Health

Of those who have undergone IVF successfully, some are fortunate enough to have extra embryos to store for future use. But with that luck, a significant issue can arise. What should people do with these spare embryos when they have decided their family is complete? The options advertised are straightforward: continued storage, donation (to science,…

When I had my first child at 43, I was surprised at how well I eased into parenting. I was the mother I’d always envisioned: calm, patient, loving and mindfully enjoying motherhood. Now, as a 46-year-old mum of a three-year-old and a one-year-old, I feel like a different person. I’m exhausted, agitated, short-fused, fuzzy-headed, my…

For the birth of my first child, I had what’s called an “elective” caesarean. Ironically, I wasn’t given a choice. My baby was breech, and efforts to turn him were unsuccessful. It was not at all how I wanted to give birth, but regardless there I lay, paralysed on the operating table in a cold…