as I could: Sally was sleeping peacefully, and I knew she was going to need every bit of kip she could get. We got up at about six o'clock to a sunny May Bank Holiday Saturday morning. I nibbled at a banana for breakfast, closing the curtains on the bright light from outside. I bounced on my birthing ball as we played a game of Simpsons chess (a terrifying world in which Homer is King). By 10.30am contractions were every 12 minutes according to the i-phone APP. The birth centre told us to come in when contractions had been every 3-5 minutes for two hours. I snuggled into my corner, a little den between the sofa, coffee table and birthing ball. Sally was doing her best to keep me fed and hydrated and I snacked on homemade cookies, cherry tomatoes, strawberries and rich tea biscuits. She was making the most of the sunshine at the other end of the room reading our latest parenting book, 'Babycalm', which in the following days and weeks would set us on a very particular lesbian parenting path. A friend texted and recommended I get some sleep, which seemed impossible, but strangely I found that in the short gaps between contractions, I could lay on the sofa under a blanket pressing my Bagpuss wheat-pack to my stomach and drift into a dreamy sleep state. Then I’d notice a stirring in my abdomen and would leap up, fumble for the booster button on the tens machine, grab a lavender-drenched tissue in one hand and a comb (for acupressure) in the other and throw myself over the birthing ball. By 3pm contractions were every 5-6 minutes but as the afternoon progressed, the gaps lengthened to every 8 minutes and then every 12-15 minutes. Soon after 8pm, disheartened and exhausted, we decided to go to bed to get some rest. Article: by Lindsey, West Yorkshire 3rd January 2013 Read more Lesbian parenting blogs at www.prideangel.com

Happy New Year 2014 - Free message credits!

To celebrate Pride Angel’s 5th New Year's celebration and as a thank you to all our members, we are giving free message credits to all those who login over the New Year Period. How to get your FREE message credits? Simply log back into Pride Angel or Register if you’re not a member during the New Year period: - Login on the 1st January 2012 to receive 5 free message credits For your free credits to be added to your account - just 'contact us' with the code PrideNewYear. Your free message credits will be added to your account within 24 hours of you contacting us. It’s also a great idea to update your profile regularly and make sure that all your ‘About you’ details are up to date! So take advantage and login or register now. Leave a lasting impression... It’s important to make sure that you are utilising all the tools available to you on the Pride Angel website in order to promote yourself to others. Here are some quick tips for improving your profile: - Update your ‘About You’ details: this is your opportunity to talk about your likes, dislikes, your values and interesting facts about you and your life – make sure you fill it in! - Complete your health questionnaire: this is an important part of a profile for people looking for potential donors, recipients and co-parents. Assure people who are viewing your profile that you have the all clear! - Add a current photograph: Let people see your face! It’s a common fact that people react to profiles with photographs so to increase your chances of a click through, add a recent photo! Login and update your profile now. For all those starting on the path to parenthood, we send our best wishes, and wish you happiness along your journey. All the best for the New Year Pride Angel Note: Free message credits will only be added to your account once and only if your account has been verified and you have contacted us through the 'contact us' form.