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The post-retrieval recovery is very manageable.  Truly.  If you’re active and healthy, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to bounce right back.  It’s important to take about a week to recover – take it easy, drink lots of Gatorade and Vitamin Water, and follow your doctor’s instructions.  Allow your body to heal.  Everything inside of you has just gone through the ringer, and you’ll feel tender, sore, and bloated in the days following the retrieval (not unlike what you’d experience with a heavy period).  You can expect to get your first post-cycle period about 10 days after your procedure (10-12 days after your HCG shot) and once that’s come and gone, you’ll feel a million times better.   If you wish to donate again, you’ll need to have two normal periods before you’re cleared to go for another cycle. Any weight gain can be chalked up to fluids, so be sure to drink enough electrolytes (the swelling and retention usually go down quickly).

Every doctor is different, and your clinic will have specific instructions for your recovery (you’ll also get more information regarding when you can get back to your “normal routine” – including working out, having sex, etc.), but the most important advice for a smooth recovery is to let the body do its thing, drink plenty of fluids, and be good to yourself.  You’ll be smooth sailing in no time

When choosing an egg donor, it is understandable that women will want to select a donor who is similar to themselves in appearance and ethnic background.  As with many aspects of Jewish Law, what may seem obvious and desirable may not conform to rabbinical interpretations of the Law.  Ironically, since it is sometimes difficult to find suitable Jewish donors, these legal twists can actually help some people “let go” of their desire to work only with Jewish donors.

While Reform Judaism recognizes that parentage can come from either parent, traditionally most, but not all, rabbis have agreed that if a Jewish woman gives birth to the baby, that child is fully Jewish.  The Laws determining a child’s family and religion of origin were established thousands of years ago — long before genetic testing — and so Jewishness is passed from the mother who gives birth rather than from the genetic parents.

The following principles can guide most Jewish couples considering egg donation:

A Jewish donor is not legally required for a Jewish couple.  Based on the concerns about accidental incest and the legal status of eggs, a non-Jewish donor may actually be preferable.  Accepting this idea can alleviate much of the angst over trying to find a Jewish donor (which, again, can be difficult).

If a Jewish donor is chosen, she should be single or married to a non-Jewish man.  If she is divorced, she needs a Jewish divorce, including a “Get.”

The process of choosing an egg donor is different for every family.  There are an endless number of things to consider in making such an important decision.  If observing Jewish Law is a priority for theIntended Parent(s), then finding a Jewish donor is not as necessary as one might think.  Ideally, this will be helpful to some (as the pool of potential donors will be enlarged significantly).

- Michael Feinman, MD

Medical Director, HRC Fertility

Ukraine has established The White Orchid Day, the international holiday for IVF babies. Introduced a year ago by Genesis Dnepr IVF and recognized by European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, the IVF Baby Day is observed on the first Sunday of April. On this day little twin ‘orchids’ and their parents meet each other to celebrate the miracle of life.

Read the article: http://www.ivf.net/ivf/the-white-orchid-day-o5842.html

AN Adelaide woman with a surrogate son has won a landmark case to be named on the child’s birth certificate.

After a six-year legal battle, the woman this week became the first Australian to win the right to be officially recognised as the mother of a child carried by a surrogate.

The woman, who cannot be named, is the child’s genetic mother – her egg and her husband’s sperm were used to conceive the boy in the womb of an interstate surrogate.

Read the article: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/mums-landmark-surrogacy-victory/story-e6frea6u-1226039960631

With one miracle baby already conceived through IVF, the Crawfords thought one more would be another blessing for the family.

But when the doctor announced that there were four heartbeats, they couldn’t believe their luck.

In fact, not only were there four heartbeats but Miranda and Josh Crawford beat medical odds by conceiving two sets of identical twins.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1376314/Couple-beat-medical-odds-conceiving-sets-identical-twins-IVF-round.html#ixzz1JPwkGUaN

Report: International Couples Using U.S. Women for Surrogates

The 14-week-old twins a pregnant Laurie Thompson is carrying don’t belong to her. Conceived with donor eggs, they are the children of a same-sex couple from Spain who turned to Thompson because paid surrogacy is illegal in their country, the Detroit Free Press reports.

“There’s such pride in knowing that I did this for somebody,” Thompson says of her experience as a surrogate, which also has included a pregnancy for a married couple from Serbia.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/24/report-international-couples-using-women-surrogates/#ixzz1KSyGhIu4
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/24/report-international-couples-using-women-surrogates/#ixzz1KSy1cHHj

With less than two weeks before the regular legislative session ends, it’s time for Washington lawmakers to make the final push to get their bills, including a provision for compensated surrogacy, approved by both houses and signed into law by the governor.

Read the article: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014767154_apwaxgrwherethingsstand1stldwritethru.html

The celebrated American author Jodi Picoult, who wrote My Sister’s Keeper has tackled another subject that women face in modern society, infertility.

The plot of “Sing  You Home” centers around Zoe, who is 40 years old, female and has suffered through several unsuccessful cycles of IVF, divorce, cancer, finding true love with a same sex partner, followed by a court battle over the custody of her frozen embryos and she must also go up against her ex-husband’s powerful church which preaches intolerance.

Read the rest: http://www.seattlepi.com/books/437761_155707-blogcritics.org.html

OLYMPIA — Legislation that would make Washington the seventh state to allow surrogate mothers to be compensated for delivering babies continued its path toward the Senate floor without any changes or amendments in committee, despite Republicans’ best efforts.

Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester, and his conservative counterparts on the Senate’s Government Operations Committee proposed 25 amendments ranging from mundane typographical corrections to the bill that passed through the House to ensuring that the surrogate mother and parents were United States and Washington citizens. All were voted down 4-2 along party lines.
http://www.chronline.com/news/article_4ee4fa2e-5576-11e0-bccc-001cc4c03286.html

Twins, once a rarity to marvel over, are now a common part of American culture, thanks in large part to increased use of reproductive technology. Twins are conceived naturally just 2 percent of the time; for those who get pregnant with fertility treatments the rate is more than 40 percent.

But as adorable as many of us consider twins, this dramatic rise poses serious health risks, and there are mounting efforts to curb it.

Read the article: http://www.npr.org/2011/03/30/134960899/taming-ivfs-twin-trend