Cool it, boys, if you want a baby

AVOID saunas and taking hot showers if you want to be a father. That is the frank advice to men from the fertility watchdog in its new guide to having babies published this week.

Men, whose fertility has fallen dramatically in recent years, should try to maximise the amount of sperm they produce by keeping themselves cool. The fall in sperm production has been linked to drinking alcohol.

Up to one in five healthy young men between the ages of 18 and 25 have abnormal sperm counts. Even the sperm they do produce is often of poor quality. In contrast, more than 90% of the sperm of a bull or a ram is normal.

The guide from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority advises men how to boost sperm production: “For maximum sperm production, the testes should be a couple of degrees cooler than the rest of your body. It may help to avoid tight-fitting clothing, saunas and hot showers.”

For more on this story follow the link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article7140255.ece

UK's first ever abortion ad screens tonight amid controversy

THE UK's first ever advert promoting abortion will be screened tonight.
Marie Stopes hopes its ads for unplanned pregnancy and abortion advice will raise awareness of sexual health.

But Christian bodies are outraged and are considering legal action to stop the broadcast - due to go out on Channel 4 at 10.10pm.

It comes after a study found less than half of UK adults knew where to go for advice in the event of an unplanned pregnancy, and 76 per cent believed the adverts should be screened at appropriate times.

But the Christian Legal Centre slammed the commercial as an advert for the "destruction of human life".

Its director Andrea Minichiello-Williams said: "Members of the public will be enraged that such adverts are allowed to be beamed into their living rooms, especially as early as 10.10pm, when very many teenagers are around.



For more on this story follow the link: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2985074/Abortion-ad-screens-tonight.html#ixzz0pDlF1n8e

How could any woman not know she was pregnant until she gave birth? A new study suggests it's more common than you think

To any mother who has not only navigated her way through morning sickness, but been hampered by a huge bump and then floored by a long labour, the idea that you can be expecting a baby and not know is hard to grasp.

How can any woman possibly miss the tell-tale signs that she is carrying a growing baby inside her?

Yet, according to studies, the phenomenon is not as rare as you might imagine. In fact, statistics published last month show that one in 600 mums-to-be will be unaware they are pregnant until they give birth, or just before.

'It is something you come across very rarely as a midwife,' says Jen Mearns, midwifery manager of London's Birth Centre.

'There are a few very young women who are in self-denial about being pregnant. They might conceal their pregnancy from families and friends, and even pretend to themselves they aren't having a baby.

'But, difficult as it is for many people to imagine, situations where the woman truly has no idea she is having a baby really do happen. And often they occur in busy women, and particularly as they approach the menopause.'

According to Sue McDonald, from the Royal College of Midwives, such feelings of guilt are very common in women who give birth unexpectedly. 'People imagine giving birth suddenly must be wonderful because you haven't knowingly gone through the trials of pregnancy.

'But, in fact, a woman who gives birth unexpectedly will need lots of support. She will experience a whole range of emotions, and one might well be guilt as they berate themselves for not realising they were pregnant.'

For more on this story follow the link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1281456/How-woman-know-pregnant-gave-birth-A-new-study-suggests-common-think.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Big rise in fertility among women over 40

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show a decrease in fertility rates for women under 35 but a relatively large increase in fertility rate in women over 40.

In 2009, there have been decreases in fertility rates for women aged under 35 and increases for women aged 35 and over, compared with 2008.

Over the last decade the number of live births to mothers aged 40 and over has nearly doubled from 14,252 in 1999 to 26,976 in 2009. The figure for 2009 is the highest on record.


For more info on birth statistics and this story follow the link: http://www.onmedica.com/newsarticle.aspx?id=71145139-b3a8-45b0-a1cc-3a92766a05c8

Sky presenter Sophie Blake found out how a very common women's operation can ruin your fertility

When Sky TV presenter Sophie Blake became pregnant with her daughter Maya, she never imagined that, just a few years later, trying to conceive a baby brother or sister for her would prove so difficult.
'My fiancé Scott and I hadn't been together long when I became pregnant with Maya - it was a shock,' says Sophie, 37.

'So when we started trying for a second baby, we assumed everything would be plain sailing.' But as the months passed with no luck, Sophie began to worry.

It took two years for Sophie to get a diagnosis - and even then it was only down to her persistence and the internet. She suffers from Asherman's syndrome, which is treatable, yet which often goes misdiagnosed, causing recur rent miscarriage and infertility.

Asherman's syndrome is a type of adhesion - where bands of scar-like tissue form inside the body between two surfaces, causing them to stick together. Adhesions are a common problem, affecting 93 per cent of patients who undergo surgery.

The problem is triggered by a dilation and curettage (D&C), a standard procedure used to clear the womb after a miscarriage, or when the placenta is retained after childbirth or a termination, says Adrian Lower, a consultant gynaecologist and one of only a handful of Asherman's specialists in the UK.

It's thought that Asherman's occurs when this is done too forcefully. Around 100,000 procedures are carried out each year, with five per cent resulting in Asherman's.


To find out more about this story follow the link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1281143/Sky-presenter-Sophie-Blake-common-womans-operation-ruin-fertility.html#ixzz0ovYQ3CDL



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1281143/Sky-presenter-Sophie-Blake-common-womans-operation-ruin-fertility.html#ixzz0ovXwRmNO

The Gift of Sperm Donor 8282

The New York Times today tells the story of three Boston ladies who found themselves childless once they reached their late 30s.

Two of the friends decided to turn to sperm donation, but in an amazing twist of fate both women ended up settling down and having children the old fashioned way straight after ordering the vials of sperm. In order not to waste the viles they were offered to their other childless friend, and thus the story of donor 8282 was founded.

Three friends, ensuring they would all have a happy ending to their stories. Now their dreams of children have been answered, the three are writing a book about their experiences.

To find out more about this story follow the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/fashion/23sperm.html

From Britain's leading fertility expert, an intriguing question...Is a woman more likely to conceive if she enjoys sex?

The more frequently you have sex, the more chance you have of getting pregnant. Nobody will be surprised at that - but what is surprising is that, according to various scientific studies, an average couple in Britain having reasonably regular sex have only about an 18 per cent chance of conceiving in any given month.

Could this factor be down to whether or not a woman's enjoyment of sex aids conception? A leading fertility expert has suggested just this, a link between satisfying sex and conception is an interesting one.

A study of hundreds of couples struggling to conceive has left experts in little doubt that the female orgasm can aid conception - it was previously assumed it was a useless factor for reproduction.

How could we account for these findings in a scientific way?
One theory is that the muscles of the vagina and the womb contract, sometimes quite vigorously, during orgasm and that way more sperm enters the uterus.

Then, after a period of relaxation, the sperm are retained. We do know that, during orgasm, a hormone is released - oxytocin, which, among other things, is associated with extreme pleasure. This hormone is also important in producing contractions of the womb.


For more on this story follow the link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1279841/From-Britains-leading-fertility-expert-intriguing-question--Is-woman-likely-conceive-enjoys-sex.html#ixzz0oY09PX6v

At 24, Louise has given away two surrogate babies and is trying for a third - Why DOES she do it?

The Mail Online today tells the story of Louise Pollard, who, at the age of just 24 has already given away two babies and hopes to give away a baby a year until she is no longer able to.

Thought to be the UK's youngest surrogate mother, Louise claims she is alturistic in her decisions, and merely wants to bring joy to the couples she helps.

Despite initial heartache each time she gives away a baby, Louise has no regrets and has never felt she's made a mistake.

She blasts claims that she aims to profit from surrogacy, saying she has recieved less than £10,000 per pregnancy and that the process is not about profit, but helping people achieve a much longed for family.

To hear more of Louise's story follow the link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1279821/At-24-Louise-given-away-surrogate-babies-trying--Why-DOES-it.html

First wedding dress shop ONLY for pregnant brides opens

There was a time when a bride would do her best to hide the fact of being pregnant when she married.

But couture will always keep pace with social change.

And with more conceptions now taking place outside marriage than within, it was only a matter of time before someone filled this particular gap in the market.

Expectant Bride is a new service offering personal consultations to pregnant women planning to marry before the arrival. Its designers are trained to estimate how big a bride's bump will be by the big day, and design a dress accordingly.


For more on this story follow the link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1004702/First-wedding-dress-shop-ONLY-pregnant-brides-opens.html#ixzz0oOg0Qf00

Sex every day is prescription for improving sperm quality

Men who suffer fertility problems because of low sperm quality may be able to improve their chances of fatherhood by having sex every day, research has suggested.

While those trying for a baby are often told to refrain from ejaculating too often to protect their sperm count, Australian scientists have shown that this can be counterproductive and may lower male fertility.

Among men whose fertility problems stem from genetic damage to their sperm rather than a low sperm count, abstaining from sex can make their difficulties worse, research led by David Greening, of Sydney IVF, has shown.

The pilot study of 42 men whose sperm showed significant DNA damage found that daily ejaculation reduced this by 12 per cent. While the results are preliminary and no direct effect on fertility has yet been measured, they suggest that certain men could benefit from having sex more often, or from abstaining less before providing semen for use in IVF.

For more on this story follow the link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article2665788.ece

World first operation saves woman and unborn baby

A young woman and her unborn baby have miraculously survived pioneering surgery to remove a tumour the size of a watermelon growing inside the expectant mother's chest.

Nicola Ellington, 26, was unaware her body was feeding not just her baby but also a deadly teratoma tumour.

The teratoma - Greek for monster - is so-called because it is often made up from cancerous cells that form teeth and hair.

Miss Ellington and her unborn daughter Layla Sky - now aged 13-weeks - faced certain death as the tumour continued to grow crushing her heart and lungs.

Surgeons decided the tumour - which had lain dormant in Miss Ellington's body for decades since birth - had to be removed or both mother and baby would die.

Doctors had initially failed to spot the tumour, and simply told the expectant mother to take morphine.

A desperate Miss Ellington turned to heart specialists at University Hospital Coventry, West Midlands, where MRI scans revealed the tumour had already grown to be as big as her left lung.

It took two hours for doctors to remove the mass, and Miss Ellington stayed in hopsital until December, when Layla Sky was born weighing a healthy 7lbs.

For more on this story follow the link: www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1279036/world-operation-saves-pregant-woman-unborn-baby-monster-tumour-chest.html

Woman claims fertility spell helped her conceive after six years of trying

The daughter of a 'white witch' has claimed she gave birth after 6 years of trying, because her mother cast a fertility spell on her.

Hayley Byrne, 25, had been on an NHS waiting list for a treatment similar to IVF when her mother offered to help out.

She wore a fertility bracelet and just four weeks later Hayley was thrilled to find she was pregnant. Now she and bricklayer boyfriend Daniel Shaw are proud parents of a baby boy.

The couple intend to use the same paegan ritual to create a large family.

For more on this story follow the link: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1278035/Woman-trying-for-baby-years-falls-pregnant-white-witch-casts-fertility-spell.html

Why the Pill is a passion killer: It may have sparked a sexual revolution, but a new study says the Pill has an ironic side-effect

A new study has suggested that the contraceptive pill kills women's sex drives.

A survey of more than 1000 women in Germany found that oral contraception dramatically reduced their levels of both desire and arousal during sex. Other hormonal methods such as implants, had the same effect, yet the researchers found that condoms and other barrier methods of protection boosted sex drives more than those not using any protection at all.

Yet 29% of women aged 16 to 49 in the UK are on the pill. Research suggests that at least one sixth of those women will suffer from lowered sexual desire, which means millions of women are suffering needlessly.

For more on this story follow the link: www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1277929/New-study-shows-Pill-effects-womens-libido.html

Britain's hidden gendercide: How Britain's Asians are copying Indian cousins and aborting girls

A novel based on current statistics and facts has shed light on the lengths British Asians are going to to avoid having daughters.

Research from Oxford University has estimated that girl babies are 'disappearing' from British Indian families at a rate approaching 100 a year. As with all official estimates, the reality could well be more.

British Indian communities in this country are failing to produce the number of girl babies that science tells us to expect, which, broadly speaking, is 950 girls for every 1,000 boys.

And how are they doing this? By pursuing a determined programme of sex selection, either by aborting female foetuses or, increasingly - particularly among more affluent families - by doing everything in their power to ensure that the fertilised egg implanted in the mother's womb is a male one. This can be done by a technique known as 'sperm sorting' - where sperm carrying the male Y chromosome are separated from those carrying the female X chromosome - or, more reliably, by IVF.

For a few years, such techniques seemed the answer to an awful lot of devout prayers, but in 2007 - amid mounting controversy about babies being designed to order - the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority outlawed gender selection in this way. Specialist clinics in London, Birmingham and Glasgow which had been offering couples the chance to choose the sex of their babies - and which had been advertising extensively in the Punjabi press in Britain - were forced to close.

But the practice goes on, with wealthier British Indian families travelling to the U.S., Europe or indeed to India in their efforts to have a male child.

It is difficult for those of white British origins, who come from a culture where the safe arrival of a healthy baby girl is a cause for celebration, to understand the deep-rooted commitment of British Indian families to what has become known as 'son preference'.

For more on this story follow the link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1276902/Britains-hidden-gendercide-How-Britains-Asians-copying-Indian-cousins-aborting-girls.html

Contraceptive pill turns 50

The tiny pill that changed the course of women's rights, and human sexuality, marks 50 years on tomorrow.

An oral contraceptive pill was first introduced to the US market on May 11, 1960, and it arrived in the UK nine months later.

It would become the first widely-used and socially acceptable method by which a woman could control her own fertility.

It is estimated about 100 million women worldwide now use an oral contraceptive pill, which contains a combination of hormones that interrupt their natural cycle of fertility.

When taken properly, the pill has a 99 per cent success rate making it the most effective and reversible form of birth control.

For more on this story follow the link: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/tiny-pill-with-big-impact-turns-50-20100511-uoyx.html

Women who are obese or smoke during pregnancy 'can low sperm count in sons'

Women who are obese or smoke during pregnancy can cause their sons to have a low sperm count in adulthood, according to researchers.

Experts warned that a mother’s lifestyle could have a “major impact” on her son’s future sperm.

In fact, choices she makes during her lifetime can be even more important than those he makes during his, at least for sperm production, they believe.

Low sperm count is an increasing problem among young European men. The problem can lead to men being unable to have children.

For more on this story follow the link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7599115/Women-who-are-obese-or-smoke-during-pregnancy-can-low-sperm-count-in-sons.html

Errors at fertility clinics double in just one year

The number of reported mistakes a t the 138 fertility clinics in England and Wales nearly doubled in the year to April 2009, rising to 334 from 182 the previous year. One leading patient safety expert has now warned that blunders which have occurred as record numbers of women seek treatment, may be "systemic".

The increase comes as one clinic, IVF Wales, is at the centre of a fresh scandal this weekend after losing the last two remaining embryos it had frozen for one of its patients. It is the second time in less than 12 months that a mix up at the centre, based at University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, has left patients devastated.

In the last shocking error an embryo was implanted in the wrong woman.

Deborah Hole and Paul Thomas's hopes of a sibling for their son Jamie were shattered in 2007 after an IVF error in which Deborah's embryo was implanted in the wrong woman.

Deborah, 41, from Bridgend, Wales, later found out that the woman had aborted the pregnancy. Doctors at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff admitted that an error by a trainee meant two embryos had been mixed up and, in breach of guidelines, stored in an incubator. An investigation concluded safety procedures were not followed.

Deborah and Paul were paid a five-figure sum in compensation. "I kept dreaming that the stranger implanted with my embryo had given birth to my baby," she said.

For more info on this story follow the link: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/errors-at-fertility-clinics-double-in-just-one-year-1953741.html

London Sperm Bank launched

The UK's first stand-alone clinic focused on recruiting new sperm donors, has announced its opening. The London Sperm Bank (LSB) - licensed by fertility watchdog, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) - will incorporate two existing sperm banks, the Louis Hughes Sperm Bank, and the London Women's Clinic's (LWC's) own bank.

'This significant partnership will provide hope to thousands of women who may otherwise struggle to find treatment with the current shortage of donor sperm', said LSB's scientific director Dr Kamal Ahuja.

The creation of the LSB is partly a response to the country's 'critical' shortage of donor sperm. In 2008, the British Fertility Society published a report on sperm donation which called for a 'national co-ordinated strategy' to improve the donor infrastructure in the UK.

For more info follow this link: http://www.bionews.org.uk/page_57881.asp

How dare another woman try to have my dead husband's baby? Widow reveals her extraordinary battle over frozen sperm

Andrea was a 43-year-old litigation solicitor and mother of two when, in 1994, she met and fell in love with self-made millionaire Brian Walker, six years her senior. Despite wishing for a baby with her husband, he made it clear that he was a businessman and wanted his business more than he wanted children.

He died last August aged 64, from pancreatic cancer, but quite apart from her grief, Brian's death has turned into a bizarre nightmare, turning Andrea's world upside down and causing her to question if she ever truly knew her husband.

It has also led to a potentially groundbreaking-legal case that raises moral and ethical questions about the fertility industry.

For, to Andrea's horror, she has discovered that Brian could soon become a father - from beyond the grave.

In December 2006, unknown to his wife, Brian banked his sperm at the Reproductive Medicine Unit at Leeds General Infirmary. In 2007, he signed consent forms for it to be stored for future use.

And who was hoping to have Brian's baby? A woman in her 30s, who had worked at their hotel and whom Andrea considered to be a friend.

She is seeking a court order to force Leeds General Infirmary to release Brian's medical notes to her solicitors - the hospital has refused to do so, on the grounds that it would breach patient confidentiality - and wants his sperm destroyed.

Leeds General Infirmary, however, seems intent on allowing the woman, whom we shall call Julie, to proceed with fertility treatment, should she so desire.

She apparently does, telling the executors of Brian's will of her intentions, adding that she was 'horrified' that Andrea seemed intent on 'destroying whatever was left of Brian'.

For more on this ground breaking case follow the link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1270143/Millionaires-widow-reveals-extraordinary-battle-frozen-sperm.html?ito=feeds-newsxml