Pride Angel

Research published today by the bmj.com (British Medical Journal) reports that women who lie on their backs for fifteen minutes after artificial insemination have a "significantly higher" chance of getting pregnant than women who move around straight after treatment. Researchers found 27% of women of women who lay down for 15 minutes after the procedure went on to have a baby compared with 17% who got up and moved around. Writing in the British Medical Journal, the researches said that lying down may prevent “leakage” of sperm

Looking at your Diet can dramatically increase your probability of becoming Pregnant Increase your pregnancy chances by ensuring the following • Eat plenty of unrefined complex carbohydrates like vegetables and whole grains as well as pulses, beans, fruit and veg. Reduce your intake of sugar, white bread and white pasta as these can disrupt blood sugar and hormone balance. • Saturated fats and hydrogenated oils found in margarines, butter, hard cheese and ice cream can disrupt hormone production, so should be avoided. • Protein help to maintain steady blood-sugar levels, which is important for fertility. It also provides amino acids, which the body needs for building and repairing cells, manufacturing hormones and a healthy reproductive system. Limit protein in high saturated fat such as red meat and cheese.

For many lesbian women who wish to become parents, they known that when the time comes, the decision and process is not going to be easy. But here in the 21st century we are lucky enough to have options. Artificial insemination is just one way that scores of lesbians have been able to become mothers. Sperm banks are a common fixture in our society, and mums-to-be visit them to find an anonymous donor. But there is another type of sperm donor as well, called a known donor, and there are pros and cons to this type of donation.

A known donor is someone that you already know personally, or wish to meet. Whether he's a straight friend or a gay colleague, you may know him well enough to feel comfortable asking him to help you become a parent, but this can often be a difficult subject to bring up with someone. This is why sperm donor and co-parent connection sites are becoming more and more popular. You are able to assess his character and determine whether or not you "connect” with him. You might be more comfortable finding someone whom you've known for a long time, but is just as possible to meet someone new and click with him as well.

Actually meeting with your prospective donor gives you the opportunity to find out about their personality, humour, mental health and allows you to see any obvious health conditions. Remembering 50% of your child’s genetics and traits will come from your chosen donor. Health screening also is such an important issue to consider, ensuring that your donor does agree to have up to date infection testing completed.

Which brings us to the issue of known donor involvement? What level of interaction do you want the donor or co-parent to have in the child’s life? It is important to decide and discuss this with your known donor beforehand. You’ll have to decide if you want him to function as her ‘uncle’ or as her ‘daddy’. Many lesbian couples want the donor for his sperm and medical history, but little else. They do not ask for any financial or physical assistance from the sperm donor; they will not be co-parenting or wishing to share responsibility. Although some lesbian couples choose a known donor wish their child to have the option of meeting the donor if they later choose to, and some wish the donor to act as distant “father figure” or “uncle type” role in their lives.

Using a known donor has many other advantages; it is less expensive than using frozen sperm, even if going to a fertility clinic for treatment. Also there is a better chance of successful conception from insemination using fresh sperm opposed to frozen sperm. There are however more legal complications when using a known sperm donor. Although with the recent changes to fertility parenting law, there is now far more reassurance for lesbian couples in civil partnerships, for both being legal parents. This also gives sperm donors the reassurance that they can help lesbian women without the worry of being held financially responsible further down the line. It is highly recommended that a written donor agreement is in place from the start to prevent any problems occurring.

For lesbian couples, new rules allow the non birth mother to be named as the child’s other parent if the couple conceive through donor insemination or IVF together. Although the law change came into force on 6 April 2009, it only applies to children conceived after that date. The government has calculated that, allowing for some early arrivals, this means the soonest a child could be born under the new rules is 1 September 2009. Therefore from September registrars around the UK will be prepped and ready to register births showing two women as a child’s parents. Gay men conceiving with a surrogate mother will be able to obtain a birth certificate showing them both as parents, but that the changes for gay couples are coming into effect later. Gay men, like heterosexual couples, will have to apply to court for a reissue of the birth certificate after a surrogacy birth. They will be able to make such applications from 6 April 2010 although, unlike the new rules for lesbian couples, applications can be made for children born before the law changed. Pride Angel welcomes the changes to both the donor conception and surrogacy rules to cover gay and lesbian parents. The move represents an important step forward in recognising gay and lesbian families, and ensuring that two parents who commit to having a child together are both legally recognised as being responsible for that child.

Pride Angel held its first stall at this year’s Lifestyle Expo. It was a massive success with over 200 people registering to the website over the three days. Pride Angel T-shirts and sperm stress ball were given out to those who registered, with the sperm stress balls being a real hit with everyone! The Pride Angel team gave information to people about how to become a sperm donor, egg donor or co-parent. Many people were looking to find sperm donors, who they could actually meet and make personal arrangements for fertility treatment or home insemination. Many men were really interested in helping lesbian couples and even being able to be ‘part-time dads’ or ‘uncle figures’. The team also explained the importance of gaining the correct health screening tests and getting the right legal advice, along with legal donor agreements.