Jezebel: insemination station

Over Half Of British Women Would Ask Their Best Mates To Help Make A Baby

Jessica — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:30:00 EDT

For 56% of British women, that bloke who's been sitting next to them at the bar for a decade is beginning to look pretty good right now: apparently over half of single women ages 28-32 would ask a male friend to sire their child if they do not find a mate. What's more, over two thirds of women who are in relationships worry that they will be infertile, and 26% of men have the same fears, the Times of London reports. The babystakes are high these days, as more than one third of men and women would consider dumping a partner who was unable to conceive.

Of the study, semi-famous tv shrink Linda Papadopoulos, formerly of Celebrity Fit Club fame, says, "Interestingly, social norms of parenting and of the conventional family structure are being challenged - no longer do we see the mum, dad and 2.4 children as the only ideal."

But apparently what's not being challenged is the pressure many, many Britons feel to have children, whether they be single or part of a couple. The Telegraph notes that three-quarters of those surveyed believe that the stress of trying to conceive could sully an otherwise good relationship. If you were single pushing up against the later years of your fertility and still wanted biological children, would you enlist a buddy to donate sperm, or would you go the anonymous route and withdraw from a sperm bank?

Half Of Women Would Ask Man Friend To Father Child [Times of London]
Half Of Women 'Would Have A Baby With A Friend' [Telegraph]

Study: Childhood Obesity Has Stronger Link To Nurture, Not Nature

Jessica — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:30:00 EDT

A group of British scientists is reporting that overweight moms are not genetically "programming their children to be fat". The University of Bristol's Debbie Lawlor and her team wanted to see if the high levels of sugar and fatty acids in the blood of overweight women caused higher levels of those substances in the blood of their offspring, thereby predisposing their fetuses to "poor appetite control and a slower metabolism." Lawlor found that genetic link to be tenuous, though the children of overweight parents are still more likely to tip the scales. There is a "fat mass and obesity associated" gene called FTO, but it is unclear how this gene works in concert with outside dietary forces. The only conclusive result of the study seems to be that the effect of maternal Body Mass Index is more of an indicator of childhood obesity than the effect of paternal BMI. (Yeah, mom is always to blame.)

Lawlor's evidence implies that diet and exercise are the major factors in the childhood obesity epidemic, which is probably why maternal BMI has more of an effect than paternal BMI. Mothers are still the parents who tend to grocery shop and plan meals, so it's no surprise that overweight children are consuming the same unhealthy foods that their mothers do. "Our study indicates that developmental overnutrition has not been a major driver of the recent obesity epidemic," Lawlor concludes. "Therefore, interventions that aim to improve people's diet and to increase their physical activity levels could slow or even halt the [obesity] epidemic."

Are Fat Moms To Blame For Fat Kids? Answer Unclear [Reuters]
Maternal Obesity Not Strongly Linked To Obesity In Offspring Says Study [EurekAlert]

Warning To Dudes: Cigarettes And Booze Can Mangle Your Sperm

Jessica — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:30:00 EST

Despite what the Daily Mail is encouraging these days, most women attempting to get knocked up are advised to stay away from alcohol and cigarettes. Well a new study shows that men looking to sperminate a lady might want to stay off the toxins, too. According to research done at the University of Idaho, chemically-damaged sperm can pass altered genes to future generations. The future defects included overgrown prostates, infertility and kidney problems — all of which were present up to four generations later, says the Guardian. Both tobacco and excessive amounts of alcohol can find their way into seminal fluid, says professor Cynthia Daniels of Rutgers, who has written books on reproduction.

"If I was a young man I would not drink beer, I would not be smoking when I'm trying to conceive a child," Daniels told the BBC. "There are many potential sources of harm to foetal health that remain unexamined. When 60% of birth defects are of unknown origin, why are we not examining one obvious potential source of harm?" the professor reasons.

Even without outside carcinogens, many sperm have defects, according to Slate, because of the body's furious sperm production schedule. It's "a manufacturing decision that sacrifices quality control." Another new study quoted by Slate says that men produce so much sperm to counteract cheatin' women — the massive amounts of semen are created to compete with other dudes' sperm. Apparently in the animal world, the idea of "sperm competition" is old hat; "male flour beetles have spiny penises designed to remove rival sperm from a female's reproductive tract," says Slate. The coronal ridge (the space between the head and the shaft of the penis) in humans is also built to remove rival sperm. Who knew?!

Women in New York City might want to be checking out rival sperm banks, as some local ones have not been inspected since 2004, according to Gothamist. One bank in particular, Idant Laboratories, failed to pass on information to a customer about the high-risk sexual behavior of a donor, and many of the labs are not thoroughly checking the sperm before and after purchase for sexually transmitted or genetic diseases.

So ladies, whether you're getting your sperm the old fashioned way or making a withdrawal from your local sperm depot, make sure you investigate the source. But there's a silver lining if your man is a total lush and you want to get pregs: Sperm is produced continuously in a 74-day cycle, so in less than three months, those drunk-ass semen can get washed away in a cleansing tide of kombucha and green tea.

Drink And Drugs Can Damage Men's Sperm, Study Suggests [Guardian]
Sperm Damage 'Passed To Children' [BBC]
The Merry Band Of Wrigglers: Men, Women, Passion, And Sperm. [Slate]
City Awash In Bad Sperm [Gothamist]

America's Amazing Baby Boom Has Nothing To Do With A-List Actresses

Jessica — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:30:00 EST

Unlike European nations, which are experiencing a population decline, the United States is virtually exploding with infants, reports the Associated Press. There were nearly 4.3 million births in 2006, and experts believe that there are several reasons for this mini-boom: "A decline in contraceptive use, a drop in access to abortion, poor education and poverty." Cultural factors are also at work, as Latinos have fertility rates that are 40% higher than the norm, and, according to Johns Hopkins Professor Nan Marie Astone, "Americans like children. We are the only people who respond to prosperity by saying, 'Let's have another kid.'" It's that approach — the interweaving of prosperity and fertility — that is troubling. It sounds like the same semi-mercenary logic behind the desire to have a second car. Which is not to say that finances aren't a huge part of the decision to have kids, but when it's the only reason to have another child, it's a little disturbing.

This baby-boom news also gives us the opportunity to go back to a tried and true mantra: It's the Republicans' fault! Is it any wonder that the birth rate is increasing (among women of all ages, teens included), when the Bush administration has limited access to abortion and financed abstinence only education? I'm also curious about the decline in contraceptive use. Is it because women are no longer scared of AIDS, so they forgo condoms? Is it because the price of birth control pills has risen?

So which is it, ladies? Is it a cultural shift backwards, in which women need babies to feel complete? Or can we blame President Bush for hating on abortion? Or are women just seeing Angelina look all perfect and shit with Shiloh and want a mini-me for themselves? The barren whores here at Jezebel want to know!

U.S. Experiences Baby Boomlet in 2006 [AP via Los Angeles Times]

Earlier: Having A Baby: Doctors Say Now Or Never; I Say No Fair
Teen Sex Drive Trumps Abstinence Education
Isn't A Subsidy For Birth Control For College Girls Missing The Point?

A law recently passed in the U.K. allows...

Jessica — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:45:00 EDT

A law recently passed in the U.K. allows the children of sperm donors to track down their biological dads. As a result, the number of men donating sperm has hit rock bottom. 37-year-old Lisa Evans decided to take the sperm shortage into, erm, her own hands by finding a donor on the internet and having sex with him the old fashioned way. According to the Daily Mail, "I was incredibly nervous and several times I did think: 'Gosh, what am I doing here?'" admits Lisa. "I had brought an insemination kit to our meeting in readiness. But John was nice, very middle class and articulate, and all I could think about was how much I wanted a child and that he could be the man to give me one." Middle class and articulate! Swoon. [Daily Mail]