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5 Celebrities who have used IVF

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Even celebrities can suffer from infertility. Only a few decades ago IVF was considered weird science, now everyone is using it.

BROOKE SHIELDS

Actress Brooke Shields underwent 6 rounds of IVF treatment before finally giving birth to her daughter Rowan in May 2003. Three years later she was going to undergo fertility treatment for a second child but then discovered to her delight she had conceived naturally – and daughter Grier was born nine months later.

GORDON RAMSEY

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey is one of the few celebrities to confess to male infertility problems. He apparently suffers from a low sperm count and has three children thanks to IVF.

MARCIA CROSS

In Feb 2007 Desperate Housewives star Marcia Cross gave birth to twin girls Savannah and Eden, at the age of 44.

COURTNEY COX

Friends star Courtney Cox suffered from female infertility for many years and it was thanks to IVF that she was able to have her daugherr Coco.

EMILY ROBISON (Dixie Chicks)

After trying to conceive for over a year without success, Emily Robison from the band the Dixie Chicks discovered she had mild endometriosis. She turned to IVF and on her fourth attempt gave birth to hers on Augustus Charles in 2002.

PENNY LANCASTER

Model and wife of Rod Stewart, Penny Lancaster used IVF to her pregnant and in 2011 gave birth to a son, Aiden.

Artificial testicle could hold key to curing male infertility

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Great news for wannabe new dads. Scientists this week have been given the go ahead to make an artificial testicle that produces human sperm. If successful, the device could be a major solution to male infertility.

A team, led by specialist Dr Paul Turek from San Francisco, have been given the go ahead to create the device after receiving a substantial grant.

The proposed device shouldn’t be confused with a fake testicle prosthesis which are commonly used by men missing a testicle. These are filled with a saline solution, what the scientists are proposing is one that would actually make sperm.

Scientists have tried to create sperm cells before but have only managed to complete three-quarters of the process in the laboratory. The highly specialisd environment found in a man’s testicle is needed to complete the process.

Now Dr Turek’s team hope they can make such a ‘sperm-making biological machine’. It will be shaped like a cylindrical bag a few inches long and attached to the body. It would have to be replaced after every cycle of sperm production, which takes 70 days.

To make the artificial testicle, the researchers will have to develop a technique to grow human sperm cells. They plan to use a man’s embryonic stem cells ‘fortified’ with genes to steer them into becoming reproductive cells that could then be used in an IVF procedure.

Dr Paul Turek said: ‘This grant is quite an honour and comes after several years working together on this idea. We have assembled a great group of scientists who are very committed to its success.’ He is currently working on a prototype and estimated it would take five to seven years to perfect the method.

The rise of burlesque

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Burlesque movie

Thanks to the Burlesque movie, starring Christina Aguilera and Cher, burlesque has never been so popular.

Performed by stars like Dita von Teese, burlesque is an elaborate fun and sexy striptease. Burlesque shows are all about  the tease – it’s as much about what you don’t see as what you do.

‘Burlesque has its roots in the 18th century, but it was popularised in the US in the 1940s and 50s,’ says Miss Polly Rae one of the new breed of burlesque stars who has performed in London’s West End Theatre

‘At the time it was the equivalent to Spearmint Rhino, but back then the girls weren’t able to reveal as much so they had to be a little bit more discreet and playful and creative with their act. Gypsy Rose Lee (the American burlesque entertainer who died in 1970) was a comedian and she talked to her audience; Lili St Cyr (who died in 1999) had a bath that she used to cavort in, and she did a reverse striptease. Girls got famous for having their own gimmick or gag that made them individual.’

Burlesque died down as more explicit strip clubs and then cinema took over. But in the past two or three years it has come back with vengeance.

Burlesque clubs and shows can now be found in many cities across Europe and America. Thousands of otherwise ordinary, women are putting on feather boas, flame-red lipstick and high heels to shimmy, bump and grind their afternoons away at burlesque classes and many who are getting married are celebrating with burlesque themed hen nights.

Burlesque is even helping drive lingerie sales with many women’s chains reporting a huge increase in sales of burlesque clothing and costumes such as suspenders,corsets and basques.

They hark back to olden day glamour and is a nostalgic counterpart to the see-it-all nature of contemporary stripclubs. I for one hope its popularity continues to grow.