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May You Live In Interesting Times
Well it’s been a very interesting year! While no one can say what the next four years will bring, especially in terms of the economy, I think we can look forward to a very positive change in direction with respect to health care in general, and to women’s health care in particular. These changes will likely impact women all over the world, not just in the US.
I know that many of you have been affected by the economic downturn. But if you are planning to make any charitable donations before the end of the year, consider supporting the Fertility Awareness Center. It’s unlikely that I’m going to be appointed to a cabinet post anytime soon. If FA has changed your life for the better, please send any amount you can spare to help us continue our work. Remember that donations are now tax-deductible. Make your checks payable to HARM REDUCTION COALITION, and in the memo line write FERTILITY AWARENESS CENTER. (Mailing address can be found at bottom.) Don’t be embarrassed to send $5 or $10. Any amount is helpful and appreciated.
If I don’t speak to you before the new year, I wish you a very happy and healthy holiday season, with all best wishes for a peaceful 2009. ¡Si se puede!
With love,
Ilene Richman
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Books of Note
We never seem to fit the book reviews into our newsletters. So these books are actually from 2007. But they’re well worth reading.
I was blown away by Everything Conceivable, by Liza Mundy, published in April 2007. This book explores the ethical and practical issues raised by assisted reproductive technology (ART), which is galloping far ahead of our ability to consider its ramifications, let alone to make the regulations or laws it may necessitate. (See entries on FAC blog re ART.) Take, for example, the question of frozen embryos. Excess embryos are a normal consequence of in vitro fertilization, and the normal way of dealing with them is to freeze them. Then what? Let’s say you just gave birth to twins, and now you have four frozen embryos. Clumps of about 8 cells each. You could give them to another, infertile couple. If the couple is successful, they will be raising your children’s full sibling(s). In a recent study, about 1 in 5 respondents said they would be willing to do this. (This is the option President Bush favors, but only for heterosexual couples. The Snowflakes Frozen Embryo Adoption Program that President Bush touts requires that applicants be married for 2.5 years before applying, making it rather difficult for same-sex couples, who are inherently infertile, to participate.) Or, you could donate them to science, eg for stem cell research. It is believed that stem cell research holds enormous potential for curing disease. In that same study, 60% said they would choose this option. (The President strongly opposes this option, and stem cell research using new cell lines is ineligible for federal funding.) Most people, however, just let their frozen embryos stay frozen. It is such a difficult decision that people just don’t make it, and the eggs grow older, but don’t go away. Eggs that were frozen for a dozen years have successfully been “thawed,” leading to pregnancies with healthy (as far as we know) outcomes. We have no idea how many frozen embryos are currently in storage, or how long they can stay viable. Ms. Mundy says a conservative estimate for the number in storage is about half a million, and growing by the day. The logistical headache these embryos are causing for fertility clinics is so great that new “storage” companies are springing up to deal with keeping track of the embryos’ owners, who have a tendency to disappear.
Another disturbing book that sheds light on fertility-related industry is Pushed, by Elizabeth Block. Published in June 2007, the book is basically an expose of the ways that women in the US are manipulated, misinformed, and mistreated during their birth experiences. The way the medical industry handles birth in this country is completely over-medicalized, treating pregnancy as pathology and severely restricting practices such as midwifery and home-birth, and yet for all the high tech “treatments,” we have worse maternal and infant outcomes than many industrialized countries. A greater percentage of women die in childbirth in the US than in the UK, Australia, Canada, and Austria. (See related piece re birth statistics, at right.)
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The blog is rocking! Seriously. Read the blog. Comment on the blog. Subscribe to the blog. But most importantly, LINK TO THE BLOG.
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In this issue:
- May You Live In Interesting Times
- Best of the Web
- Books of Note
- Birth Stats in Context
- Notes on the Process
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Best Of The Web
Here are some of my favorites from recent months.
-From the folks at Runaway Box (www.runawaybox.com), a video for “Ooh Girl,” billed as “a realistic R&B song.” Very funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc8tPTVBRSc
-From Betty Dodson, the internal anatomy of the
clitoris. There’s far more to it that the little nub you can see!
Because this one is “explicit,” you’re going to have to sign into You
Tube in order to verify that you’re over 18. Sigh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWRO0IIN_QE
-From an anonymous 25 year old student midwife,
and her boyfriend, an incredible diary of a full cycle of cervix
observation! You can see what every day looks like, along with her
observations regarding her cervical fluid, temperature, and secondary
fertility signals. Fabulous. http://beautifulcervix.com/
-From New Scientist magazine, pictures of actual
human ovulation, caught for the first time on camera. The photos are
reproduced on this BBC website, along with an explanatory article, and
they are amazing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7447942.stm
Egg emerging from follicle in ovary!
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Notes on the process:
Graphically astute readers may have noticed that we have been experimenting with different formats for our newsletter. (And this one may look somewhat imperfect as the interface is new to me. Click on the "open in browser window" link above and it will look nicer.) We are trying to find a format that will be aesthetically pleasing, stylistically consistent with our new site, easy to read and distribute, and cost-effective (i.e. cheap). We are nearly done experimenting so in 2009 you should be receiving lovely newsletters that all look the same. Not that we think you'd confuse us with anyone else...
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| We love our fiscal sponsor! Shout out to the folks at the Harm Reduction Coalition, who provide us with fiscal sponsorship, thus making your contributions tax-deductible. |
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Birth, in Cultural Context
Netherlands USA
Homebirths 34% (2002) less than 1% (2004)
C-sections 13.5% (2004) 30.2% (2004)
Infant mortality ('07) 5 per 1,000 6 per 1,000 Maternal mortality ('04) 7 per 1,000 8 per 1,000
These statistics were taken from the September/October 2007 issue of Mothering Magazine,
which I highly recommend subscribing to if you have kids, want kids,
are pregnant, etc. Lots of material is
available at their website.
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