The Daily Mail and donor sperm. It’s all just clickbait. BUT…

Let’s get one thing straight, you don’t become the second biggest selling newspaper in England and the most-read news site in the world by publishing stuff that everyone agrees with. You do it by publishing stuff with provocative headlines that make people angry, or upset, or want to voice an opinion. I know how this works. You know how this works, but that doesn’t stop us from having those reactions – it’s a gut reaction.

So even though I know all that, I couldn’t help but feel a bit “oh fuck”ish when I read the headline:

“How would YOU feel to find you are a sperm donor’s child? These women say it shattered their lives” on the Daily Mail website today.

Because although I know that the Daily Mail Continue reading

Can you really “own” an embryo?

So, you may have heard about what’s happening in the States at the moment with Sofia Vergara — she’s an actress from Modern Family — and her ex, a guy called Nick Loeb. Basically, as far as I can work out, in 2013, they had IVF, and created two embryos which they planned to implant in a surrogate, but subsequently froze. The couple split up and, despite having signed something that said that the embryos could only be used if both of them agreed to it, he’s now trying to bring a legal case against her so that he can use the embryos. She doesn’t want him to.

When people first started talking about this, I was contacted by the Telegraph Continue reading

Perspective – and weather

Perspective – like hindsight – is a wonderful thing. I’m frequently lacking in it. But then I rather think that we all are. It’s just very easy to get so wrapped up in our own worlds and our own worries, and our own mini dramas that we can’t see anything but that. And I am abso-fucking-lutely not recommending a hierarchy of misery where you make yourself feel like shit because not only have you been dumped or not managed to get pregnant, but you feel like you shouldn’t Continue reading

Mothers vs Non-mothers

It’s Easter, so given my penchant for puns, I should probably post something eggciting. But since I have pretty low levels of egg chat at the moment — ummm, they’re still frozen… — I thought maybe I’d write about motherhood and a few things that have caught my eye recently.

Firstly, we’ve all got the Facebook friends who sort of ended up there a bit by accident — The New Yorker was quite funny on this recently — actually maybe that’s a little unfair (as much as anything because a) I refuse to accept friend requests from people who were bitches Continue reading

In a year’s time…

Given that it’s now over a year since my first cycle, and I knew that I had to pay an annual fee for storage of my eggs, I’d started to worry that I hadn’t heard from the clinic. Maybe they’d tried to contact me and I’d missed their calls/deleted their emails/not received their letters… Maybe they’d thrown away my eggs… Obviously, I didn’t worry so much that I actually got in touch with them, because Continue reading

Just do it (or don’t)

When I wrote about not being sure if I even wanted kids (which I totally accept seems a totally out of context post for a blog devoted to freezing eggs, although as egg freezing is about choice, I could probably argue that it’s fine to choose not to do something rather than to do something) I did start to wonder if I’d just spent too long thinking about the whole thing.

Which is ironic. Because when I was in a relationship Continue reading

It

They say it’s just around the corner. But I’ve walked around the block so many times, and turned so many corners, I can’t even begin to imagine that there’s a corner left that I haven’t looked around. Even the corners that led to dark alleys that I didn’t think I wanted to go down, I went round them anyway. Just in case. But it wasn’t there. And the corners that I thought led to dead ends? I checked them too. I’ve turned corners, Continue reading

Do I even want a baby?

It’s days like Saturday that I wonder how much I really want a child. I slept until after 10am because I hadn’t set an alarm because I didn’t have to get up for anything. I spent nearly two hours in the bath watching TV on my iPad because there was nothing else I really needed to do. Last weekend, I went away with some friends. I didn’t have to tell anyone, or arrange anything, or worry about whether I should be spending the money on something else, or saving it.

I don’t take any of these things for granted. How could I? When I’m surrounded by parents who I know will Continue reading

“2014 will always be Fabulous Fabergé year”

What a difference a year makes – what a difference a few weeks makes – what a difference a day makes

This time last year I was single, about to embark on my first cycle of egg freezing, and was generally an emotional wreck.

This time a few weeks ago I was single, and bitching about my generally poor dating prospects.

Today, I’m still single, but I’ve got 14 frozen eggs in a freezer somewhere, and feel pretty positive about my life.

(And it’s not just because in the last few weeks I’ve been on two dates Continue reading