Ten tiny toes

The use of IVF in creating life is something that confuses me. My main prejudice is that it is unnatural; my take is that whatever there is that controls or preordains things should be allowed to make the running. I am strongly against it’s use where women have given their energies to matters other than pro-creation until late in their life. I am not a good enough parent manqué to understand the incredible drive some couples have to seal their partnership with children. Easy to say I suppose, I’ve enjoyed ours (most of them and most of the time anyway), but I do not think I would have missed them had they not arrived. I feel no less of a person for not winning the Olympic 100 metres than I would at being childless.

With that background, I was interested to see this.

The record for gestational age of a surviving baby has been broken again. New record: 21 weeks and 6 days (5 months). The baby was 9.5 inches long and weighed 10 ounces. After four months of round-the-clock intensive care, she's finally well enough to go home. A national registry shows no other surviving babies born before 23 weeks. The American Association of Pediatrics says a baby born at 21 weeks or weighing less than a pound is not viable. Pro-life spin: Thanks to IVF, we can verify this baby's gestational age and prove that the viability line has advanced. Anti-choice spin: Thanks to IVF, this pregnancy was imposed on a body naturally unfit for it, resulting in a tortured pregnancy, a horribly early birth, and a disastrous four-month drain on hospital resources. (For Human Nature's previous take on fetal pain at 20 weeks and beyond, click here.)

Just get a rule and look at 9.5 inches. Try a small bag of sugar – that is almost twice the weight of this tot. The comment sets out the IVF cost. We cannot know what problems may lie ahead of this child. I hope she makes it with none. I also hope that no one will try and beat this record. It will get filed in my anti-IVF prejudices.