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…
Parenting is often described as the hardest job in the world. But for the more than 6.5 million mums in Australia, the challenge of parenting is, will be, or has been heightened by perimenopause. With more women giving birth later in life and a study in the US suggesting 40 per cent of 36- to…
This week, the world’s first saliva pregnancy test became available in Sydney pharmacies. SaliStick is being talked about as the first major breakthrough in pregnancy testing since at-home urine tests were introduced in the 1960s. My response? Meh. As a former POAS (Pee-On-A-Stick) addict who was alternating between testing for ovulation and pregnancy for three…
Of all the types of pregnancy loss, Termination For Medical Reasons (TFMR) is one of the least talked about, understood or supported types of loss and the only one to come with the unique and specific mix of horror, judgment and silence.