Canadian mother freezes eggs for daughter

A CANADIAN mother has frozen her eggs for use by her seven-year-old daughter, who is likely to become infertile.

Should the girl opt to use the eggs and gain regulatory approval, she would effectively have a baby that was her half-brother or sister. Critics said the work, presented at a fertility conference in Lyon, was deeply concerning.But the doctors from the McGill Reproductive Centre, Montreal, called the donation an act of motherly love.Also, the girl and any future partner would have a choice as to whether to use the eggs or not, they said.The girl, Flavie Boivin, cannot have children naturally because of a chromosomal condition called Turner’s syndrome.Desperate to help, mum Melanie, who is 35 and a lawyer, investigated whether she could donate her own eggs.After much research, she came across Professor Seang Lin Tan’s team at McGill who run an egg freezing programme for cancer patients and those who want to delay childbearing.Spain offers baby bonus MADRID – The family of every child born in Spain will get $3 400 to help raise the country’s low birth rate and support the fast growing economy, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said yesterday.The baby bonus follows similar moves in Scandinavia and France to encourage larger families and counteract a trend towards ageing populations that places a burden on pension and social security systems.”To keep progressing, Spain needs more families with more children and families need more support to have these children,” Zapatero told Spain’s Congress in his state of the nation address.Spain’s birth rate rose to 1,37 per woman of child bearing age in 2006, its highest rate since 1991, but is still among the lowest levels in Europe.Nampa-Reuters-BBCCritics said the work, presented at a fertility conference in Lyon, was deeply concerning.But the doctors from the McGill Reproductive Centre, Montreal, called the donation an act of motherly love.Also, the girl and any future partner would have a choice as to whether to use the eggs or not, they said.The girl, Flavie Boivin, cannot have children naturally because of a chromosomal condition called Turner’s syndrome.Desperate to help, mum Melanie, who is 35 and a lawyer, investigated whether she could donate her own eggs.After much research, she came across Professor Seang Lin Tan’s team at McGill who run an egg freezing programme for cancer patients and those who want to delay childbearing. Spain offers baby bonus MADRID – The family of every child born in Spain will get $3 400 to help raise the country’s low birth rate and support the fast growing economy, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said yesterday.The baby bonus follows similar moves in Scandinavia and France to encourage larger families and counteract a trend towards ageing populations that places a burden on pension and social security systems.”To keep progressing, Spain needs more families with more children and families need more support to have these children,” Zapatero told Spain’s Congress in his state of the nation address.Spain’s birth rate rose to 1,37 per woman of child bearing age in 2006, its highest rate since 1991, but is still among the lowest levels in Europe.Nampa-Reuters-BBC