Our beautiful sons could die before us

Nick Taussig thought his son Theo was a bit of a late developer. If only that were true. Doctors diagnosed Duchenne, a devastating genetic disorder – and everything changed. He will not rest until he finds a cure

‘I was fired for having a miscarriage’: the truth about pregnancy and work

Bim Adewunmi: Six out of 10 mothers believe their careers suffered after they became pregnant. How have you found managing pregnancy, motherhood and work?

Hey, kids – leave my bad food stash alone

Jay Rayner: What do you do when the children find your sherbet lemons and pork scratchings – and all the other things you told them were bad?

Do you feel lonely?

A study has revealed one in 10 people feel they do not have a close friend – an estimated 4.7m people across the UK. Share your experiences of loneliness in our open thread

One in 10 do not have a close friend and even more feel unloved, survey finds

Study by relationship counsellor Relate finds a divided nation with many left without vital support of friends and family

‘Normal is boring’: parents on caring for children with genetic disorders

Eleanor Tucker: One child in 25 in the UK is born with a genetic disorder, and many of them are extremely rare. Here, families share their stories about living with unusual conditions

Seeing the devastation of war on TV reminds me how lucky we are

Watching the small daily rituals that help Syrian families rebuild lives fascinates me – rituals I take for granted

This column will change your life: if it’s good for you, it can’t be nice

Oliver Burkeman: 'When told food would make them stronger, or better at counting or reading, children came to think of it as less tasty, and ate a smaller amount'

I’m a woman with severe facial hair – and zero confidence as a result

Annalisa Barbieri: I’m too self-conscious to socialise and desperate to find the confidence to work again and be ‘normal’

Baby Gammy’s sad story is not the only side to surrogacy – I know it can work

Bonita Dordel: International surrogacy could do with some regulation, but it’s all too easy to pass moral judgment