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Joanna Karpasea-Jones's BlogPosted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones Did you know that if you sit on a bicycle for more than 30 minutes, it heats up your testicles and can lower your sperm count? Sperm can only survive in colder temperatures and they don't like it warm. There are a whole host of other interesting facts relating to male fertility which may maximize your chances of becoming a dad, like: Coffee - this is a stimulant and in women, too much of it can cause miscarriage. However, men needn't worry about their coffee breaks at work. You'd have to drink a very high amount for it to affect your sperm. Fighting The Flab - it's not just your wife or girlfriend who needs to keep fit prior to getting pregnant. Men who are obese sometimes have fertility problems, so if you have put on a few pounds, start a new exercise regime. A healthy diet is important and folic acid supplements have proven useful for men in improving their sperm quality. Your Biological Clock Is Ticking - While it is true that a man could father a baby at the age of 80, many men don't realise that as they age, their fertility can also decrease, their sperm decreases in quality and they have a higher risk of fathering a baby with genetic disabilities or birth abnormalities. Don't wait too long! Apart from anything else, you don't want to be kicking a ball around the yard with a zimmer frame. Make Love In The Mornings! Research has shown that you have more sperm in the morning than at other times, and it will add a dash of romance to your relationship. Snuggle Up This Winter - You have more sperm in winter times, possibly because it's cold and sperm like it cold. It's the perfect excuse to cuddle up with your partner, but don't drink too much wine! Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones Did you know that if you sit on a bicycle for more than 30 minutes, it heats up your testicles and can lower your sperm count? Sperm can only survive in colder temperatures and they don't like it warm. There are a whole host of other interesting facts relating to male fertility which may maximize your chances of becoming a dad, like: Coffee - this is a stimulant and in women, too much of it can cause miscarriage. However, men needn't worry about their coffee breaks at work. You'd have to drink a very high amount for it to affect your sperm. Fighting The Flab - it's not just your wife or girlfriend who needs to keep fit prior to getting pregnant. Men who are obese sometimes have fertility problems, so if you have put on a few pounds, start a new exercise regime. A healthy diet is important and folic acid supplements have proven useful for men in improving their sperm quality. Your Biological Clock Is Ticking - While it is true that a man could father a baby at the age of 80, many men don't realise that as they age, their fertility can also decrease, their sperm decreases in quality and they have a higher risk of fathering a baby with genetic disabilities or birth abnormalities. Don't wait too long! Apart from anything else, you don't want to be kicking a ball around the yard with a zimmer frame. Make Love In The Mornings! Research has shown that you have more sperm in the morning than at other times, and it will add a dash of romance to your relationship. Snuggle Up This Winter - You have more sperm in winter times, possibly because it's cold and sperm like it cold. It's the perfect excuse to cuddle up with your partner, but don't drink too much wine! Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones I don't have LS, but I was diagnosed with vulvodynia when I was 18 (and that was after suffering with it for 6 years and being told over and over again that it was 'only thrush'). The thing that really annoyed me was the casual way in which the doctor informed me my condition was 'for life' (they have since found it needn't be) and that I had to go home and plaster a steroid all over me and something resembling diaper ointment. The medical profession all too often look at the symptoms and try to treat those, rather than looking at what caused the illness in the first place and trying to treat the whole body, including the root cause. Autism is another disability which is supposed to be permanent, yet many mothers have seen a reduction in symptoms in their child after putting them on a dairy, wheat and gluten free diet. There are several remedies which have been helpful to sufferer's of LS:
Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones One in four women have uterine fibroids, known as myoma's, and in severe cases they affect your fertility. Some women are advised to have their uteruses removed altogether. However, the medical treatments also have their own risks. With surgery there is the risk from the anesthetic, risks of bleeding, infection and scarring and no guarantee that the fibroids won't grow back again. Hormone therapy has risks of side-effects, particularly if the morning after pill is used. This pill can cause persistent vomiting, allergic reactions and even death. An increasing number of women are looking for something else.
Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones As wonderful as science can be, you've got to admit, IVF doesn't work very well. Most attempts fail, and if you're in the less than 30% that succeed, it's normally after more than one cycle. Anything that increases the pregnancy and live birth rate is good, particularly if it lessens the likelihood of multiple births. I have to admit, though, I find the idea of using DNA in IVF rather scary. The Drawbacks
In theory it sounds like a good idea, but I think there are still too many 'what if's?' Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones When BioXcell announced their new invention, the Invocell Capsule in which an embryo can be fertilised in the vagina, it was touted by some as the IVF treatment you could take in your lunch break or on the way to the office. Such a device certainly appealed to me. Research in numerous journals has suggested that IVF increases the risks of miscarriage, birth defects and premature delivery, so anything which mimics natural conception has got to be a good thing for both mother and baby - far gentler than sterile clinics, latex gloves, petri dishes and solution. The embryo capsule seems like a promising and less invasive idea. IVF is only free for one cycle in the UK and in other countries is paid for by medical insurance, loans or even by remortgaging your home, so any device which cuts down the running costs of assisted conception is surely welcome. But come on people, IVF on your lunch hour? In this fast paced world we are all encouraged to work full time, clean our homes as well as Martha Stewart, raise our families and engage in successful marriages all simultaneously. Usually something has to give and these days instead of being praised to be the mother's of our children, we are told to leave them in Daycare in favour of the office. I'm not against women working, but I think there are times and places for it. I think if we all slowed down, put more emphasis on our families and just relaxed, some of us might get pregnant anyway. For those that don't, forget your lunch break and take all the time you need to concentrate on your treatment. If your dream baby arrives, take the time off work to revel in mother bliss and remember, there's more to life than the rat race. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones Louise Brown, the world's first test tube baby turns 30 on the 25th July and is now a mother to her own son, Cameron, 19 months, as well as aunt to Casey, 9 years. Society was incredulous when Lesley Brown became pregnant by a technique where her egg and her husband's sperm were fertilized outside of her body. Some called it a miracle. The Catholic church denounced it as wrong and against God's will. It might interest you to know that the very first IVF was actually conducted on rabbits in the 1890's by Dr. Walter Heape. He successfully transferred rabbit embryo's between two different rabbits, but scientists did not begin to attempt it with people until 1959. Gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe and Professor Robert Edwards began to work together in 1971 to develop their ideas on assisted conception. Several attempts were made with various infertile women, but all of these failed or ended in early miscarriage. They then shortened the time the embryo was in 'test tube', which resulted in Lesley Brown's successful pregnancy. The USA followed close behind when four years later, America's first test tube baby was born in December 1981, another girl, named Elizabeth Carr. Elizabeth is now 26 and a journalist. Now, every year in the UK - IVF's pioneering country - 2,000 babies are born as a result of the technique. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones There are so many chemicals out there, it's a wonder any of us are fertile. The problem that compounds this is that most of us don't even know what is in the products we use or how that could impact on our health. The first step in taking charge of our health, is knowing what's bad for us. Polysorbate 80 damages fertility and is used in lots of products, such as:
Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones I've got to admit, when I first heard about the world's first pregnant man, I was excited. Had a biological switch of nature happened? Did some bizzare IVF experiment actually work out? I remembered myself in labor with my son, cursing at my partner that I'd had five children and he never, never took his turn at labor pains. If he so wanted to be a hands on father, why didn't he do the childbirth? Looking back on it, I laughed, but now, if a man had actually gone and done it, maybe husband's the world over would have to bear their fair share of contractions! So I was momentarily disappointed when I discovered that Thomas Beatie did used to be a woman and still had all the girl tackle to prove it. No extraordinary biological feat, there. Then I was relieved. Thank God a biological man wasn't pregnant. That is the domain of women. One thing I loved about having my children was the way I looked when pregnant. I got an instant breast enlargement without having any surgery, which lasted for the entire 3 years I was breast feeding, the growing bump was curvy and feminine and giving birth, although physically unpleasant, was a miracle. To bring a life into the world made me feel like a Goddess and I have never been able to match the euphoria with anything else. I felt slightly jealous that a man could experience that. Then I wondered about the baby. What will she think, growing up with a dad that gave birth to her? Wouldn't that mess up a child's head? Or am I just being closed minded? I don't know whether it's right or wrong or if it simply just is. I do know this brave new world takes some time to get used to. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones When I had my second miscarriage in 2001 at eight weeks of pregnancy, I felt tremendous guilt. The pregnancy was unplanned. My youngest daughter was only 16 months old and I didn't want another one. I felt extremely negative about everything, and then, unthinkably, I lost my baby. I thought I'd caused it myself, that somehow the baby knew and chose to leave me. So imagine my horror when, after confirming the miscarriage at hospital, the doctor told me there were 'retained products of conception' and I had to have a D+C to remove them. I was stunned. First I'd lost my baby, then I find out I have to have an operation. I would have consented to anything, I was so surprised, but my husband brought clarity to the situation and asked why that should be done. We were told to prevent infection. 'Isn't surgery a risk of infection?' he asked. 'Yes' said the eager junior doctor, 'but we'd give antibiotics and heparin for that.' Rat poison? They wanted to do surgery, give me antibiotics and something that kills rats? For an 8 week miscarriage? As I was still bleeding, I decided to pass them up on their kindly offer of drugs, and threw my prescription for antibiotics in the bin on the way home. A week later, my miscarriage completed and I lit a candle to say goodbye to my baby, relieved I didn't have surgery. Years later I discovered it can perforate the womb (which can be fatal), cause permanent scarring and even ruin your fertility. These are risks that no one told me when I was being asked to consent to surgery, and I think it's something every woman should know. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones The idea of being able to prevent a baby from having a disability seems an honourable one. After all, no parent wants their child to suffer. I am a parent of a child with a genetically inherited condition and there was no embryo screening when I was having my family. I discovered the technique when I was pregnant with my naturally conceived son, and it was a bittersweet moment, knowing that the child I was carrying may be affected but had I realised my treatment options earlier, I may well have been able to guarantee that he was healthy. However, disability rights groups think differently and some are actually dubbing the procedure as discrimination against the disabled. Comment on Reproductive Ethics said 'It sends a particularly bad message to children with cystic fibrosis - that society would prefer that they had not been born.' As a disabled person myself, I find this argument rather weak. I love my daughter and am glad she is here, but if there was a treatment or a way I could have prevented her from inheriting the condition I would have done. I'm sure my mother felt the same way about me. People fix babies with cleft palates and other problems to make them look physically normal. How is that different to selecting a healthy embryo? Yes, disabled people have the same rights to life and happiness as everyone else, but we should still try to have healthy babies if possible. It's survival of the fittest. Mother animals will leave cubs to die if there is something wrong with them, and I know if I was an animal I'd have been eaten by a lion by now. That is nature. I think political correctness has gone mad. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones I know that losing a spouse is one of the most painful things that can happen to a person, especially if you're young and had the rest of your lives ahead of you and all your dreams and plans for things you wanted to do together. Sometimes love only comes once. There is no guarantee in this age of throw away marriages that you ever would find another. So if a woman has lost her husband to an early death, it's natural to want his baby, to want a part of him which is still physically alive and to be able to fulfil the ambition for a family despite death. It would be comforting not only to the widow but to his parents, who would see the grandchildren they never would have had otherwise. But if the law was changed, what would this new generation of babies make of it? Would they not be disgusted to realise that they are the product of a dead man? While other kids get to kick a ball around with their dad, these children would only get to visit a cemetary. Is that fair, that they would never be able to have a relationship with him? On the other hand, plenty of single mothers choose IVF in order to have a baby and those children are in a similar position which people do not give much thought to. Lesbians have babies and there is also no father and one in three marriages end in divorce, usually with the father leaving his children. So the phenomenon of no dad certainly isn't a new one. I do think that children should be told as soon as possible how they came to be because a recent study showed long term anger problems in young adults who weren't told earlier. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones When the mixed race twins were born as a result of an IVF mix up in the UK, the British Medical Association called it an 'appalling tragedy'. It would have been distressing for the parents to realise that the children were only in part related to them, and for the biological father to realise that a total stranger had carried his child, but we're talking about the birth of children, here. How do you think those children will feel in a few years time when they are grown and realise they were called an 'apalling tragedy'? It is tragic when a baby is born into a divorcing family, or he is born not wanted and put up for adoption, but even in these difficult circumstances, you cannot take away from the miracle of birth. This couple were infertile. If I was infertile and had given birth to healthy twins, genetically related or not, the last thing I would think is that they were an appalling tragedy. As for the woman in the States and her son, I sincerely empathise with both of them. When a woman goes through pregnancy, morning sickness, sore breasts, swollen ankles, aching joints and labor pains, she is the birth mother of that baby whether it came from her egg or not. I understand the biological parents grievance, but to go for custody on the basis of genetics is nothing to do with the child's rights. He has been born to a woman he sees as mother, and now because the sperm and egg came from someone else, he finds himself fought over like a piece of furniture, split between two families. As his biological parents were also pregnant at the same time, he should be allowed to remain with his birth mother and both families should get on with their lives. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones Glycol is a flammable liquid created by fermenting yeast with carbohydrate and adding alcohol. It has long been known that it can cause numerous health problems but more recently it has been implicated with causing low sperm count, poor motility and abnormal shaped sperm, as well as subtle changes to developing foetuses. The best way to avoid damaging your health and fertility is to refuse to use any products with glycol in them. Glycol is in the following products: Anti-freeze Paints Brake fluid Wallpaper stripper Fabric softener Stain removers Make up and mascara Deodorant Bubble bath, soap and aftershave Baby powder and baby wipes Anti-aging skin creams Shampoo It is possible to buy products without Glycol by purchasing 'green' and ecologically friendly options. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones I don't agree with hybrid embryo's or having a child purely to save someone else, but I am in favour of single mother's rights to IVF. It's not guaranteed that everyone will meet that special someone to have a family with. I've been single since the age of 24 and never found anyone else in seven years. If I hadn't given my son's father another chance, he wouldn't be here. Why should single women, who have to forgo the dream of a partner, also put up with being childless? They still have plenty of love to give. As for lesbian woman having a right to IVF, why not? Gay men have the right to adopt. In an age when gay couples can legally marry by virtue of a civil partnership, it surely follows through that they should be allowed to have children? Some say that children won't thrive without a father but there are plenty of other male role models, uncles, brothers, grandfathers, friends. The MP that says fatherless children will take drugs and drop out of school is referring to a study based on children of divorce. Those children who have always lived in a single parent or same sex parent family don't have these adverse outcomes. It is divorce that causes the damage, not being single. Rather than tout about the need for a father, people should be supporting single parents bringing up their children lovingly and do something to tighten divorce laws so that couples don't think they can just cancel if things aren't going well. Every happy family I've ever known has had times where they weren't. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones The new research into growing human eggs in the lab is being touted as the answer for women who would rather delay parenthood to pursue a career. Dr. Evelyn Telfer, who headed the research, suggested that young women would be wise to have a piece of ovarian tissue removed and frozen so that they have a back up fertility 'battery' in case they want to put off having children, and have them later. I confess, I balked. This attitude could encourage women to think that they have forever, and if they get to the point where they're having to use frozen tissue, there is no guarantee it will work. And even if it did, there must be a reason why your biological clock stops at around 45. What would it be like for the baby if his mother was 50, with health problems and couldn't play ball with him? What if she died when he wasn't fully grown and then he ended up in care? To put off having children for a career is fine, as long as you don't wait too long. In my opinion, if you do, that's your own fault. To expect to grow your own eggs because you made the decision not to be pregnant when you actually could produce eggs, well, that seems irrational. And why subject yourself to surgery which could harm you when you could just make love to a man you love and get pregnant that way. I know which I'd prefer. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones I've got to admit, I was initially shocked when I found out that people could order sperm from the internet to get pregnant, almost as casually as ordering your online groceries, but once I'd thought about it, I could see the benefits. Sometimes women just don't want to have their most intimate parts probed at a clinic, and if you're planning on being a single mother, maybe you don't want to have to explain your choice to the doctor. The screening process for adoption is getting ridiculous. You can't adopt if you're disabled, ill or overweight. I even know one couple who were refused adoption because they both worked and social services wanted one parent to stay at home with the child. Having a viable and hassle free way of getting pregnant is the answer, and a lot safer than advertising privately. All the donors are screened for infectious diseases and you don't have to risk meeting up with someone who may be dangerous. What about the child's right to a father? Well, since one in three marriages now end in divorce, with nasty custody battles and kids being pulled apart and witnessing rows, I'd say the sperm donor child has a greater chance of being happy. At least he doesn't become another statistic of divorce. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones Ncise Cwayita, a 20 year old from South Africa, gave birth to a healthy baby girl after she had grown in her liver, instead of the womb. The baby had attached herself to the liver which is a rich source of blood and had her nutrients provided from that. She then expanded into the abdominal cavity. Doctors didn't discover this until they did a scan a week before Ncise's due date. They then did a complicated operation to deliver the baby, who was perfectly normal and weighed 6lbs, 3ozs. A 42 year old woman in Nottingham, UK, gave birth to a baby girl who had developed in her bowel. The baby had implanted in the lining of the bowel where she was able to obtain nutrients. Doctors thought the woman had a tumor growing on her cervix, but this was actually her unused womb. They didn't realise the baby was in her bowel until the day of delivery. The mother needed blood transfusions but both she and her baby are healthy. She had been told she could never have children. A 37 year old woman in the UK gave birth to a baby girl, Millie, after she had developed in her abdomen. Doctors hadn't realised the baby was outside the womb and tried to attempt an induction of labor. After being in labor for hours with no progress, they decided on a caesarean. It was then that they realised the baby wasn't in the womb and ended up doing emergency operations to deliver the baby, a bowel operation and a full hysterectomy. The mother, Lisa, was too ill to see Millie for 3 days afterwards, but now both are healthy. Baby Millie was a bouncing 8lbs, 7ozs. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones Not recieving treatment or stopping treatment can lead to life threatening complications in a thyroid disorder, but there are a number of natural measures that you can take to improve your thyroid function and overall health and fertility, alongside your treatment. There is a herbal remedy for under-active thyroid called Bladder Wrack (Fucus vesiculosus) which may lessen your symptoms. It can be taken as a tablet or a herbal tea. Nettles are also good, either as a tablet, tea or soup. Nutrition and diet: this is very important. Certain foods worsen the symptoms of an under-active thyroid, such as caffeine, sugar, dairy products and processed foods. Cut these out altogether or at least reduce them to give yourself the best chance of health. Foods like cabbage, soya beans, spinach and nuts can sometimes interfere with hormone production so reduce these. If you are suffering from over-active thyroid, increase your consumption of them instead. Yoga has been shown to help in some cases. Please consult a qualified yoga practitioner to find out which exercises could help you. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones In the UK, the caesarean section rate is 25% of all childbearing women. In the US, the situation is even worse, with around 36% of babies being born by caesarean. Back in the 1980's, this rate was about 4%, and in a true life threatening emergency, it should never go above 4%. I have no doubt that caesarean does save lives but these days it is used more and more in non-life threatening situations such as breech presentation which is not a medical emergency. It is possible to give birth vaginally to a breech baby with an experienced midwife or doctor. Increasingly, doctors aren't even trained to deliver these babies, so surgery is all they know. Women may be a little more questioning if they realised that surgery puts them at risk of uterine rupture during pregnancy, as the womb expands and puts pressure on the scar tissue, as well as low lying placenta which can cause heavy blood loss. That is, assuming they can even get pregnant in the first place. According to Am J Obstet Gynecol.1987 Aug;157 (2): 379-83, 6.4% of women who underwent caesarean developed secondary infertility, compared with only 2.2% of those who had had a vaginal delivery. It was suggested that there may be an infertility threshold in which the added stress of caesarean pushes women with other non-surgical infertility factors over the threshold. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones I'm a pro-lifer and I'm in favor of IVF. It may surprise you to learn that some pro-lifers don't agree with IVF or frozen embryo's. Why? Because embryo's created in IVF are unborn babies and many are discarded when the parents no longer need to try anymore. Many times the embryo's are used for medical research, which is regarded by many as disrespectful. I feel that overall, IVF is a good thing as many thousands of people would not exist without it. When that frozen embryo comes from another couple and is donated to someone else, even more arguments rage. Some people say that those who donated it are the parents, and the recipients would need to legally 'adopt' it after the birth. Others say that the embryo becomes the property of the recipient once it is implanted into her womb. Some say that the donors should be given a period of time after the birth to decide if they want to re-claim the child, like in a traditional adoption where the mother has three months to take her child back if she changes her mind. Who exactly is the parent to the child? The donor who created it, or the woman who gave birth? I am sure these arguments are insulting to any woman who has spent nine months being pregnant and had a beautiful baby. She is that baby's mother, no matter who produced the DNA. I knew when I gave permission for my eggs to be removed that they were no longer mine. If a person is secretly wanting a baby, she shouldn't be a donor. I do agree that frozen embryo's should not just be thrown away, and if you're opposed to testing on embryo's, just refuse consent for your eggs to be used in this way. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones I was born three months early, 31 years ago. After struggling in hospital for three months and having several arrests in my breathing, I was finally stable. When I weighed 5lbs, my mother was allowed to take me home. My health has been of concern ever since. I had a meningitis type illness at age four and growing up had frequent stomach bugs, flu and thrush infections. I developed chronic migraines at age 11, vulvodynia at age 12 (which has so far been permanent and causes me constant pain), I suffered with debilatating hyperacusis from the age of 14 until I was 25, of which I still have after-effects, and I have back and chest pain due to a twisted spine, brought on by the cerebral palsy I got from my premature birth. When I was 17, doctors thought I may be infertile. Thankfully I proved them wrong. Fertility was not one of my issues. I now have five children, so I'm proof that pre-term people can have children. Three of my children were overdue. I do live in daily pain, though, and wonder whether my prematurity caused it. Geeta Swarmy, MD, said 'Pre-term survival is improving because of advances in neonatal care, however, it may mean that we're improving survival while adversely affecting the health and quality of life in the long run.' Am I glad to be alive? Yes. I look into the eyes of my beautiful children and know they wouldn't exist if it weren't for the benefits of neonatal intensive care. I am thankful I still had my fertility. But sometimes I sit in pain that won't go away no matter how many medicines I take, and I think that maybe saving life at all costs is not so black and white. There are shades of gray. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones The classified section in baby magazines I have read show advertisements for collecting your baby's stem cells to protect them from cancer later in life. Just a small sample from your baby's umbilical cord could be the answer in years to come if she ever gets a life threatening disease. It's all the rage and today's parents are paying hundreds of dollars for the privilege. I'm not entirely against the idea. If there was a stem cell that could regenerate my daughter's myelin and stop her HMSN, then great. If there was a cell that would stop cancer without the use of chemotherapy, wonderful. But I still feel that doctors are pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable and I cannot see how fertilizing a bovine egg with a human man's sperm is advancing science or humanity. The cross human and animal embryo would be different from a regular human when it comes to studying stem cells and diseases. Is it merely morbid curiousity on the part of researchers that propells them to do something like this? Let's face it, a half human, half cow is a crime against nature, even if it is destroyed at two weeks old. Stem cells can be studied in completely human embryos (although pro life organisations are opposed to that, and they may have a point) so one would wonder why the need to use animal eggs? There are women who are prepared to donate their own eggs for research, and I did so in the past. I think that scientists are simply doing this because they can, that authorities can interpret the law - which clearly prohibits this - to suit their own purposes. Just because someone can do something, doesn't give them the right to and just because something is possible, doesn't mean it is desirable. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones Taking folic acid has been shown to be protective against heart disease, diabetes and even cancer. It prevents neural tube defects like spina bifida and anencephaly in infants and is recommended for all pregnant or planning to be pregnant women. Now, the latest research has shown it is important for men too. Researchers are tentatively suggesting that possibly men planning to be fathers should take the vitamin as well as their wives or partners. While it has not been proven, further research is indicated as necessary. But did you know that this vitamin is controversial and there has been evidence to suggest that it can actually cause miscarriage? According to the Lancet, ( Can Terathanasia Explain the Protective Effect of Folic-acid Supplementation on Birth Defects? Lancet 350(9076): 513-515 (16Aug 1997). Doctors speculated whether folic acid could cause terathanasia (where the vitamin selects embryos which have abnormalities and causes the body to spontaneously abort). A trial in Hungary found that there was a significant reduction in children born with birth defects to those women taking folic acid, but also a 16% increase in the rate of spontaneous abortion. A 15% increase was also noted in the UK. If folic acid really does abort abnormal embryos, this would account for the reduction in birth defects. Personally, I would still take the vitamin to prevent spina bifida and I'd encourage all men and women to eat as many greens as possible for a healthier baby! Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones My mother and sister both used tampons. They couldn't stand pads. I grew up seeing tampons as normal and not knowing many other choices, or even that most women in the world don't have access to disposible sanitary products. Being struck down with vulvodynia at the age of 12 meant that after a few, exceedingly painful, experiences with tampons, I decided to ditch tampons in favor of pads. Two years later, I read about the death of 15 year old Alice Kilvert from tampon related toxic shock and I resolved never to try them again. When I became a mother, I used cloth diapers on my baby because they didn't contain chemicals and fill up landfill sites. Little did I know the pads I was wearing did not biodegrade and were full of chemicals that agrevated my vulvodynia, could cause painful sex and endometriosis. I was ashamed that I got to 30 years of age before I even realised that. So when my period returned when my son was 9 months old, I vowed it would be the last one using disposibles and I bought myself lots of cloth pads including some tie dyed ones in purple, blue, green and funky orange, from bumbeano nappies. Am I disgusted by the idea? Not at all. I'm revelling in the transition and for the first time in my life, I am actually looking forward to bleeding! Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones It is widely known that there is a greater risk to the mother and baby with assisted conception, from miscarriage to birth defects to prematurity. That is, assuming the IVF is successful and she gets pregnant in the first place. The success rate of IVF is still only 20 to 25%. But is it any wonder when you consider how difficult natural conception is? An egg is only present in the womb for one to two days each month so the chance of getting pregnant at any other time is about 5%, and that's for a fertile couple. Then the sperm have to make the journey to the egg, and they only live for between three and four days. They might not even make it passed the vaginal canal if the woman's mucus is not favorable, too acidic and they're dead before they even swim anywhere. If conditions are right, the egg's zona, or outer casing, has to be soft enough for a sperm to penetrate. If the egg is too hard, then the sperm cannot break into it and both will perish. If fertilization does occur, the tiny cluster of human life then has to make it's way to a suitable place in the womb, a journey fraught with danger. If the conception occurs in the tubes, there is a risk of the embryo implanting there. If it makes it to the womb, the lining has to be optimal or it cannot implant and will get reabsorbed by the body. Doctors say that a large percentage of pregnancies end before a woman has even missed her period, so she never knows she was pregnant. When you consider the incredible odds involved, it's a miracle that IVF works at all, so anything that makes it more natural has to be good news. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones A lot of women with infertility problems also have sexual problems, for instance, adhesions which then cause pain during sexual intercourse. This can lead to an avoidance of sex because of the pain associated with it. If, as in my case, you have vulvodynia or another genital pain disorder, it can be difficult to have sex at all, and obviously without sex there is no baby. According to the Medscope General Medicine journal, a number of women in the study had painful sex problems, which were then cured by the Wurn Technique. 'In the course of treating female infertility with a manual physical therapy technique,several of our patients volunteered the fact that they were having "the best sex, the best orgasms ever." And: 'Relatively recent investigations have found the prevalence of female sexual dysfunction (approximately 40%) to surpass that of males (approximately 30%). Despite the higher prevalence, there have been few investigatory studies of female sexual problems and fewer available treatments than for comparable male conditions.' Good sex is important when trying for a baby. The female orgasm helps to move sperm along, increasing the chance of conception. The hormone, oxytocin, is released during orgasm and this regulates our happiness and stress levels. Stress has been directly linked to infertility, so if you're having painful sex and you're not able to orgasm, maybe you should try the Wurn Technique. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones I have a daughter, Alicia, who I thought was perfectly healthy. Although through her father's condition, I knew there was a 50% risk she would inherit a disorder, she had got to nearly 5 years of age without any signs or symptoms. I thought we were home free, that I was her mother and I would notice if something wasn't right. Then it happened overnight. One day she was dressing and I noticed her toes had curled over. What followed were specialist appointments, blood tests and then the agonizing truth. All my hopes and dreams for her future were shattered in an instant. I felt angry, cheated, thrown into a world of genetic disorder that I didn't want to belong to. She still has a future, and likely a bright one, but it just wasn't the one I imagined. So I would give anything to give her a vitamin or a stem cell or some type of treatment that would stop this disease, even if it meant hacking bits out of my own body. I can see the advantage of using DNA from three people in IVF, as a mother on the disease side of the fence, but I'm still not in favor of it. Why? No one knows what side effects using three people's DNA would cause to the baby. Who would be the baby's mother? As there are genes from two women, would that mean the baby would have two mothers? How would a child feel, when everyone else has a mother and a father but he has three parents? It reminds me of Frankinstein's baby. As a disabled person myself, I can really see a time when IVF phases out any imperfection, and one day maybe natural conception will be deemed too 'risky' in a climate of perfect, laboratory produced 'designer' babies. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones Did you know that 15% of the population is infertile? And this is rising steadily, causing scientists to ponder exactly why. The most common reason for increased infertility rates is thought to be the age at which women have children. In modern times, when women are expected to have successful careers as well as have a family, some women are putting off getting pregnant until their late thirties or forties with disasterous consequences. However, reports from the Massachussets Institute of Technology showed that 35 men they tested had partial deletion of their Y chromosome, leading to missing information in their genes and subsequent low sperm counts. If these men were to have children using ICSI - where a sperm is injected into an egg - they could have children who also carry the gene fault who may themselves find it difficult to become fathers. Most men are never tested for the deletion, and low sperm count is a very common problem in male factor infertility, so at present we have no idea how many men may pass on their infertility to their offspring. Scientists predict that our generations of IVF babies will themselves require assisted conception. There is also worry that the ICSI procedure itself may damage a baby's DNA. Damaged DNA can cause disabilities. ICSI was carried out on monkey's to examine the affects and 5 baby monkeys were born. Of those, there were two females with eye defects, one stillborn male and two completely healthy females. Should all men be gene tested prior to undergoing IVF in case they can pass on a genetic fault? Medics say it is rare, but in reality, with no testing, we have no idea how rare it may be, and if I was going to be a new parent, I'd want to know. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones The new assisted conception technique, in vitro maturation, is taking immature eggs and maturing them outside the body. It has had some encouraging results with 400 live births so far, but scientists have absolutely no idea of the effects of using immature eggs or if there would be an adverse outcome to the child through not having part of its genetic material matured in the ovaries, as nature intended. According to Dr. Allan Pacey from the British Fertility Society, there is some 'detectable' risks of cancer in babies born after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), where a single sperm is injected into an egg. This process is used in all IVF procedures, including IVM. He also says that ICSI babies are at heightened risk of having abnormalities of their sex chromosomes - something which I imagine may cause fertility problems when those babies grow to adulthood, therefore perpetuating the problem of infertility on future generations. As well as this, there is evidence of birth deformities. As adults we can weigh up the pros and cons of a treatment and decide to accept or reject a treatment for ourselves. We can choose to accept side effects visited upon us by drugs and invasive procedures, but is it really fair to accept these risks - including cancer - for our babies, who after all, cannot speak for themselves? More research into outcomes needs to be undertaken, and maybe sperm could be placed in a dish with the eggs to fertilise in a more natural way? This might not be possible for many couples, or perhaps it is too ineffective, but no one has really thought about the effects of puncturing the egg with a needle and what damage that might do to DNA. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones According to researchers at Sydney University in Australia, men with damaged sperm or low sperm counts should ejaculate every day in order to increase the count and quality of sperm. The use of drugs to treat male fertility problems is still new and experimental and as there is a risk of side-effects and not much proof that they work, you might be more interested in a natural approach. Next time your partner says she's too tired or not in the mood, tell her that once a day keeps the fertility specialist at bay. The study included 42 men with abnormally shaped sperm. The men were told to abstain from sex for three days, and samples were collected. They were then told to ejaculate once a day. All of the men except for five showed improved sperm quality and less damaged sperm in the second sample, taken after a week of daily ejaculating. The sample taken after three days abstainance was poorer in quality, so the method of abstainance to 'save up' sperm may actually be damaging men's fertility. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones So, what if you suffer from delayed ejaculation and you've ruled out all physical problems and done all your counseling and sex therapy and you still haven't recovered? You want to start a family. While it's possible for a woman to get pregnant without orgasm, sadly it is necessary for the man to ejaculate or the pregnancy will not take place. If this is your situation, there are options available to you. Artificial Insemination - In very severe cases of delayed ejaculation where the man cannot ejaculate at all, semen can be removed from the testes using a syringe and injected into the woman's vagina. IVF - invitro fertilisation using donor sperm is also possible, or using a syringe method mentioned above. If the man is able to ejaculate when masturbating, it may be possible for him to produce a sample for IVF this way. DIY Artificial Insemination - In less severe cases, if you want to avoid the expense of an IVF clinic, it may to possible to produce a sample during masturbation at home and then transfer it to the vagina. If you are planning on attempting this, please be careful and use an object which isn't sharp, as some women have damaged their vagina's and cervixes trying to artificially inseminate themselves. A plastic applicator such as that used with a vaginal pessary, would be suitable, or a large syringe (without the needle attachment) is also worth trying. Inseminator kits may be available from some pharmacies. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones Despite being told I was probably infertile at the age of 17, I successfully had two beautiful daughters with only 17 months difference in their age, with no pregnancy complications. My daughters were healthy, so I never imagined that getting pregnant a third time would be difficult. However, after months of unprotected sex, I still wasn't pregnant. We tried everything, abstaining to 'save up' sperm and then having a night of passion (which doesn't work at all so don't try it), we tried sleeping together every day, we tried healthy food, vitamins and detox tea. Still nothing. I couldn't understand it. Eventually we decided to try the ovulation method so I bought some ovulation tests. After a couple of weeks of testing, the second blue line appeared. I was ovulating! Tonight was the night! I told my husband. Nothing happened that night, for as soon as we got into bed, he got so nervous he couldn't do anything. He was simply switched off. When I asked why, he said sex wasn't romantic anymore, that it was just about trying for a baby, and that he couldn't perform on demand. We spent the evening watching TV and I didn't get pregnant that month either. It didn't just happen once, but repeatedly for months. I wondered if I would actually get to sleep with my husband again or if he still found me attractive. We decided to stop thinking about babies and just have sex for fun, and the moment we stopped trying, I got pregnant. It was the same for my friend, who tried for 3 years and then had a daughter when she thought she couldn't. So relax, you never know what might happen when you aren't thinking about it. Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones If the thought of Clomid makes you cringe, you faint at the sight of needles or you just don't like the idea of surgery, you might like to try some alternative remedies to regulate your cycle. You might like to start by making a checklist of things which are particularly stressful in your life, and seeing how many of those situations you can eliminate or reduce. Keeping a food diary will also establish whether your body is reacting adversely to what you eat. It will also enable you to see clearly the nutritional value of your diet and give you ideas for how you can improve it. Foods such as soy and soy milks are great for inducing ovulation as they contain oestrogen which aids the process of ovulation. Fertility supplements (multi-vitamin) tablets have been successful for some women. Grapefruit juice is a womb stimulant so you could try drinking this every day. Raspberry leaves tone the uterus and may possibly help you to ovulate (although there is no definite proof of this). It is available as a tea, or if you don't like the taste of the tea, you can buy it in tablet form. If you think you ovulate some of the time, you can monitor your body temperature to see which month's you are ovulating. This can be done manually with a thermometer or an easier method is to use an ovulation test. |
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