#cw reproduction

[cartoonscientist]

“After van Leeuwenhoek’s discovery of sperm, it took another century before anyone realised that they were needed to fertilise eggs. That revelation came in the 1760s, when the Italian priest and natural scientist Lazzaro Spallanzani, experimenting on male frogs wearing tight-fitting taffeta pants, demonstrated that eggs would not develop into tadpoles unless sperm was shed into the surrounding water. Bizarrely, until Spallanzani announced his findings, it was widely thought – even by van Leeuwenhoek for some years – that sperm were tiny parasites living in human semen.”

-Robert D. Martin

[reasonsforhope]

"The first modern attempt at transferring a uterus from one human to another occurred at the turn of the millennium. But surgeons had to remove the organ, which had become necrotic, 99 days later. The first successful transplant was performed in 2011 — but even then, the recipient wasn’t immediately able to get pregnant and deliver a baby. It took three more years for the first person in the world with a transplanted uterus to give birth. 

More than 70 such babies have been born globally in the decade since. “It’s a complete new world,” said Giuliano Testa, chief of abdominal transplant at Baylor University Medical Center.

Almost a third of those babies — 22 and counting — have been born in Dallas at Baylor. On Thursday, Testa and his team published a major cohort study in JAMA analyzing the results from the program’s first 20 patients. All women were of reproductive age and had no uterus (most having been born without one), but had at least one functioning ovary. Most of the uteri came from living donors, but two came from deceased donors.

Fourteen women had successful transplants, all of whom were able to have at least one baby.  

“That success rate is extraordinary, and I want that to get out there,” said Liza Johannesson, the medical director of uterus transplants at Baylor, who works with Testa and co-authored the study. “We want this to be an option for all women out there that need it.”

Six patients had transplant failures, all within two weeks of the procedure. Part of the problem may have been a learning curve: The study initially included only 10 patients, and five of the six with failed transplants were in that first group. These were “technical” failures, Testa said, involving aspects of the surgery such as how surgeons connected the organ’s blood vessels, what material was used for sutures, and selecting a uterus that would work well in a transplant. 

The team saw only one transplant fail in the second group of 10 people, the researchers said. All 20 transplants took place between September 2016 and August 2019.

Only one other cohort study has previously been published on uterus transplants, in 2022. A Swedish team, which included Johannesson before she moved to Baylor, performed seven successful transplants out of nine attempts. Six women, including the first transplant recipient to ever deliver a baby back in 2014, gave birth.

“It’s hard to extract data from that, because they were the first ones that did it,” Johannesson said. “This is the first time we can actually see the safety and efficacy of this procedure properly.”

So far, the signs are good: High success rates for transplants and live births, safe and healthy children so far, and early signs that immunosuppressants — typically given to transplant recipients so their bodies don’t reject the new organ — may not cause long-term harm, the researchers said. (The uterine transplants are removed after recipients no longer need them to deliver children.) And the Baylor team has figured out how to identify the right uterus for transfer: It should be from a donor who has had a baby before, is premenopausal, and, of course, who matches the blood type of the recipient, Testa said...

“They’ve really embraced the idea of practicing improvement as you go along, to understand how to make this safer or more effective. And that’s reflected in the results,” said Jessica Walter, an assistant professor of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who co-authored an editorial on the research in JAMA...

Walter was a skeptic herself when she first learned about uterine transplants. The procedure seemed invasive and complicated. But she did her fellowship training at Penn Medicine, home to one of just four programs in the U.S. doing uterine transplants. 

“The firsts — the first time the patient received a transplant, the first time she got her period after the transplant, the positive pregnancy test,” Walter said. “Immersing myself in the science, the patients, the practitioners, and researchers — it really changed my opinion that this is science, and this is an innovation like anything else.” ...

Many transgender women are hopeful that uterine transplants might someday be available for them, but it’s likely a far-off possibility. Scientists need to rewind and do animal studies on how a uterus might fare in a different “hormonal milieu” before doing any clinical trials of the procedure with trans people, Wagner said.

Among cisgender women, more long-term research is still needed on the donors, recipients, and the children they have, experts said.

“We want other centers to start up,” Johannesson said. “Our main goal is to publish all of our data, as much as we can.”"

-via Stat, August 16, 2024

[suddenly-frankenstein]

chastity for a vampire

[bitchesgetriches]

To be clear... this didn't all happen ON the girls' trip...

[teaboot]

seeing the NSFW question and answers you've got happening here

my vulva is really itchy and sore but I haven't had any kind of sex recently or even used any sex toys recently. I haven't changed my washing powder. I haven't douched ever or used soap inside my vulva or used any lotions or scents around my vulva. I last shaved 2 weeks ago with a razor and the same body wash I always use. I don't think it's BV or thrush and its driving me mad. help?

CW DISCUSSION OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

Shaving public hair can increase your odds of developing bacterial infections, yeast infections, and UTIs, all of which can present as soreness or itchiness. Underwear made of synthetic fabrics can, too. High-sugar diets, hormone fluctuations, thong underwear, dehydration, bath water quality, and some lubes can, too, as well as touching without washing hands thoroughly first. Long nails especially are fantastic at holding onto and transporting bacteria and fungi. Antibiotics can cause these issues, and antibiotics can cure these issues. Medications, too.

Short and simple annoying answer: Could be anything.

I recommend drinking lots of water and cranberry juice and seeing a doctor- if it is BV then using a yeast infection treatment will burn like holy hellfire and you dont want that. Getting a urine test is your best bet.

In the meantime, again, drink lots of water and urinate frequently. Don't wash with soap, but do wash, and do so with clean water. Wear loose clothing when possible made of breathable fabrics like cotton. Change underwear daily.

I'm not a doctor or a medical professional. These are just things I've picked up through work and life. My first recommendation is always to contact a doctor, and if you start producing unusual discharge, experiencing pain during urination, developing sores, welts, or a rash, or end up with swelling or pain in your lower back, DEFINITELY seek medical assistance.

Good luck, bud 👍

[yiga-hellhole]

"Good to become acquainted."

a long-overdue tribute to @orfeoarte 's BEAUTIFUL fanfic, Shrine Beneath the Skin! not for the squeamish at all, but very much for you if you like intimacy so deep you gotta stick your hands in your lover's guts about it. give it a try! verbose ghirazant fics are my lifeblood, after all!

the twilit alphabet i used here was made by UndyingNephalim! its translatableeeee... have fun!

[odinsblog]

🗣️ tw rape mention

In U.S. history the Red Coats were the bad guys, literally coming to oppress American freedom, so it is perfectly apropos for Republicans. Oh, and the reference to The Handmaid’s Tale is also spot on.

[toxicanonymity]

Last night I was lying in bed and realized I forgot to buy a pregnancy test at the grocery store. I got up and rifled around the bathroom because I could've sworn I had a spare. I just wanted to give myself the extra peace of mind immediately before my annual GYN appointment since they always do one. I have NO reason to think I'm pregnant. The chance would be miniscule, but I literally lost sleep over the idea of having a positive test recorded in my chart, and then of course just thinking about the state of our rights. I'm in the privileged position of having education, access to contraceptives, etc. and it's SO much worse for others.

[midcenturypartum]

what happened with evinrude’s other partners? how did he and Miriam get to know each other? Thank you for the wonderful art.

Thank you for the interest and kind words! sorry for the late reply haha I ended up with a long answer dumping quite a bit of lore and got a bit sheepish. Initially I didn’t have plans to pair them with each other, it’s just one of those cases when you have two characters and are like hmm what if?

To start Evinrude and Mariam met because Mariam is a doula! she was originally a masseuse who began training due to the compassion she felt for pregnant clients, and a desire to provide them with care beyond prenatal massage, particularly those who struggle finding someone who will advocate for their reproductive rights.

She has no medical training of course, but she’s excellent at providing new parents with platonic love and support and often sticks with them for 2 weeks postpartum. Evinrude was her client for his first 4 children.

more about Evinrude's past partners under the cut but tw for death and reproductive abuse

Evinrude’s children have 3 different non-gestational parents. He was in a throuple with 2 loving spouses for most of his 20s. When they were ready to have children Anita was born, conceived with Gail, then Henry, Eleanor, and Theo, conceived with Thomasin. They worked and met at a textile & shoe manufacturer owned by Gail’s parents, where Evinrude learned his trade, and they had a collective goal of opening a small independent tailor & shoemaker workshop, despite Gail’s parents often interfering out of their desire to pass their business to him.

Gail and Thomasin are passed. They died due to a fire that broke out at the factory, caught up in rapid flames that spread through the highly flammable fabrics they worked with. Evinrude, primarily working with high flashpoint materials common in shoemaking, managed to get out in time.

Gail’s parents never approved of their only son’s queer-poly relationship, and not having any more heirs after his passing went after Anita, trying pretty ruthlessly to paint Evinrude as an “unfit parent incapable of providing for 4 children on his own.” This ordeal lasted for 2 years, and when the stress and instability started to affect his kids Evinrude was officially at his lowest. He became distant from everyone he knew when Gail and Thomasin were alive, including Mariam, and jumped too quickly into a new relationship with his attorney Oleander.

His initial attraction was due to the lawyer’s commitment to the case, as Oleander managed to bankrupt Anita’s grandparents with countersuits by not only Evinrude but several employees/families effected by the fire, with evidence that the disaster was preventable, forcing them to drop the custody suit.

Their attraction to each other was very strong during the case and they got married on a whim, but cracks began to show quickly. They were very different people with irreconcilable differences and did not get along. However Oleander, while indifferent, was at the very least not ugly to Evinrude’s kids so he stayed for the stability it brought to their lives. Violet and Carol were conceived with Oleander.

He had zero plans to have children with Oleander and had been very explicit with him about this before they married, so Violet was his first surprise/unplanned pregnancy. However, her birth helped ease some of the tension in their relationship, and things looked very hopeful.

When the novelty of a new baby seemed to wear off of Oleander, they both agreed (i.e. he convinced Evinrude) to have another under the false implications it would “fix” the marriage again, but their arguments merely escalated.

It was during one of these arguments that it’s revealed Violet’s conception was not an accident, and that Oleander had sabotaged Evinrude’s birth control. Evinrude began making plans to leave.

Since the ordeal with Anita the fear of his children being taken from him was and is always on his mind, so the day he left he had Oleander sign a document relinquishing parental rights to Violet and soon-to-be Carol, blackmailing him with information that Oleander had been embezzling money from his clients for years.

Evinrude is very proud, and struggles to ask for help. He reconnected with Mariam mostly to apologize for becoming distant with her. Mariam, thankfully, is an emotionally intelligent person, informing him that she was expecting a baby of her own and making him a deal where they help and support each other as single parents. Him and his kids ended up never leaving.

i hope to flesh them and their relationship out more as i continue to entertain them as a couple, i'm leaning towards something more queer-platonic as Mariam was originally created as a way to explore an ace/aroace person who chooses to have a baby. if you made it this far thank you for reading ;o;

[g1deonthefirst]

cw for reproductive coercion and violence: i feel like we should talk more about the implications surrounding reproductive coercion re the heirs: in a no lyctor trials au, i feel like pal & ianthe & maybe harrow would really be pushed into having kids to keep those necromantic lines going

(i say ianthe and not coronabeth here b/c it's probably less likely that corona would have a necromantic child/she needs to run ida, which a pregnancy would make much harder) but we know that there are at least a few ppl on the sixth who pal is genetically compatible with

YES ANON!! ugh this is SUCH a good point. my thing is like, i don't understand how people can argue that the nine houses are post-sexism, post-homophobia, post-gender roles, etc. when you have seven of eight houses relying on a hereditary system of governance that by definition values heirs based on their reproductive capacity. the scene where harrow uses her father's corpse to shoot down the suggestion that she marry and have kids with ortus is honestly horrifying. regardless of whether she's even attracted to men (something nobody seems to care about), she's a child in that scene and already the adults around her are discussing her reproductive capacity. not to mention ortus is, what, eighteen? years older than her. in a world where harrow's parents killed 200 children for one necromantic heir, there is no way all the scions aren't being forced to reproduce whether they like it or not. considering how the themes of the horror of pregnancy/birth and reproductive violence come up again and again, i can't see this detail as anything but intentional, either.

[cartoonscientist]

it doesn’t make sense on paper but like viscerally I feel that a reverse mermaid would just be a bipedal fish person, since my argument is that a regular mermaid’s tail isn’t 1:1 anatomically accurate to a fish and mermaids are frequently portrayed with their top half not being perfectly humanoid and separate from their bottom half

so like logically, regular mermaid = fish tail, external fertilization, young hatch from eggs and drink milk, more recognizably humanoid face and chest and reverse mermaid = humanoid legs and hips, internal fertilization, live birth young who can immediately consume meat, more fish-like face and chest with gills instead of breasts, may have more than five webbed fingers on each hand and elbows/shoulders may not have traditional joints for a humanoid

[reasonsforhope]

"Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have made a critical breakthrough that promises better outcomes for pregnancies threatened with pre-eclampsia, a condition that arises due to insufficient blood flow to the placenta, resulting in high maternal blood pressure and restricted blood flow to the fetus.

Pre-eclampsia is one of the leading causes of stillbirths and prematurity worldwide, and it occurs in 3 to 5% of pregnancies. Without a cure, options for these patients only treat symptoms, such as taking blood pressure medication, being on bed rest, or delivering prematurely—regardless of the viability of their baby.

Making a decision to treat pre-eclampsia in any manner can be a moral conundrum, to balance many personal health decisions with long-standing impacts—and for Kelsey Swingle, a doctoral student in the UPenn bioengineering lab, these options are not enough.

In previous research, she conducted a successful proof-of-concept study that examined a library of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs)—which are the delivery molecules that helped get the mRNA of the COVID vaccine into cells—and their ability to reach the placenta in pregnant mice.

In her latest study, published in Nature, Swingle examined 98 different LNPs and their ability to get to the placenta and decrease high blood pressure and increase vasodilation in pre-eclamptic pregnant mice.

Her work shows that the best LNP for the job was one that resulted in more than 100-fold greater mRNA delivery to the placenta in pregnant mice than an FDA-approved LNP formulation.

The drug worked.

“Our LNP was able to deliver an mRNA therapeutic that reduced maternal blood pressure through the end of gestation and improved fetal health and blood circulation in the placenta,” says Swingle.

“Additionally, at birth we saw an increase in litter weight of the pups, which indicates a healthy mom and healthy babies. I am very excited about this work and its current stage because it could offer a real treatment for pre-eclampsia in human patients in the very near future.”

While further developing this cure for pre-eclampsia and getting it to the market for human use is on the horizon for the research team, Swingle had to start from scratch to make this work possible. She first had to lay the groundwork to run experiments using pregnant mice and determine how to induce pre-eclampsia in this animal model, processes that are not as well studied.

But, by laying this groundwork, Swingle’s work has not only identified an avenue for curing pre-eclampsia, it also opens doors for research on LNP-mRNA therapeutics addressing other reproductive health challenges...

As Swingle thinks ahead for next steps in her research, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, she will also collaborate to further optimize the LNP to deliver the mRNA even more efficiently, as well as understanding the mechanisms of how it gets to the placenta, a question still not fully answered.

They are already in talks about creating a spin-off company and want to work on bringing this LNP-mRNA therapeutic to clinical trials and the market.

Swingle, who is currently finishing up her Ph.D. research, has not only successfully led this new series of studies advancing pre-eclampsia treatment at Penn, she has also inspired other early career researchers in the field as she continues to thrive while bringing women’s health into the spotlight."

-via Good News Network, December 15, 2024

[thashining]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Joy-Ann Reid (@joyannreid)

The number of women in Texas who died while pregnant, during labor or soon after childbirth skyrocketed following the GOP’s 2021 ban on abortion care — far outpacing a slower rise in maternal mortality across the nation, a new investigation of federal public health data finds.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/4ed8FZM

[bonefall]

what sort of things might a clan cat take for morning sickness? i'm trying to do my own research but all the plants i'm finding that are used for folk remedies to deal with nausea either don't grow anywhere near where i need them or are probably dangerous for pregnant people!

Unfortunately you're not finding anything because there really isn't a good treatment for morning sickness, known scientifically as NVP-- Nausea/Vomiting of Pregnancy. Just folk remedies, which could work decently as a placebo.

Even its cause is unknown. There's a theory that it's supposed to discourage the carrier from eating anything that might harm the fetus during the most sensitive early periods. You don't want to take a risk on eating anything WEIRD when your stomach is extra sensitive, makes sense. There's some evidence that ties it to fluctuations in reproductive hormones, too. But we're still kinda unsure about it.

So my prescription is for your Clan to choose an herb that doesn't actually do anything (I'd suggest dandelions or maybe wild carrots, something with some vitamins) and put that into a bone broth. Something bland but nutritional, and most importantly, hydrating. Bad NVP can really dehydrate the carrier.

In fact there's a severe form of NVP. It's called Hyperemisis Gravidarum; it means you can't stop vomiting. HG is a potentially life threatening pregnancy complication.

HG can cause a pregnant person to lose weight, develop jaundice, anemia, kidney failure, blood conditions like thrombosis or an embolism, or even muscle atrophy. This is a deadly complication but there's still NO particular cure.

If you're looking at HG instead of NVP, the carrier will need to be exclusively on bland broths so they can keep it down. Antihistamines are used as medication, and the BEST herb for that is processed Stinging Nettle.

(Nettle btw is actually an extremely important herb and I've talked about how to harvest it, using Sneezecloud as an example because he requires it for his allergies.)

Stinging Nettle is common as an introduced plant in most temperate environments, but if you don't have that in your chosen biome, do some research into plants used to treat allergies. Those will be a good source of antihistamine.

But, I'm not messing around with how hard NVP and HG are to treat. If HG doesn't respond to that, you may need to consider an abortion-- but keep in mind that the later term the abortion, the more dangerous it will be.

HG is rare, thankfully!! But pregnancy is a dangerous time. Less dangerous for cats, but still dangerous nonetheless.

(Yes btw, cats can develop both of these conditions. It's rarer than in humans though, since we're pretty uniquely fucked up as a species in terms of reproduction)