LilSugar

Would Economics Influence Your Decision to Raise Baby?

LilSugar — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:00:00 -0700

One loving mother of three did something she never imagined - she put her fourth baby up for adoption. Struggling to make ends meet raising her teenagers as a single parent, Renee Siegfort, 36, did what she believed was in all of her children's best interest when she found herself unexpectedly pregnant again - she found a family to raise her infant, Joie. While the decision was heart wrenching, a recent report said that it is not uncommon as many moms are considering adoption due to the economy and the fact that raising children is so expensive. Some placement agencies are seeing anywhere from a 10 to 30 percent increase in inquiries. In the same article, a rep for the National Abortion Federation said their phones were ringing off the hook. Would finances influence your baby-raising decision?

Pregnant Woman Faces Forced Abortion of Her Third Child

LilSugar — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:00:10 -0800

In America, we have the freedom to reproduce at will, but in other countries that isn't the case. An Uyghur woman who is more than six months pregnant with her third child is facing a forced abortion. Chinese authorities are holding her in a hospital because she is only permitted two offspring. One report said:

China's one-child-per-family policy applies mainly to majority Han Chinese but allows ethnic minorities, including Uyghurs, to have additional children, with peasants permitted to have three children and city-dwellers two.

But while Tursun is a peasant, her husband, Nurmemet Tohtasin, is from the city of Gulja [in Chinese, Yining] so their status is unclear. The couple live with their two children in Bulaq village, Dadamtu township, in Gulja.

The couple is also subject to steep governmental fines. Do you think it's fair for the government to regulate a person's reproductive rights?

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Not Every Expectant Mom Wants a Baby

LilSugar — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:00:28 -0800

The Romanian film, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days reminds us that not every expectant mother has visions of pink and blue or is even ready to welcome a baby.

The foreign flick about a college student seeking an illegal abortion is getting rave reviews.

According to today's New York Times review:

In “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” a ferocious, unsentimental, often brilliantly directed film about a young woman who helps a friend secure an abortion, the camera doesn’t follow the action, it expresses consciousness itself. This consciousness - alert to the world and insistently alive - is embodied by a young university student who, one wintry day in the late 1980s, helps her roommate with an abortion in Ceausescu’s Romania when such procedures were illegal, not uncommon and too often fatal. It’s a pitiless, violent story that in its telling becomes a haunting and haunted intellectual and aesthetic achievement.

Lil Links: Camila and Levi Take Our Breath Away at the Beach

babysugar — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:30:04 -0700

It was surf and sand for the McConaughey clan – Celebrity Baby Scoop
Papa Jerry O'Connell is going to law school – Celebrity Baby Blog
Orbit fights back on negative consumer report – Parent Dish
Can childless friends give good parenting advice? – Cafe Mom
Posh bean bag chairs – Cookie
Do you feel birthday party pressure? – Momversation
Is this Chinese abortion ad crossing the line? – The Mommy Files
Livie and Luca discount! – Cool Mom Picks
Yoga improves eating habits – Health
She put her cancer treatment on hold to have a baby -– Parenting

Would You Breastfeed Longer to Save Money?

babysugar — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:00:00 -0700

Desperate times call for more mother's milk? In light of the economy, parents are taking extreme measures - some going so far as putting their infants up for adoption or having abortions. Others are finding other ways to pinch a penny here and there to save some cash. Many moms are choosing to breastfeed longer to so they don't have to fork out the dough for formula. Aside from the benefits of breastfeeding, families may take advantage of the financial aspect of it, too. Would you?
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What Would You Do With Frozen Embryos?

babysugar — Thu, 21 May 2009 07:00:21 -0700

For many couples with fertility problems, in vitro fertilization is sometimes the answer to their prayers. Often, the "farming" procedure leaves hopeful partners with more than one viable embryo for implantation. If a successful pregnancy is achieved, the parents-to-be must decide what to do with those that were not used. Couples can choose to keep them frozen in case they decide to reproduce again or donate them to other people or to research.

Actor Michael J. Fox, a proponent of stem cell research, is on a mission to encourage those couples to donate their embryos in hopes of saving or changing future lives. An emotionally charged topic, opponents worry that the embryo would be sacrificed in a similar fashion as abortion. To that point, the stem cell champions argue they would never come to fruition in any case and if used for research, they would actually be bettering life for countless others by potentially curing ailments and preventing disease.

What do you think people should do with their unwanted frozen embryos?
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The Business of Babies Isn't Always an Honest One

LilSugar — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 08:00:10 -0700

For some couples with fertility issues, adoption and surrogacy can be their only options for fulfilling dreams of having a family. But, not everyone involved in the baby business is on the up and up. Consider the adoptive parents that found out their Samoan children had been stolen from their biological parents and placed in America under false pretenses by Focus On Children adoption agency. Thirty-seven children were involved, but the agents who facilitated the placements were charged with just misdemeanors.

It's equally devastating to think about the hopeful parents now caught in the midst of SurroGenesis's situation. Couples placed money in trust funds for the company to pay their surrogates, but the money went missing. One report said:

On one level, this looks like any other financial scandal. But the pregnancies add a whole new dimension. Around 70 people are affected. At least one pregnancy plan was reportedly suspended just before extracting the eggs that were to be used. In two other reported cases, the surrogates are in their third trimester. But what about the pregnancies in the middle-too late to call off the fertilization or implantation but not too late for abortion?

Some couples have managed to pay, out of their own funds, the monthly installments that the companies had promised to the surrogates. But others can't. A lawyer involved in the case says, "We've got couples in the midst of pregnancies with no ability to pay the surrogate."

If you are seeking alternative ways to start or complete your family, make sure and do extensive research.

Source

Lifestyle Changes That Could Improve Your Fertility

babysugar — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 09:00:44 -0700

It's not always easy to talk about, but 10 percent of couples that wish to have a baby are still unable to after a year of unprotected sex. About half of these couples can achieve pregnancy within two years after appropriate treatment of the woman, the man, or both, but it can require a lot more effort than charting out your ovulation days. There are no dietary or nutritional cures for infertility, but specialists stress that a healthy lifestyle is important. For a list of lifestyle changes that can help, read more.

Ovulatory problems are reversible by changing behavioral patterns. Such conditions include:

Maintain a healthy weight. Women who are either over- or underweight are at risk for fertility failure, including a lower chance for achieving success with fertility procedures. Everyone should have a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains and low in saturated fats.
Stop smoking. Smoking increases the risk for infertility in both men and women, and poses a future health risk for the mother and infant. Everyone should quit.
Avoid caffeine and alcohol.
Avoid excessive exercise if it causes menstrual irregularity. However, moderate and regular exercise is essential for good health. Few women exercise to the extent that their periods are affected. For those who do, one study found that simply adding calories can restore menstruation in many cases.
Don't use electric blankets. In one study, a 74% higher incidence of spontaneous abortion was associated with using an electric blanket during the month of conception. There was no association with heated waterbeds or electromagnetic waves.
Avoid any unnecessary medications.

If you are having trouble conceiving, research the causes, risk factors and other treatment of infertility and talk to your doctor.

Lil Links: Siblings Dressed Alike

LilSugar — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:00:00 -0700

My lil fashion twin contest - The Poop
Eco-friendly laundry bags - Ohdeedoh
The Crowes go out for breakfast - Celebrity Baby Scoop
Hugh Jackman's kids wage water war - Celebrity Baby Blog
Contraception is abortion says Bush administration - Parent Dish
Empty nest - Yahoo Shine Parenting

British Mum Gave Her Life to Save Son

LilSugar — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 08:00:00 -0800

As mothers we do all we can for our kids, but Lorraine Allard gave her life to save her unborn son. Diagnosed with advanced cancer while she was four month pregnant with her fourth child, the 33-year-old mother of three girls - Leah,10, Amy, 8, and Courtney, 20 months - refused her best chance of survival to abort her son to start chemotherapy. A recent article in Daily Mail said:

Instead, with steadfast courage, she insisted on waiting long enough to give her unborn son a chance to survive, telling her husband Martyn: "If I am going to die, my baby is going to live."

To hear more about this courageous mom just read more.

The expectant mom went in to premature labor at 25 weeks and the family of five welcomed their addition - lil Liam on November 18, 2007. Though she began treatment after delivering, Lorraine passed away two months later on January 18.

Her husband Martyn, 34, said his wife had strength for the both of them. He said:

"Towards the end we knew things weren't going well, but she was overjoyed that she had given life to Liam."

Though Lorraine made the ultimate sacrifice for her son, she told her husband, she didn't want their son, who is expected to go home from the hospital in March to feel bad that she died.

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