There's no womb is the new in

Remember Dave's claim: "The NHS is safe in our hands"? In a Daily Mirror/Daybreak poll, 82% of responders didn't think so. There is a moving, professional account of the reality here which some will find surprising.

One of Dave's major delusions is that he has improved the institution of marriage by making it available to everyone. After the gay marriage bill was rammed through parliament with all the supposed safeguards we now have: Church of England to be Sued for Refusing to Perform Same-Sex Marriages, Just a Month After Prime Minister Promised Protection. Read the full story here.

For old-timers it is all very confusing. Following the announcement that Ellen DeGeneres is to host the Oscars in 2014 she tweeted: "It's official: I'm hosting the #Oscars! I'd like to thank @TheAcademy, my wife Portia and, oh dear, there goes the orchestra." Barrie Drewitt-Barlow pictured above (right) with boyfriend Tony wants to go into his church and marry his husband. He  said “I am a Christian – a practicing Christian – my children have all been brought up as Christians and are part of the local [Church of England] parish church in Danbury.” Since neither has a womb they made other arrangements to have their children. Both are named on the birth certificate of their twins, who were "conceived with a donated ovum and carried by a surrogate in California". They have since "acquired three more children through similar means and opened Britain’s first surrogacy business catering especially to same-sex partners".

Lacking a womb is the new in thing. From the Guardian Weekend Magazine: "When his son Max was born six months ago, Yotam Ottolenghi didn't think it was anybody else's business. Now, after five years of trying to become a father, he explains why he wanted to share the long, hard road to gay parenthood". He and his partner Karl met the surrogate mother, Melanie, through an agency in Los Angeles. She had first become interested in "alternative parenting" while watching The Oprah Winfrey Show! She had four children of her own and had been a surrogate once before using a donor egg.

Melanie and her egg donor received medical treatments to co-ordinate their menstrual cycles before the donor was flown to a clinic in LA where, using the standard IVF process, eggs were retrieved and fertilised in a test tube using the father's donated sperm. The full story can be read here.

The joy of the gay fathers is clear for all to see. What the 'motherless' children will think of the arrangements in years to come remains to be seen but one thing is clear, having no womb is no impediment to parenthood today but with costs of "at least $100,000", will Dave's next promise be free motherhood for all at the point of delivery?