Saturday, September 12, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Woman claiming to be pregnant with 'duodecaplets' exposed as a fraud
A Tunisian woman in her 30s who earlier this month claimed to be pregnant with 12 babies, has been exposed by the country's health ministry as a fraud. The woman, from the town of Gafsa told hospital workers that she was expecting six boys and six girls.
'Our staff interviewed her at length, but her pregnancy appears to be in her imagination', said a spokesman in Tunis. 'She's claiming to be nine months pregnant...but there's absolutely nothing about her appearance which indicates this. The woman has point blank refused to undergo a medical examination. She's gone into hiding'.
A doctor at the No'man al Adab Hospital, Gasfa, confirmed that the woman had never been in their care, speculating that she may have been trying to make money from the media. The woman, a teacher, is thought to have turned to IVF treatment after having two miscarriages since her marriage in 2007. Her husband, known only as Marwan, indicated that the couple were excited about the impending births and said that 'the medical team told us my wife would give birth naturally'.
British medics had expressed their concerns about the case. Peter Bowen-Simpkins, a fellow at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists told the Daily Mail that 'the chances are she will deliver at 20 weeks. I wouldn't even give her a one in 100 chance of even one surviving. It's frightening'.
It was suspected that the woman had been given fertility drugs to stimulate her ovaries into releasing several mature eggs at a time in order to maximise conception. Some women using this treatment can develop ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, in which the ovaries produce too many eggs, but experts cast doubt on this being the case.
'How could you get 12 babies into the womb at the same time?' questioned Mr Bowen-Simpkins. 'The womb just doesn't expand that much. She would have to be about seven feet tall'.
In January of this year, Nadia Suleman, a US divorcee, attracted worldwide media attention after giving birth to the world's longest-surviving octuplets. The record for multiple pregnancies was set in 1996, when a 23-year old Greek Cypriot woman had to abort nine of her 11 fetuses in order to save two.
'Our staff interviewed her at length, but her pregnancy appears to be in her imagination', said a spokesman in Tunis. 'She's claiming to be nine months pregnant...but there's absolutely nothing about her appearance which indicates this. The woman has point blank refused to undergo a medical examination. She's gone into hiding'.
A doctor at the No'man al Adab Hospital, Gasfa, confirmed that the woman had never been in their care, speculating that she may have been trying to make money from the media. The woman, a teacher, is thought to have turned to IVF treatment after having two miscarriages since her marriage in 2007. Her husband, known only as Marwan, indicated that the couple were excited about the impending births and said that 'the medical team told us my wife would give birth naturally'.
British medics had expressed their concerns about the case. Peter Bowen-Simpkins, a fellow at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists told the Daily Mail that 'the chances are she will deliver at 20 weeks. I wouldn't even give her a one in 100 chance of even one surviving. It's frightening'.
It was suspected that the woman had been given fertility drugs to stimulate her ovaries into releasing several mature eggs at a time in order to maximise conception. Some women using this treatment can develop ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, in which the ovaries produce too many eggs, but experts cast doubt on this being the case.
'How could you get 12 babies into the womb at the same time?' questioned Mr Bowen-Simpkins. 'The womb just doesn't expand that much. She would have to be about seven feet tall'.
In January of this year, Nadia Suleman, a US divorcee, attracted worldwide media attention after giving birth to the world's longest-surviving octuplets. The record for multiple pregnancies was set in 1996, when a 23-year old Greek Cypriot woman had to abort nine of her 11 fetuses in order to save two.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Wisdom of a Retiree
'I've often been asked, 'What do you old folks do now that you're retired?'
"Well..I'm fortunate to have a chemical engineering background, and one of the things I enjoy most is turning beer, wine, Scotch, and margaritas into urine."
"Well..I'm fortunate to have a chemical engineering background, and one of the things I enjoy most is turning beer, wine, Scotch, and margaritas into urine."
Monday, September 7, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Lord Winston, Labels Egg Feezing As "Expensive Confidence Trick"
Lord Winston, emeritus Professor of Fertility Studies at Imperial College London and pioneer of IVF, has criticized fertility clinics for over-hyping egg freezing services. In an interview with the Daily Mail newspaper he accuses providers of creating false optimism in the effectiveness of the procedure particularly where signing up patients for purely 'social' reasons. Before use of egg freezing grows further he calls for more research into both the effects of egg freezing on the ability to later conceive and into the long-term health implications for those born
from frozen eggs.
The comments come in response to calls, made at last week's European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) annual conference, for greater availability of egg freezing as an option for women who are postponing pregnancy until later in their lives. Lord Winston's comments partially mirror a joint statement made in February by the UK's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the British Fertility
Society (BFS) which also called for women not to freeze eggs for social reasons.
Lord Winston noted that the production of six to ten eggs for freezing involves both the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome for the woman and an increased likelihood of chromosome defects in the eggs produced. Producing such a quantity of eggs he sees as dangerous yet also inadequate to ensure a viable embryo is produced. The BFS has stated that the average chance of success for any individual frozen egg is six per cent and only four children have been born from frozen eggs in the UK to date.
Additionally, the lack of data on the long term health effects - the first children conceived with frozen eggs are only now five - is provided as reason enough for adopting a cautious approach towards increasing availability of egg freezing and makes encouraging those without a pressing need (such as impending cancer treatment) all the more dubious. Lord Winston states, in unequivocal terms, 'in my view it is irresponsible [for clinics] to egg freeze until long-term animal research has been done'. The most detailed research to date is due to be published next month.
Describing the procedure as a 'quick fix', Lord Winston sees the best path forward for prolonging the ability to have a child, for social reasons, is to attempt to develop better means of postponing the menopause. Though the procedure can be justified for those with serious medical conditions it is not be encouraged as a means of delaying motherhood. The provision of egg freezing for social reasons, available for between £2,500 and £5,000 at 45 clinics in the UK, is in his view simply an 'undesirable commercial activity' and should not be encouraged.
from frozen eggs.
The comments come in response to calls, made at last week's European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) annual conference, for greater availability of egg freezing as an option for women who are postponing pregnancy until later in their lives. Lord Winston's comments partially mirror a joint statement made in February by the UK's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the British Fertility
Society (BFS) which also called for women not to freeze eggs for social reasons.
Lord Winston noted that the production of six to ten eggs for freezing involves both the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome for the woman and an increased likelihood of chromosome defects in the eggs produced. Producing such a quantity of eggs he sees as dangerous yet also inadequate to ensure a viable embryo is produced. The BFS has stated that the average chance of success for any individual frozen egg is six per cent and only four children have been born from frozen eggs in the UK to date.
Additionally, the lack of data on the long term health effects - the first children conceived with frozen eggs are only now five - is provided as reason enough for adopting a cautious approach towards increasing availability of egg freezing and makes encouraging those without a pressing need (such as impending cancer treatment) all the more dubious. Lord Winston states, in unequivocal terms, 'in my view it is irresponsible [for clinics] to egg freeze until long-term animal research has been done'. The most detailed research to date is due to be published next month.
Describing the procedure as a 'quick fix', Lord Winston sees the best path forward for prolonging the ability to have a child, for social reasons, is to attempt to develop better means of postponing the menopause. Though the procedure can be justified for those with serious medical conditions it is not be encouraged as a means of delaying motherhood. The provision of egg freezing for social reasons, available for between £2,500 and £5,000 at 45 clinics in the UK, is in his view simply an 'undesirable commercial activity' and should not be encouraged.
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