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Below are some of the key questions we answered in our daily #WAgenda this morning, sent to our subscribers before they sipped their first coffee.
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Judging a woman who just gave birth?
Apparently, we’re very good at it.
News of a 62-year-old women who just had a baby daughter went everywhere yesterday.
And rightly, it did start a conversation about how late is too late when it comes to IVF procedures, and your actual chances of successfully transferring an embryo and carrying a child.
At 62 (after many years of trying) this couple got very, very lucky, with a donor embryo.
But it’s the 78-year-old father also involved who merely became a side story, with people everywhere noting she (the mother) is selfish and too old to be able manage a baby and later on a teenager.
The baby girl was born healthy and seemingly into the hands of loving parents. Plenty of unloving and unhealthy people have children everyday — but don’t make newspaper headlines because due to their age, they’re automatically considered fit enough to be parents.
While there is no legal barrier to preventing older women undergoing IVF treatment, most clinics have cut-off ages, which typically don’t exceed 50 (couples can still travel overseas for treatment).
Meanwhile, the number of women seeking fertility treatments after 40 has more than tripled in the last decade.
We hope this new mother has an opportunity to enjoy her new baby, free from judgment and accusations. This couple have struggled to conceive for years and despite the risks, have finally had a happy result. No doubt this child will receive plenty of love and enter an extended family that will cherish her and tend to all of her needs.
In the meantime, we welcome the debate about actual IVF success rates, particularly after 50, as well as further advice and education shared on the best ages for women to naturally conceive.
According to IVF Australia, success rates in their clinics range from 40.1% per embryo transfer leading to a live birth for patients under 30, to 8.5% per embryo transfer leading to a live birth for patients over 40. They don’t share stats for women over fifty.
The mother who gave birth on Monday was previously reported as being 63, but the hospital released a statement saying she’s 62. She’s still recovering in hospital.
Has Trump finally gone too far?
It’s hard to imagine that a man who’s built his entire election campaign on insulting minorities with very few consequences, could be at risk of being brought down.
But Trump’s recent controversy in which he openly ridiculed the parents of fallen Muslim soldier Humayun Khan, has caused him to slide significantly in the polls.
In response to Trump’s proposed anti Muslim immigration policy, Khan’s father gave an impassioned speech at the Democratic National Convention imploring Trump to:
“Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending America — you will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”
Trump’s response (in true Trump style) was to mock Mr. Khan and question whether his emotional words had been put together by “Hillary’s script writers”. To add insult to injury, Trump infuriatingly added:
“I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard.”
(queue eye roll now)
What happened to the guy who said women don’t have ambition?
Saatchi & Saatchi chairman Kevin Roberts has resigned, following an interview he gave dismissing the matter of gender diversity in advertising and saying women lacked “vertical ambition”.
In a statement, he revealed he’ll be stepping down on Sept 1 and owned up to his mistakes, according to AdvertisingAge. Holding company Publicis Groupe has accepted the resignation, earlier than Roberts was due to retire in 2017.
“‘Fail fast, fix fast, learn fast’ is a leadership maxim I advocate,” Roberts wrote in his statement.
“When discussing with Business Insider evolving career priorities and new ways of work/life integration, I failed exceptionally fast. My miscommunication on a number of points has caused upset and offence, and for this I am sorry. I have inadvertently embarrassed Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis Groupe, two companies I love and have been devoted to for almost 20 years. I have expressed my regret and apology to the companies for the furor my remarks and language stimulated, and I extend this to colleagues, staff and clients.
Roberts had told Business Insider that the gender diversity debate is “f@cking over”.
Seems like other things are over now
Have some of our Olympians been quarantined?
Uh oh…
Four members of the Australian women’s water polo team have been quarantined in Rio after contracting a gastro virus.
They’ve been isolated from the rest of the team for 48 hours, in an area of the athlete’s village that typically houses Australian team officials.
Australian Olympics boss Kitty Chiller explained that a close eye would be kept on the women by the team doctor and refused to speculate whether the teammates would be replaced.
Fingers crossed, they beat off the belly blues before the games begin!