Assisted Reproductive Treatment Bill

The Victorian Parliament in Australia seem to be debating some interesting legislation at the moment. After the post the other day on abortion and some subsequent surfing of the web, I have discovered that the Victorians are also looking to pass a bill that will provide reproduction assistance to lesbians, single women, and couples.

It seems the bill has become known as the lesbian fertility bill. However, the bill is clearly much more than that. Yet, it might seem to some to be an attack on the traditional family unit, as it is clear that lesbians and single women would have a right of access to fertility assistance and treatment.

The bill has passed the lower house with a reasonably comfortable vote of 47 - 34. The bill now goes to the upper house. The vote though highlights that the Liberal - National coalition all voted against the bill and so did four members of the government.

I wonder if the objection to the bill, by some members of parliament and the community, includes a belief that lesbian parents and single mothers would not make good parents or role models for their children? I need to search a little farther and wider to find out on this one.

Personally, I do not think that it matters whether you are lesbian, gay, or single when it comes to whether you will be a good parent. Let's face it there are plenty of examples of non-lesbian, non-gay, and non-single parents who are struggling to raise well-adjusted kids.

Sperm Counts and Soy

I think I have found an excuse for why it took me more than five years to get my better half pregnant! A research study out of the Harvard School of Public Health at Harvard University is suggesting that the eating and drinking of products that contain a lot of soy or isoflavones has a negative impact on fertility in men. To all out there that do not understand what this means, then in lay person's terms more soy equals less sperm!

There have not been many studies into this, and this particular study is but the third to be completed. Nevertheless, the idea that there is a causal relationship between the eating of soy and the reduction in sperm is an interesting one. I need to get a copy of the study and have a look at who the subjects were. Indonesians for example eat a lot of soy-based products. Since I have been living here in Indonesia, soy has always been a staple and has always been present in just about every meal that I have had. I love the Indonesian forms of soy and regularly eat tahu and tempe.

It seems that soy contains isoflavones, an organic compound which acts like female hormones, which then appears to impact negatively on a man's ability to produce sperm. The science is that the isoflavones in soy are structurally similar in the chemical sense to estrogen and then serve to mimic the way estrogen acts in the human body.

The study involved 99 test subjects all who were involved in a relationship where there were difficulties in conceiving. There was an "inverse" association between soy intake and sperm concentration. This inverse association was distinguishable even after other factors such as age, abstinence, caffeine, BMI, and alcohol were taken out of the equation. The average man has a sperm count of between 80 and 120 million per millilitre whereas the soy consuming subjects had an average sperm count of just 41 million per millilitre.

I guess the next time I am contemplating getting into the baby making game then it is time to swear off the soy.