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While adoptive children have the right to information about their birth parents and children of sperm donors have no rights to information about the donors, there is no discrimination, the province argued Tuesday.

That's because the provincial law is targeted at adoptive children and does not address - or violate - the constitutional rights of children of gamete donors, who can remain anonymous, provincial lawyer Leah Greathead told the B.C. Court of Appeal.

The province is appealing a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that gave offspring of gamete (sperm or egg) donors the same rights as adopted children, who have had rights to access their birth records since the law was changed in 1996.

Two days have been set aside for the appeal case, which continues today. The landmark lawsuit being heard Tuesday, the first of its kind in North America, was launched by B.C.-born Olivia Pratten, who now lives in Toronto.

The provincial government also argued that Pratten is seeking rights that are not afforded to all children, as children who are not adopted must rely on getting genetic or medical information from a parent.

For example, a single mom can choose whether or not to tell her child who the father is. The province also argued more information is available today about sperm donors than there was 30 years ago.

Greathead noted that a woman who wants to use donated sperm today can usually get information on a donor's health and temperament. The woman can also seek out a donor willing to be identified.

In an interview during a break in the court proceedings, Pratten noted donor information is only accessible by voluntary agreement. She wants to see laws in place that ensure records of gamete donors are maintained and are available to the children of those donors.

"There's a complete void in the law," said Pratten, 29. She said she's been told by legal experts to expect the case to go to the Supreme Court of Canada. Pratten said the case is not about opening up old files - hers have been destroyed - but about changing the law going forward.

Her lawyer, Joseph Arvay, told the court his client simply wants the same benefits that adopted children have under the province's laws. "I say the legislative scheme is discriminatory when it provides benefit to adoptive people ... because they have real needs [to know their genetic heritage and medical history] and deny benefits to those who have the same needs," argued Arvay.

The judges peppered Arvay with questions, noting the state has chosen not to create laws regulating the sphere of artificial reproduction. "It's [using a gamete donor] a matter of personal choice," noted Justice Mary Saunders.

In May 2011, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elaine Adair struck down the Adoption Act on the grounds that it was discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional. She suspended the effect of the ruling for 15 months to allow the government time to draft legislation so it does not violate Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The judge also granted a permanent injunction to prohibit the destruction and disposal of the records of gamete donors. Countries such as Sweden, Holland, the U.K. and parts of Australia no longer allow anonymous gamete donations.

Article: 20th February 2012 www.vancouversun.com

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Pregnant women with diabetes are almost four times more likely to have a baby with a birth defect than women without the condition, warn researchers. Their findings suggest that higher blood sugar levels in the mother raise the risk. Around one in 13 babies born to a woman with type 1 or type 2 diabetes is affected by a major birth defect, such as heart disease and spina bifida. This compares with a risk of one in 50 for women without diabetes.

Doctors at the charity Diabetes UK, which funded the study, are urging women with diabetes who want to start a family to take advice about getting good glucose control first to minimise the risk. But they stressed that the vast majority of pregnancies in women with diabetes did not involve a birth defect.

The study, led by researchers at Newcastle University and the Regional Maternity Survey Office, looked at the outcomes of 401,149 pregnancies, including 1,677 pregnancies in women with diabetes, between 1996 and 2008 in the North of England. Researcher Ruth Bell told the journal Diabetologia: ‘The good news is that, with expert help before and during pregnancy, most women with diabetes will have a healthy baby.

'The risk of problems can be reduced by taking extra care to have the best possible glucose control before becoming pregnant.’ The study examined 401,149 pregnancies born between 1996 and 2008 'Any reduction in high glucose levels is likely to improve the chances of a healthy baby. ‘All young women with diabetes need to know about preparing for pregnancy, and should contact their doctor or diabetes team as soon as possible if they are thinking about pregnancy or become pregnant.’

Previous research shows having diabetes increases the chance of birth defects, but this is one of the first studies to quantify the effect of glucose levels on risk. Higher blood sugar levels can be reduced using lifestyle and diet, or changes to medication during pregnancy. Dr Iain Frame, Director of Research for Diabetes UK, said ‘The real message from this study is that the blood glucose level of the mother is important to the risk.

‘This study offers clear evidence that although women with diabetes might still have a higher risk of a birth defect, they can still do something positive to reduce that risk by carefully monitoring their blood glucose level and trying to reduce it if it is high. ‘We need to get the message out to women with diabetes that if they are considering becoming pregnant, then they should tell their diabetes healthcare team, who will make sure they are aware of planning and what next steps they should be taking.

‘Blood glucose control continues to be important throughout pregnancy and should be closely monitored to ensure the best result for the baby and this is why women should be as prepared as possible beforehand.’ He said women with diabetes who were sexually active but not planning a baby should use contraception. ‘This is because as well as high blood glucose levels increasing risk of birth defect, some medications taken by people with Type 2 diabetes can cause problems in the developing foetus and higher doses of folic acid are needed for women with diabetes to reduce the risk of complications such as spina bifida’ he added..

Birth defects include congenital heart disease and defects of the nervous system such as spina bifida. Many can be treated but some result in stillbirth or pregnancy loss or ongoing health problems. The study did not look at women who developed diabetes - gestational diabetes - during pregnancy.

Article: 6th February 2012 www.dailymail.co.uk

Read more about improving fertility with nutrition and vitamins

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In a new study from Australia almost half of women who said they'd been struggling to get pregnant for at least a year ended up having a baby despite not getting fertility treatment.
That success rate was only slightly lower than in women who also reported trouble conceiving and opted for treatment with fertility hormones or in vitro fertilization (IVF).

"Many women aged up to 36 years with a history of infertility can achieve spontaneous conception and live birth without using fertility treatment indicating (they) are sub-fertile rather than infertile," says study researcher Danielle Herbert of the University of Queensland School of Population Health in Brisbane.
That means that if nothing is clearly wrong -- men make enough sperm, and women are ovulating regularly -- couples who have had trouble conceiving should still be optimistic they can get pregnant on their own, researchers said.

"I'm not surprised that women who were not treated still get pregnant -- we know that," said Dr. Courtney Lynch, head of reproductive epidemiology at The Ohio State University in Columbus, who wasn't involved in the new research.
"We know we can get women pregnant quicker if we have them go into IVF, but if we give women time, (many of them) can still get pregnant," she said.

The research is part of a long-term study of more than 7,000 women living in Australia. Starting in 1996, participants filled out health surveys every few years, which included questions on pregnancy and childbirth.
The current data is from about 1,400 women age 28 to 36 who reported on the most recent questionnaires that they'd tried unsuccessfully to get pregnant for at least a year at a time.
Close to 600 of those women said they'd received infertility treatment using IVF or fertility hormones, including Clomid.

Through the latest survey in 2009, 53 percent of those women said they had a baby following fertility treatment, compared to 44 percent of women who'd had trouble conceiving but didn't seek treatment, the researchers reported in the journal Fertility and Sterility.
For women who did have a baby, there was no difference in pregnancy complications -- including stillbirths or premature births -- between those who did and didn't get fertility treatment.

AFTER A YEAR, GET CHECKED OUT

Herbert and her colleagues pointed out some limitations of the report, including that they didn't know if women changed male partners at any point during the study period, which could have affected their chances of becoming pregnant.
And one fertility researcher not involved in the new study said it's impossible to know whether women who didn't get treatment lost or gained weight, or changed their diet and lifestyle to improve their chances of becoming pregnant.
Alice Domar, of Boston IVF, said that the number of women who got pregnant without treatment after a year of infertility is higher than previous studies have suggested.
"What a lot of physicians feel is if you're not pregnant within a year, it usually means there's something going on," Domar said.

Domar said that she'd still recommend a woman who's been trying to get pregnant for that long get checked out to see if there's anything preventing her from conceiving. If not, she can keep trying. But if, for example, her tubes are blocked, any extra waiting is "time out the window," she said. Lynch said that about 15 percent of women won't get pregnant after a year of trying, but only three to five percent of them are truly infertile. The rest will likely conceive on their own after another year or two.

"There are a lot of patients that don't want to wait another year, especially if you're an older patient," Lynch said -- and they might want fertility treatment, even if pregnancy without it may be possible.
"But if you're 28, I think waiting another year makes sense potentially before going on a treatment."

According to Domar, most women who can't get pregnant will only need treatment with fertility hormones, which cost about a dollar a day, to get ovulation back to normal. IVF, on the other hand, runs for about $15,000 a cycle, and may or may not be covered by insurance.

'WOMEN SHOULD STILL BE HOPEFUL'

The findings can be seen as encouraging for some women, Domar said. "It means if you've been trying for a year and you're young and you have unexplained infertility, according to this data you have a decent chance of spontaneously conceiving," Domar said.
Dr. Sacha Krieg, an ob-gyn who studies recurrent pregnancy loss at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, agreed.
"Women should still be hopeful that they're going to get pregnant, even if they've been trying for an entire year," she said.
Still, Krieg said, "I wouldn't want this to (dissuade) women from seeing a fertility specialist and being evaluated."

Article: Fertility and Sterility, online January 23, 2012.

Read more about how home insemination and a fertility monitor can help you get pregnant.

Vitamin D may help couples conceive a study has found. Couples trying for a baby should take a sunshine holiday as sunlight boosts fertility in both men and women by increasing their levels of vitamin D. Known as the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D is also key to balancing sex hormones in women and improving sperm count in men, according to researchers.

For women, vitamin D helps boost levels of the female sex hormones progesterone and oestrogen by 13 per cent and 21 per cent respectively, regulating menstrual cycles and making conception more likely. Fathers-to-be increase their fertility by going into the sun, too – because vitamin D is essential for the healthy development of each sperm’s nucleus.

It also increases levels of the male sex hormone testosterone, improving a man’s libido, according to the review of several studies, published this week in the European Journal of Endocrinology. The vitamin’s effect on both male and female sex hormones may explain why conception rates fall in the winter and peak in the summer in Northern European countries, say the researchers at the Medical University of Graz in Austria.

In their own study of nearly 2,300 men, they also found that levels of testosterone and vitamin D peaked in August and were lowest in March, just after the winter. Women have been found to ovulate less – and their eggs have a reduced chance of implanting in the womb – in the winter months. The link between sunshine and fertility has also been found in animal studies, the review states. Female rodents kept in total darkness have been found to be less fertile and have more pregnancy complications. In male rats raised with no sunlight, the number of successful matings drops by 73 per cent.

Fertility problems affect one in seven couples in the UK. In four out of ten cases, the difficulty lies with the male partner. Although vitamin D can be obtained in small quantities by eating oily fish, eggs and liver, about 80 per cent of the amount the body needs is obtained via a chemical process that happens when the UVB rays in sunlight are absorbed by the skin.

So how is the best way of getting your optimum levels of Vitamin D? The first option should always be through nature, which as everyone knows is through the sun. However, we live in the UK where we do not get adequate sun light to obtain vitamin D. Even in the summer, most people seek to get their sun at the wrong time of day.

The 2 types of sun rays we are concerned about are UVA and UVB. UVA rays are the ones that are more likely to cause skin problems. UVB rays are strongest when the sun is highest in the sky, which is what we are looking for in order for our skin to produce vitamin D.

Never getting sunburn is the idea, as you should build up your tan and resistance gradually to fulfil your body’s vitamin D potential.

Clare and Donovan Blake from the Natural Fertility Program & Retreat, based in Essex say 'It is pretty hard to get adequate vitamin D levels living in the UK, and food sources do not provide high enough levels, therefore supplementation is required. As always, practitioner supplements are recommended to ensure good quality. You should always take Vitamin D with fat.'

Read more about fertility and Vitamin D or visit www.naturalfertilityprogram.co.uk for more ways to boost your fertility naturally.

Desperate housewife star Marcia Cross began fertility treatment aged 44 and went on to give birth to twin daughters Eden and Savannah. But despite hailing her girls as 'a miracle', she has no illusions about having children later in life. When asked about being the 'poster girl' for older mothers, Marcia, who had a difficult pregnancy, revealed it is not a good idea.

She told Easy Living: 'Are you kidding? It's a miracle I have these two daughters. 'Your forties is not the time to be thinking about getting pregnant.' The 49-year-old, who looked stunning in a 1920's-themed shoot for the magazine, also revealed she began fertility treatment the day after her wedding to businessman Tom Mahoney - and didn't even go on honeymoon.

But while she became pregnant quickly, Marcia suffered from high blood pressure and was ordered to stay in bed in the last stages. She also developed pre-eclampsia and had to undergo an emergency C-Section.

The actress said:' I didn't have time to be scared. It all happened so quickly. But it worked out and I love being a mother. 'I like bringing the girls on set, but if I can't do that then the next day I feel I have to be uber-mum to make up for it. 'Then I'm exhausted and feel like I'm running in fumes. What I lack in energy, I have in wisdom.'

Marcia, who plays Bree Van de Kamp, was recently busy filming the last episodes of Desperate Housewives after eight seasons and will not be taking any acting roles in the near future so she can concentrate on motherhood - and eating. She said: 'I've had to watch my weight for the show and am looking forward to not having to think about it anymore.'

And despite turning 50 this year, Marcia's looks show little sign of waning. She credits her flawless skin to always removing her make-up and religiously wearing sun-screen. But she also revealed since having children, she rarely has time to exercise.

She doesn't however, rule out surgery. She said: 'We (on the set of Desperate Housewives) say we'll do anything as long as it doesn't involve a knife! 'I'd never say no to surgery in the future, because I feel like, as I get older, I'm going to face temptation more.' 'Turning 50 is huge... it's monumental. But not in terms of beauty. 'It's about recognising how precious time is.'

Article: 30th January 2012 www.dailymail.co.uk

Read more about getting pregnant and having a baby at www.prideangel.com

If not – then perhaps you should! BioNews, published by the charity Progress Educational Trust (PET), is a free online publication providing balanced comment and news on assisted conception, genetics and embryo/stem cell research. Subscription is free and you can easily subscribe online. You'll receive a weekly email so you're up to date with all the latest research and news, and you can post comments online and debate topics with other subscribers.

If you do read BioNews, then you'll know that recent articles covered a fall in NHS-funded fertility treatment despite an increase in demand (' IVF Funding cuts spark access concerns' BioNews 640), results from a new study from the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge which shows that there is 'No negative impact for surrogate's own children' (BioNews 640) and coverage of a US legal case 'Lesbian woman in US who donated eggs to ex-partner granted parental rights over child.' (BioNews 639). Throughout 2011, BioNews also contributed to a number of debates on key topics such as the future of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and how to compensate egg and sperm donors.

If you're already a reader, hopefully you'll also know that PET has just launched the BioNews 2012 reader survey. The BioNews editors and PET staff are keen to understand readers' views of BioNews and, most importantly, how BioNews can be improved. So, PET needs as many people as possible to complete the survey: it's online, easy to complete, and should only take a few minutes of your time. There are four short sections: 'You and BioNews', 'BioNews content', 'BioNews design' and 'About you'.

Please do take a few minutes to complete the survey: the BioNews editors and everyone at PET cannot keep BioNews relevant without your input. This is also PET's opportunity to find out more about BioNews' readership, which helps to attract advertisers and inform grant applications, which in turn enhances the probability of funding - all of which means you can continue to enjoy BioNews as a free resource.

Read more about parenting options, IVF, sperm and egg donation at www.prideangel.com

She spent two years undergoing IVF treatment, and after four failed attempts thought she had lost all hope of becoming a mother So it’s little wonder Kate Silverton looks overjoyed as she shows off the baby she never thought she would have – conceived naturally within weeks of stopping the treatment.

The 41-year-old BBC presenter, who is married to Michael Heron, a former Royal Marine, gave birth to daughter Clemency in November, describing her pregnancy as a ‘miracle’. ‘I still can’t quite believe that she’s here,’ she said. ‘Seeing her smile melts me to the core. It’s the culmination of everything I ever dared imagine or hope for.

‘When I have her in my arms, feeding her in the early hours, with Mike sleeping by my side, I look down at her little face and still feel overwhelmed by what’s happened.’ ‘Whether it’s the beaming smile I get when I lean over her crib in the morning or when her bottom lip trembles if she’s uncertain about something, I just live for those moments now. She’s just adorable.’

Doctors warned Miss Silverton she would struggle to conceive naturally after she had to undergo surgery to remove one of her ovaries. She then underwent four rounds of IVF, but they all failed and the couple stopped the treatment – only for Clemency to be conceived naturally soon afterwards.

Miss Silverton said: ‘I’m not sure how this happened, but I will give thanks every day for the rest of my life that I have experienced giving birth and now have a daughter. ‘It’s heartbreaking to know there are so many couples out there who face the same difficulties as we did and I wish that I could spread some of our good fortune to them.’

The TV star has yet to hire any help with the baby insisting that she and Heron, 44, wanted to do as much as possible themselves. She said: ‘We chose not to have any help as we like the idea of working as a team with her, to learn as much as we could instinctively, although I admit it has been a rather steep learning curve.’ Miss Silverton wed Mr Heron in December 2010 at St Bride’s Church in Fleet Street – two years after they began dating.

Article: 23rd January 2012 www.dailymail.co.uk

Read more about help conceiving naturally at www.prideangel.com

A new study published in European Obstetrics & Gynaecology shows that just six months using the DuoFertility monitor and service gives the same chance of pregnancy as a cycle of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) for many infertile couples. This study demonstrates that there is a viable non-invasive, drug-free alternative to IVF for thousands of couples, with the potential to save them (and the NHS) millions of pounds each year.

The paper is the first peer-reviewed publication of clinical pregnancy rates using the new DuoFertility product and service. Lead author, Dr. Oriane Chausiaux said “The results show that for couples suffering from unexplained infertility as well as a variety of other factors, twelve months using DuoFertility yields a higher clinical pregnancy rate than a cycle of IVF.” Not only is IVF invasive for the woman and demeaning for the man, but for many couples it is a procedure needlessly costing the NHS, or the couple themselves, thousands of pounds. A typical cycle of IVF in the private sector costs £7,000 all up. By comparison the DuoFertility program offers a year of monitoring and support for £500 - and it comes with a 12-month money-back pregnancy guarantee.

The publication coincides with the 200th reported pregnancy by users of DuoFertility, which was celebrated at the weekend with a party hosted by medical personality Dr. Miriam Stoppard. Dr. Stoppard, addressing the assembled parents and parents-to-be, said "[it is] the first product or service that I have seen in this arena which truly wraps around all of the needs of the couple, from the medical monitoring, to the review of this data by experts, and then the all-important emotional support that is provided."..."The results of the scientific studies on pregnancy rate are very encouraging, but do need to be followed up with live birth rates, and I look forward to seeing further research."

The authors of the study caution that although non-invasive and drug-free, DuoFertility is not suitable for all couples. Dr. Husheer, inventor of DuoFertility explained “although DuoFertility is suitable for around 80% of infertile couples, there are some couples with medically identified conditions that prevent natural conception, such as a woman with two blocked fallopian tubes. In these cases IVF is absolutely the right thing to do, enabling conception where it was previously a physical impossibility.”

About Cambridge Temperature Concepts Cambridge Temperature Concepts Limited (CTC) has developed a new kind of wireless physiological monitor, which measures body temperature, heat flow and movement with unprecedented resolution. The first application (DuoFertility) is in conception assistance for couples suffering infertility, however work is underway in areas as diverse as sleep quality monitoring, hypoglycemia detection, infection control and a range of veterinary applications. DuoFertility is a non-invasive, easy-to-use female fertility monitor. It is the most natural, convenient, and precise way of maximising the chances of getting pregnant.

CTC was founded by graduate students at the University of Cambridge in, winning business competitions at collegiate, university, regional and national levels prior to Angel funding. Less than 18 months later, the DuoFertility product had progressed from sheet-of-paper through medical device approvals, production prototype, Europe-wide trial, and had gained first direct-to-consumer sales.

Article: by Cambridge Temperature Concepts, 14th December 2011

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