fertility

It's a woman's choice, isn't it? That may not be the case in some parts of Australia, where a mother breaks the law if she has a child via paid surrogate. According to Jezebel:

"Altruistic surrogacy," in which no money changes hands, is allowed in Australia but seldom happens. The new overseas surrogacy ban in New South Wales (Australia's most populous state, containing Sydney, where Kidman grew up and where her parents live) has already been passed but has not yet gone into effect. It would "impose penalties of two years' jail, a $110,000 fine, or both on parents who pay for a surrogate here or abroad to carry their child," according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Despite fertility issues, the ban makes it the government's place to decide which citizens are entitled to have families and how they should go about creating them. What's your reaction?

She's 50 and a first-time mom! Japanese politician Seiko Noda welcomed her son today. According to the report:

Her long struggle to become a mother, with several miscarriages, has shone a spotlight on fertility treatment and egg donations, which are not covered by any laws in Japan, forcing couples to travel overseas to seek donated eggs.

The new mother said she's open to having more children — possibly a second or third. Medical advancements in fertility have made putting off motherhood an option for many ladies. Maria del Carmen Bousada became the world's oldest mom when she gave birth to twins at 66 in 2006. She died a couple years later causing some people to advocate age caps on fertility treatments.

While Americans have access to fertility methods and being a career-minded mother has become common that isn't true for women in other nations. The article said:

Noda told the Josei Seven women's magazine this week that, as a new mother, she would keep pushing pro-family policies aimed at raising Japan's birth rate. At 1.37 births per woman, Japan's fertility rate is now one of the world's lowest, a trend blamed on a widespread belief that women who give birth should quit their jobs, shortages of childcare centres and other systemic factors.

Americans may take access to fertility treatments and the myriad of ways to create a family — even welcoming twiblings — for granted in the states. But across the pond, one couple is making headlines with their announcement to open the UK's first surrogacy center for same-sex parents-to-be. Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow have been in the press since they were named on the birth certificates of their now 11-year-old twins born via surrogate. The couple have since welcomed three more children, and the center will enable other people to do the same. Barrie Drewitt-Barlow said:

Its aim is to bring together intended parents with egg donors and surrogate, along with sperm donors, and offer legal advice from qualified legal professionals.

The British Surrogacy Agency will have a second office in San Francisco.

Avoiding your dad's call? Hanging up faster? Hiding in your room until menopause? It's because you don't want to have a baby with dear old dad. Which, while disturbing, is really better than the alternative.

While ovulation may be a good time to schedule a first date, it's a bad time to hang out with your father, at least according to your mating instincts. A new study looked at women's phone bills to determine they were less likely to call their dads when fertile and more likely to hang up earlier. This sounds totally ridiculous, but the average call while fertile lasts 1.7 minutes compared to 3.4 during times of low fertility.

I thought maybe women weren't talking much to anyone on these days, but researchers thought of that and found women actually call their mothers more and talk longer. Since my parents usually tell me the same things, maybe talking to mom renders dad irrelevant? Or maybe she just passes him the phone? I'll believe anything that makes this less gross.