A couple of weeks ago, I saw a headline in The Telegraph that made me laugh out loud. It read: ‘Cycling Does Not Cause Infertility.’ Phew. The fact that I no longer have to feel guilty about all those holidays in France which we spent pootling round the vineyards is such a relief.

The article served as a reminder of how ludicrous and dangerous media stories are for infertiles. From a cup of coffee to a new laptop, there’s a scare story just waiting to take the fertility fun out of it. Even some of the good news stories have a sinister side, like the Daily Mail article that ran with the headline: ‘Mayonnaise Miracle Babies’. It was about the (possible) success of pioneering reproductive immune treatment. My personal hunch is that there could be something in it. But there is also more research that needs to be done and these sorts of headlines just don’t help persuade the clinical establishment to take it seriously which we need them to do if real advances are to be made.

To end with, I also want to mention a story I read in the Economist this week. It wasn’t the headline but the words buried beneath that caught my attention. It stated that according to the World Health Organisation around 50m couples worldwide have been trying to conceive for at least five years without success. Fifty Million – that’s the size of a small country. In fact it’s the size of my small country. So if it’s not the cycling wot does it, then you better get yourself down to the supermarket while stocks of Hellmann’s are still on the shelves!

Have you read any astounding fertility news stories recently? Do share if you have.

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