'We never gave up hope': Parents celebrate arrival of baby girl after spending £100,000 on EIGHT rounds of IVF
After spending tens of thousands of pounds over the best part of a decade on seven failed IVF courses, the experts were clear on one thing - Sarah Francis would never have a baby.
The judgement seemed even more clear-cut after she learned she had a rare condition which made her immune system attack any unborn child. But she and her husband Darren, 38, decided to try just one more time - bringing their total spend on treatments to £100,000 - and were rewarded with daughter Evie.
Today, as she hugged her precious child, Mrs Francis had an important message for other would-be parents faced with the same agonising process. 'We want other people going through the same thing to know there can be a happy ending. Just don't give up,' she said.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/c98gbo
Saturday, 31 July 2010
Friday, 30 July 2010
Does having children really make you happy?
As I turn the pages of our family photo albums, I see countless pictures of our children growing up.
Most of the shots capture moments of happiness or achievement: my daughters are laughing on care-free holidays under azure summer skies, or clutching a medal, holding a certificate, winning a race.
These albums, stored in a memory chest I have created for my family, are a record not just of my children's happiness and achievements, but my own as well. I love to look at the pictures of us, it's a sort of proof that I'm living the 'parental dream'. Or that's what I thought.
But now I'm being told that my parental happiness is a delusion and that my photo albums - like my parental memory bank - contain only the moments I have chosen to archive.
Mothers and fathers, according to the latest research by top scientists, simply choose to forget - or else don't admit to - all the other hideous stuff which makes us miserable on an almost daily basis; the tears, the tedium and the tantrums.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/bwX7pK
Most of the shots capture moments of happiness or achievement: my daughters are laughing on care-free holidays under azure summer skies, or clutching a medal, holding a certificate, winning a race.
These albums, stored in a memory chest I have created for my family, are a record not just of my children's happiness and achievements, but my own as well. I love to look at the pictures of us, it's a sort of proof that I'm living the 'parental dream'. Or that's what I thought.
But now I'm being told that my parental happiness is a delusion and that my photo albums - like my parental memory bank - contain only the moments I have chosen to archive.
Mothers and fathers, according to the latest research by top scientists, simply choose to forget - or else don't admit to - all the other hideous stuff which makes us miserable on an almost daily basis; the tears, the tedium and the tantrums.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/bwX7pK
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
How your personality effects when you choose to have children
A woman's personality can affect when she chooses to have her first child, according to a new study. The research found that traits such as 'conscientiousness' and 'openness' were associated with delaying motherhood, while more neurotic or extrovert women were more likely to have children young.
The study of over 16,000 mothers, by the Institute of Social and Economic Research, looked at the relationship between fertility, education and personality traits.
Researchers cross-referenced five different personality types - conscientious, neurotic, open, agreeable and extrovert - with the age at which the women had their first child.
Lara Tavares, the author of the study, said that the average educated woman had their first child two years later than her average less-educated counterpart - but analysis of personality traits could explain this timing gap more clearly.
'Personality traits influence both education and fertility decisions,' she said. 'More 'open-minded' people might be less vulnerable to the social pressure for having children.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/d1KW6T
The study of over 16,000 mothers, by the Institute of Social and Economic Research, looked at the relationship between fertility, education and personality traits.
Researchers cross-referenced five different personality types - conscientious, neurotic, open, agreeable and extrovert - with the age at which the women had their first child.
Lara Tavares, the author of the study, said that the average educated woman had their first child two years later than her average less-educated counterpart - but analysis of personality traits could explain this timing gap more clearly.
'Personality traits influence both education and fertility decisions,' she said. 'More 'open-minded' people might be less vulnerable to the social pressure for having children.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/d1KW6T
Sunday, 25 July 2010
IVF pregnant women more at risk of death
Researchers believe the increased threat may come from the body rejecting donated eggs or underlying health problems that may come to the fore during artificial conception.
They want increased vigilance so that the exact nature of the risk can be calculated.
"Women should be counselled and made aware of the risks they are taking and deaths should be properly reported," Professor Didi Braat at Radboud University in the Netherlands told the Sunday Times.
Prof Braat looked at the deaths between 1984 and 2008 in the Netherlands but believes they will apply to any developed country.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/akaNG3
They want increased vigilance so that the exact nature of the risk can be calculated.
"Women should be counselled and made aware of the risks they are taking and deaths should be properly reported," Professor Didi Braat at Radboud University in the Netherlands told the Sunday Times.
Prof Braat looked at the deaths between 1984 and 2008 in the Netherlands but believes they will apply to any developed country.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/akaNG3
Friday, 23 July 2010
Scientists say more and more women are changing their sexuality in midlife
Beverli Rhodes was a divorced mum with four daughters from two marriages when she shared her first lesbian kiss.
She was 30 and says the experience was a revelation. 'It was as if a switch had been turned,' she says. Although she insists that she had hoped and intended that her two marriages would last for life, she says she also knew from that point on that she would only ever be sexually attracted to women. Beverli, now 49, went on to have several lesbian relationships before meeting her current female partner Crystyn Day, 50, a photographer with whom she lives in Ashford, Kent.
Remarkably Crystyn, too, had previously been living a heterosexual life and has a grown-up daughter from an 11-year marriage. Now, new research has identified Beverli and Crystyn as members of an intriguing group. A comprehensive study of female sexuality will be presented to the American Psychological Association's annual meeting next month and it has found a surprising growth in the numbers of so-called 'late-blooming lesbians' - women who have switched their sexuality once they've passed the age of 30. High-profile examples include Sex And The City actress Cynthia Nixon, now 43, who began a relationship with Christine Marinoni in 2004.
The findings raise fascinating questions over the long-held belief that sexual preferences may be partly genetic and are fixed early in life. They also suggest that female sexuality may be more 'fluid' than men's, accounting for the fact that some women sustain long and often fulfilling marriages before developing lesbian or bisexual tendencies in early middle age - often leaving behind them a devastated husband and utterly bewildered children.
While the phenomenon of married women falling in love with other women is nothing new, in the past it was generally only bohemian, upper class women who dared to be overt about their lesbian tendencies - women like the married writer Virginia Woolf, who was 40 when she began a long love affair with Vita Sackville-West, who was also middle-aged and married.
But the new research suggests that this could be changing. And while some have previously concealed their sexuality to keep their families together, many women have no prior inclination to change their sexual preference until their mid-life revelations.
The consequences can be traumatic.
Beverli Rhodes insists she had 'never entertained the thought of being in a gay relationship' when she was growing up. She married George, a company director seven years her senior, and quickly had three babies. When the marriage broke up after seven years, she says: 'I simply thought that we were too young when we'd married and had grown apart.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/a0Ko7d
She was 30 and says the experience was a revelation. 'It was as if a switch had been turned,' she says. Although she insists that she had hoped and intended that her two marriages would last for life, she says she also knew from that point on that she would only ever be sexually attracted to women. Beverli, now 49, went on to have several lesbian relationships before meeting her current female partner Crystyn Day, 50, a photographer with whom she lives in Ashford, Kent.
Remarkably Crystyn, too, had previously been living a heterosexual life and has a grown-up daughter from an 11-year marriage. Now, new research has identified Beverli and Crystyn as members of an intriguing group. A comprehensive study of female sexuality will be presented to the American Psychological Association's annual meeting next month and it has found a surprising growth in the numbers of so-called 'late-blooming lesbians' - women who have switched their sexuality once they've passed the age of 30. High-profile examples include Sex And The City actress Cynthia Nixon, now 43, who began a relationship with Christine Marinoni in 2004.
The findings raise fascinating questions over the long-held belief that sexual preferences may be partly genetic and are fixed early in life. They also suggest that female sexuality may be more 'fluid' than men's, accounting for the fact that some women sustain long and often fulfilling marriages before developing lesbian or bisexual tendencies in early middle age - often leaving behind them a devastated husband and utterly bewildered children.
While the phenomenon of married women falling in love with other women is nothing new, in the past it was generally only bohemian, upper class women who dared to be overt about their lesbian tendencies - women like the married writer Virginia Woolf, who was 40 when she began a long love affair with Vita Sackville-West, who was also middle-aged and married.
But the new research suggests that this could be changing. And while some have previously concealed their sexuality to keep their families together, many women have no prior inclination to change their sexual preference until their mid-life revelations.
The consequences can be traumatic.
Beverli Rhodes insists she had 'never entertained the thought of being in a gay relationship' when she was growing up. She married George, a company director seven years her senior, and quickly had three babies. When the marriage broke up after seven years, she says: 'I simply thought that we were too young when we'd married and had grown apart.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/a0Ko7d
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
My Weird and Wonderful Family - on TV tonight
MY WEIRD & WONDERFUL FAMILY
Wednesday 21st July 21:00 Channel 4
Cutting Edge goes behind the headlines to intimately portray how gay millionaires Tony and Barrie Drewitt-Barlow's determination to have more children has affected them and their kids.
Barrie and Tony talk more to Channel 4 about how their family came about, and they offer advice to others in similar situations.
Channel 4: You've clearly been very honest and upfront with your children about how they were conceived. How important is it to be truthful?
Barrie and Tony: Yes we have been very honest with everyone; our kids know their own story. They have the facts and this is how we wanted it to be always. We knew that it would be hard to keep things secret and we didn't want to just do it on the QT. With the internet it's impossible to not let them know everything upfront which is what we have done. There would always be people or kids at school ready to tell them about what they have found. I don't think going into adulthood is going to be much of a problem for the kids. They are very well adjusted, normal kids.
Channel 4: Do you have advice for others, in a similar situation to yourselves, who might be considering the same route to starting a family?
To read more go to http://bit.ly/a6YUlL
Wednesday 21st July 21:00 Channel 4
Cutting Edge goes behind the headlines to intimately portray how gay millionaires Tony and Barrie Drewitt-Barlow's determination to have more children has affected them and their kids.
Barrie and Tony talk more to Channel 4 about how their family came about, and they offer advice to others in similar situations.
Channel 4: You've clearly been very honest and upfront with your children about how they were conceived. How important is it to be truthful?
Barrie and Tony: Yes we have been very honest with everyone; our kids know their own story. They have the facts and this is how we wanted it to be always. We knew that it would be hard to keep things secret and we didn't want to just do it on the QT. With the internet it's impossible to not let them know everything upfront which is what we have done. There would always be people or kids at school ready to tell them about what they have found. I don't think going into adulthood is going to be much of a problem for the kids. They are very well adjusted, normal kids.
Channel 4: Do you have advice for others, in a similar situation to yourselves, who might be considering the same route to starting a family?
To read more go to http://bit.ly/a6YUlL
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Alternative Families Show 2010
Demystifying the Process of Becoming a Parent for the Gay Community and Single People
Saturday 23rd October 2010 from 10am to 5pm
GRAND CONNAUGHT ROOMS, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON
• Thinking of becoming a parent?
• Want to understand the options available to you?
• Are you considering IVF, adoption or surrogacy?
• Want to understand your rights as a parent?
• Need help deciding on known or anonymous donors?
• Want to find support networks for same-sex parents?
The alternative families show brings together all the information you need to make informed choices on parenthood. From conception, adoption, legal rights, to support networks the show will give you access to information from top UK advisors in their field. A one-stop shop for the lesbian and gay community, this is your opportunity to get some real facts surrounding same-sex parenting. For single people we present the options to becoming a parent.
Pride Angel will be attending the Alternative Families Show where they will be happy to answer any questions relating to donor conception and co-parenting.
Pride Angel is the leading worldwide connection site, fertility forum and blog for lesbian, gay, single and infertile couples, wishing to become parents through co-parenting and donor conception. Specialising in health screening advice, fertility law support, along with artificial insemination and fertility products available to purchase. Registration is free at www.prideangel.com
Tickets to the show cost £5 and can be purchased on the alternative families show website.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/dm2koV
Saturday 23rd October 2010 from 10am to 5pm
GRAND CONNAUGHT ROOMS, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON
• Thinking of becoming a parent?
• Want to understand the options available to you?
• Are you considering IVF, adoption or surrogacy?
• Want to understand your rights as a parent?
• Need help deciding on known or anonymous donors?
• Want to find support networks for same-sex parents?
The alternative families show brings together all the information you need to make informed choices on parenthood. From conception, adoption, legal rights, to support networks the show will give you access to information from top UK advisors in their field. A one-stop shop for the lesbian and gay community, this is your opportunity to get some real facts surrounding same-sex parenting. For single people we present the options to becoming a parent.
Pride Angel will be attending the Alternative Families Show where they will be happy to answer any questions relating to donor conception and co-parenting.
Pride Angel is the leading worldwide connection site, fertility forum and blog for lesbian, gay, single and infertile couples, wishing to become parents through co-parenting and donor conception. Specialising in health screening advice, fertility law support, along with artificial insemination and fertility products available to purchase. Registration is free at www.prideangel.com
Tickets to the show cost £5 and can be purchased on the alternative families show website.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/dm2koV
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