The latest debate in Britain is regarding women who donate their eggs to infertile women who want children and whether or not the “good Samaritan” deed is paying enough.

The average amount of money an American woman receives for donating healthy eggs to facilities is just around $6,000. According to recent reports out of the UK, the average British woman is only compensated approximately 250 pounds, which translates roughly into $383.00.  How this is even understandable is beyond me; why women in the US would be so highly paid for the same type of “service” as a woman residing in the UK is actually kind of mind-blowing.

The rationale behind such monetary discrepancy?  Dr. Francoise Shenfield of the University College of London has an idea.  Shenfield states:

“In Europe, we have the general idea that altruism is a good thing, and we don’t want to turn human body parts into a commodity.”

This notion could possibly explain why women in certain countries are paid far less than women in other countries for the same type of donation, at least on the ethical side of the house.

And personally, I have to agree.  When there are so many men and women out there suffering because they can’t have a child, who is another woman to dangle a price tag over another’s head for something that they, themselves, never truly invested in to begin with?

On the other side of the coin, women who are seeking financial gain are not queueing up to donate their eggs because of the low pay and this is causing a massive shortage for women who aren’t able to conceive on their own.  Egg donations, traditionally, aren’t considered an invasive or lengthy procedure.  Women are selected to donate and after a pelvic exam, blood work and an array of ultrasound examinations, the woman is signed up for the “donation cycle.”  The cycle can take anywhere from three to six weeks, depending on the woman’s menstrual cycle, and during this time the donor is either administered — or self-administers — hormone treatments to regulate the cycle and produce “super” eggs. Once the eggs are determined to be “mature”, the donor undergoes a procedure involving a needle and a vagina, where the mature eggs are drawn out.  This particular part of the donation process is a same-day surgery.

All in all, it’s a delicate situation and one not to be taken lightly in either case — but I think it still all boils down to money.  If receiving pay for what is supposed to be such an altruistic act were obliterated, maybe more people wouldn’t be so quick to take it for granted one way or another.

Thoughts?

I read an article today on CBS.com regarding the things a woman should eat and similar things that women should avoid ingesting while pregnant and I’ll tell you … some of them just blew my mind.  And by “blew my mind” I mean I fell over from a non-surprise-induced heart attack.

Dr. Jennifer Ashton, a practicing OB-GYN interviewed on the Early Show recently and discussed healthy pregnancies with the viewers.  The primary advice that Ashton doled out revolved around not eating undercooked meats, avoiding non-Pasteurized dairy products and avoiding the urge to eat … paint chips.

In most cases, pregnant women are intelligent enough to avoid undercooked food because the undercooked entrée that sounds so good when you’re not pregnant can produce problems down the line that are even further exacerbated when you are pregnant.  As for the paint-chip-eating thing, Ashton states that nine times out of ten, the desire to eat weird non-food items can be chalked up to a pregnancy-induced iron deficiency, which, in my experience, can be cured by a lovely pack of prescription iron pills that result in your stool coming out like, well, a stool.

Regardless, my point in this article is that Ashton makes good points — if painfully obvious ones — regarding responsible diet during pregnancy, but what about the people who take it completely out of context and go overboard with the “eat this and die” advice?

During my one (and currently only) pregnancy, there were a select group of women that I worked with that absolutely shot me with visual daggers if I so much as picked up a half of a cup of coffee or tea.  These were the same women that stated I shouldn’t eat meat of any kind and especially shouldn’t expose myself to the sun, wind, rain, snow or dark closets with serial murders lurking in its shadowy depths.

It’s completely understandable that you have more to account for when you are pregnant, but when people go overboard in either direction — whether it’s totally overreacting or on the other end of the spectrum, treating you like you’re an imbecilic invalid — it’s a little hard to listen to and even harder to swallow.

What about you ladies that have endured pregnancy?  What’s the best-worst advice you’ve ever gotten?

According to a new study, most men involved in a relationship are a-okay with the surprise of an unplanned pregnancy. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy surveyed Americans ranging in ages from 18 to 29 and males surveyed overall stated that they wouldn’t be destroyed by the news of an accidental conception.

Forty-three percent of men stated that they’d give the situation a thumbs-up but yet, only twenty percent of women respondents stated that they would be alright with a surprise pregnancy.

Talk about a switch, man.  I can just see [the majority] of my male friends right now upon finding out that their girlfriends or wives or FWBs had become pregnant.  It, probably, would not be pretty.  We’re talking major emotional meltdown.  It’s pretty surprising that women would be less okay than men with the announcement, but hey … I guess it really just depends on the type of relationships that you’re in, what stage you’re at in your life and the resources to make everything just a bit easier for everyone involved, is all.

SIDS is something, as a mother, that I was completely paranoid about as my infant daughter slept in her crib during the first year of her life.  Moreover, I was even more frightened at the aspect of sleeping with my infant daughter because I was afraid I’d roll over on her or end up smothering her somehow with a pillow.

SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, is precisely what it sounds like — the sudden death of an infant for no apparent reason.  In the United States alone, 50 in 100,000 deaths in infants are attributed to SIDS and is the leading cause of death in children under two months of age.

While many experts are unsure, specifically, what causes SIDS, researchers have pinpointed the fact that smoking during pregnancy heightens the risk of a child dying from SIDS after birth.  New studies state that women can lessen the risk of their child dying of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome by 60% just by avoiding smoke during their pregnancy — even second-hand smoke.  Josef Buttigieg, head researcher of the study states:

“While cigarette smoke contains many different compounds, we found there is a direct impact of one component, nicotine, on the ability of certain cells to detect and respond to oxygen deprivation.  When a baby is lying face down in bed, for example, it should sense a reduction in oxygen and move its head. But this arousal mechanism doesn’t work as it should in babies exposed to nicotine during pregnancy.”

Ladies, if you’re pregnant and haven’t quit yet, maybe this will dissuade you from continuing a habit that could potentially end your unborn child’s life.

A new bill passed in Utah claims that a woman “guilty” of having a miscarriage might soon be considered a lawbreaker.  And as I said this is a new bill, a new potential law, not one of those odd, for some reason still-in-existence bill from six decades ago. Lawmakers in Utah also state that a woman who has an induced abortion will be guilty of crime as well.

The bill is supposedly designed to protect pregnant woman and claims that any woman found to have undergone an induced abortion, or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, an “accidental” miscarriage, would be considered punishable by law.  A recent case triggered the pre-approval of such bill; a pregnant seventeen year-old girl allegedly paid a man one-hundred fifty dollars to beat her so that she would suffer the effects of a “miscarriage.”

Missy Bird, director of Planned Parenthood in Utah, states that she fears that a lot of women suffering addiction or effects of substance abuse will take their problems and run.  Why would a woman want to be held legally liable for a miscarriage if they have a substance abuse problem that’s out of control?  Bird also states:

“This creates a law that makes any pregnant woman who has a miscarriage potentially criminally liable for murder.”

Although many states have a bill or law in place stating that third-trimester abortions are considered fetal homicide, this particular bill would stay in effect from day one of the woman’s pregnancy.  The only life-saving clause that comes along with the bill is the apparent respite from imprisonment if the pregnant woman should fail to follow prescribed medical advice such as accepting or declining a Cesarean section, having anesthesia administered for a procedure during childbirth or other related medical caveats.

The bill is steeping in its own shit at this point and the only thing between that and a legal penalty for having a miscarriage?  The governor’s signature.

Just over four hundred men were recently surveyed on their habits of condom use and almost half of those men state that the condoms they had purchased did not fit correctly.

The male participants surveyed also stated that the ill fit caused breakage, abrasion and general failure and were also likely to experience decreased enjoyment in their sexual encounters with partners.

Although these things are somewhat normal due to the fact that no two penises are alike in physical makeup, researchers claim that many men voicing their concerns on condoms that fit incorrectly are more than likely buying the wrong size.

Psychologists state that men don’t want to be seen purchasing small- or medium-sized condoms in retail stores and are thus suffering the consequences of their vanity.  Researchers on the study state:

“Moreover, the increased likelihood that men using ill-fitting condoms will remove condoms before sex ends constitutes another form of condom failure. Fortunately, it seems likely that these problems could be rectified through education programs.”

I’m not so quick to feel sorry for these men.  They’re taking personal issue with their penile size to the point where it’s not only causing issue for themselves, but also for their partners.  This, clearly, could cause an influx of unwanted pregnancies, sexually-transmitted diseases and other negatively impacting issues into the bedroom.

Guys, buy your condoms to suit your stump.  We women don’t go out in public and bellyache about our small boobs and buy 36-DD-sized bras when we’re clearly a 34-B.  It’s just not realistic.

Scott Moore and his partner, Thomas, are expecting a bundle of life’s joy next month: a child.

Moore underwent a gender reassignment surgery in order to become a man, but kept his lady parts so that he could father/mother a child.  Scott, formerly known as Jessica, had the whole shebang: breast removal, hormone treatment therapy and facial hair transplants.  Moore has been one happy man since his reassignment, marriage to partner Thomas (who was also formerly a woman) and pregnancy with their first child, who is due next month.  The couple also has two other children at home, ages ten and twelve, both from previous relationships.

The child is due to be born next month and will be called ‘Miles’.

No word on if the child will be named after the many ‘miles’ they’ve walked together in order to reach their ultimate destination.

Congratulations to the happy couple and good luck on a healthy childbirth!

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democratic Senator of New York, recently gave birth.  Well, twenty months ago.  She’s taken a very serious effort into shedding the pounds that she put on during pregnancy and experts state that just in the past few weeks she’s lost anywhere from 15 to 20 pounds.

This speaks volumes for women who are not like the stereotypical Hollywood starlet (I’m lookin’ at you Posh!) who barely gain weight during pregnancy and are back to their normal, skinny self mere days after childbirth. Not only is it completely refreshing to see a woman in a different kind of spotlight taking weight off the healthy way, it also puts pregnancy weight gain into perspective and notates what’s physically beneficial and what’s not.

Gillibrand claims that it’s taken her almost two years to get back to her pre-pregnancy weight.

I can sympathize with the woman.  I gained almost sixty pounds during the pregnancy of my only child and over two years later, I am still battling those few extra pounds that don’t seem to want to come off.  It took me months to even want to start eating like a normal person again.  I’ll admit: I was one of those pregnant women that ate and ate and ate … and ate — simply for the mere fact that I felt pregnancy to be a free pass in overindulgence in food (mostly crap) consumption.  Should I have allowed myself to get so gluttonous?  Ew to the no.  Not only was it gross, but it was unhealthy, too. After nine months of horrible eating habits, it probably took me at least another six months to get back into a normal, healthy diet.

Months even after that, I was just getting the gumption up to hit the gym and I’ve been kicking ass and taking names in the fitness center for over a year now.  I’m pretty proud.  I’ve lost all but about five pounds, but I’m okay with that.  I’m lucky that I didn’t end up worse off than I did and it’s definitely a lesson learned for my next pregnancy, whenever that may be.

It’s super important to not only know your (healthy) limits during pregnancy, but knowing the same type of limits in losing whatever you may have put on in the aftermath.  Maybe next time I’ll be a bit smarter and won’t have to kill myself taking fifty-plus pounds off — I’ll already be in the habit of healthy diet and exercise.