As college students head back to campuses for the new school year, they will be dealing with an added expense; the steep rise in the cost of birth control. A change in federal law known as The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 went into effect on January 1st and has caused the cost of birth control for college students to sky rocket. Before the law went into effect, drug companies who manufactured birth control were able to offer college health centers and pharmacies substantial discounts on birth control but this new law makes it too expensive for drug companies to continue offering... more

(continued from previous post)

Q: How are pregnant women considering adoption treated in other countries? How are things done differently outside the U.S.?

There are places in the world that the concept and the word “adoption” (especially as it is practiced in the U.S., with name changes and sealed records) simply don’t exist. Within Western Europe and many other parts of the industrialized world, there is more support of single mothers and less coercion and pressure placed on those considering relinquishment.... more

(continued from last post)

Q: Some people say that adoptive parents don’t need to be concerned with the issue of coercion – that it’s not their problem. What’s your response?

A: We each have to follow our conscience and our moral compass. From a very practical standpoint, if relinquishments and consents to adopt are not obtained from both parents free of coercion, the adoption is at risk of being overturned. A contested adoption – win or lose – is extremely stressful and costly for all. It is thus in everyone’s best interest to ensure... more

(continued from last post)

Q: What do you think is the single biggest danger a woman needs to watch out for when she’s pregnant and talking to adoption professionals?

A: Infants – especially Caucasian – are, sadly, a commodity in great demand. As a result, there are far too many unethical adoption practitioners who are untrained entrepreneurs, not objective counselors, and it is far too difficult to tell the few reputable “good guys” from the bad. Most adoption “agencies” are in the businesses of placing babies. Their paid clients... more

Recently, I reviewed Mirah Riben’s new book, The Stork Market: America’s Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption Industry. Because this book contains some important information for those considering surrender, and because this book is currently being talked about on adoption.com, I decided to interview Riben to learn more about her views. In addition to The Stork Market, Riben is also author of shedding light on…the Dark Side of Adoption (1988).... more

If you’re a pregnant teen in a big city, there’s a chance you’ve encountered a relic from another time, an institution informally known as a P-school. I wasn’t aware that such schools still existed, but I read about them today in The New York Times. The news item is that New York City, which has four of these high schools dedicated solely to pregnant girls, is now closing them down. The P-schools were intended... more

Here’s a fascinating story from Orange County, California – illustrating yet another way that babies can come as a total surprise.

In early March, a 39 year old woman named April Branum learned she was having a baby less than two days before his birth. Her obesity and various other factors had coincided to keep her unaware of her pregnancy until a visit to the emergency room necessitated an X-ray for stomach pain.

Of particular interest to me were the reader comments in... more

Boy, can I ever relate to the Allison Lee Quets story...and not just because I’m a birthmom who would have revoked my surrender if I’d had a chance to. No, the thing that causes me to feel such a major sense of kinship with Quets is that I too suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum while pregnant.

In layman’s terms, hyperemesis is when you just can’t stop throwing up. It goes far beyond normal queasiness or morning sickness; it’s a chronic and miserable condition for which you have... more

Oh, the puns and double entrendres I could create with this topic. Let me behave myself, though, and just say that the male pill is coming - err, I mean it’s on the way. In the news this week, we learn that we’re about five years away from a commercially available male contraceptive.

Men would take the pill a few hours before The Act in order to have a sperm-free night…meaning they couldn’t inseminate anyone.

As a blogger at Salon reports:

Sounds good to those of... more

A news story is calling attention to the fact that the antidepressant medication, Paxil, may cause birth defects, meaning pregnant women and those who plan to become pregnant should avoid taking it. (“Those who plan to become pregnant”—that statement always gives me a rueful smile. If there’s one thing I know, it’s how many pregnant women did not plan to be!)

But back to the point: the story is that Paxil may be causing heart defects. Two studies of... more