1.The Abbott government has refused to take a free vote on same-sex marriage.
The decision leaves Australia out of step with other major democracies such as the US, whose Supreme Court backed gay marriage earlier this year.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott justified the decision, saying he doesn’t believe that the people put him in power support same-sex marriage.
News Ltd reports Mr Abbott saying:
“The last thing you should do is dud the people who voted for you.
“There was a strong view in the party room today that if we were to drop the policy, even if we were to adjust the policy to the extent of having a free vote, a lot of the people who voted for us were going to feel dudded.”
“I accept that this is not just like any other policy that the Coalition might adopt from time to time. It is deeply personal, very deeply personal.
“It is a subject of which decent people can differ and it is a subject which people can differ even inside political parties.”
Mr Abbott’s sister Christine is in a long-term lesbian partnership. She would like to get married, but can’t under current law.
2.Women who want to freeze their eggs for later use are being warned that the procedure doesn’t work quite as well as using fresh eggs in IVF.
The LA Times reports on a new study of
more than 11,000 IVF cycles, which shows that fresh is still best.
The reports says IVF cycles using frozen eggs led to a birth 43 times out of every 100.
Using fresh eggs, comparatively, was successful 50 times in 100.
Put another way, “the live birth rate per IVF cycle was 43.2% for women who used embryos derived from once-frozen eggs, slightly less than the 49.6% live birth rate for women whose embryos were created from fresh eggs, researchers found.
“The difference was greater when the researchers calculated the number of live births per embryo transferred. This time, the live birth rate was 47.1% for women who had used frozen eggs and 56.1% for those who had used fresh eggs.”
Using frozen eggs remains a good option for those who aren’t ready to start their families. It may be that some frozen eggs are damaged during the thawing process, in which case, it probably pays to freeze a few.
Image: Facebook
3.Is it okay to breastfeed your friend’s children?
That’s the question being asked after a pro-breastfeeding Mum posted a picture of a woman feeding both her son and her son’s little friend, who stays with her during the day.
The photograph was originally posted at pro-breastfeeding site, Mama Bean.
It shows Jessica Anne Colletti breastfeeding two toddler boys, with the caption: “My son on the right is 16 months and my friend’s son is 18 months. I watch her son while she works and have been feeding them both for a year! So much love between these milk siblings, it’s a special bond between us all.”
In the comments, Mama Bean wrote: “Brilliant, right? What a wonderful shout-out to sisterhood! What a creative way to navigate motherhood and work.”
Some people disagreed, saying the photograph was a touch creepy. Why not give the child breastmilk from a bottle?
Jessica has since responded, saying: “Breastfeeding my friend’s son came naturally to me. I started babysitting him when he was 5 months old and the first time she dropped him off to me I asked permission to nurse him, since I was already nursing my 3 month old. She responded with an enthusiastic yes, because he was having issues with the formula his previous sitter had been giving him. My friend struggled with breastfeeding in the beginning and succeeded for 9 months. She was always very happy that her son had the nutrition and comfort he needed while she was working. Being able to breastfeed her little boy has created a special bond between us all, a bond I will always cherish.”
4.A body pulled out of New York’s Hudson River is believed to be the missing boyfriend of singer Annie Lennox’s model daughter.
The New York Post reports that the body found near the Poughkeepsie Yacht Club matches the description of 32-year-old Ian Jones, who vanished while kayaking with Tali Lennox, the daughter of the Eurythmics singer, according to Dutchess County police.
Jones, who is also a model, and Tali went kayaking early Saturday morning.
Their kayak overturned near the historic Mills Mansion in Staatsburg, 120 kilometres north of New York City.
Neither paddler was wearing a life jacket.
Tali Lennox, 22, posted a shot to Instagram after the body was pulled out of the river, seemingly suggesting that it did belong to Jones.
“My heart is shattered,” she wrote. “My best friend, my soulmate, my partner in crime & creativity, the love & light of my life is no longer with me.”
