I didn’t love my baby

Experience: It's the one thing you can rely on, all the pregnancy books said. That indescribable rush of love when they put the baby on your belly for the first time.

Two mothers, two lost babies

Elizabeth McCracken’s remarkable memoir has highlighted the issues surrounding infant death. Rachel Stockley meets her

‘Family planning is so easy, yet so little is invested in it’

Dana Hovig of Marie Stopes talks to Emine Saner about the struggle to de-stigmatise abortion

Confessions of a shrink

When psychotherapist Jane Haynes decided to expose the shocking details of her life and work in an autobiography, many of her peers were horrified. By Stuart Jeffries

Transsexual man expecting twins sparks ethical row

Spain debates ethical use of reproductive technology after 25-year-old interrupts hormone treatment to conceive

Next week: We’re worried about this unassisted birth

'My brother's girlfriend is pregnant and they are planning a completely unnassisted birth despite a family history of complications. What kind of intervention is appropriate?'

‘We will teach you to make love again’

Janine di Giovanni on the French approach to getting back your sex life - and figure - after childbirth

I can’t stop pulling my hair out

'Since I was seven, I have pulled out my hair, mostly when feeling anxious, but also if I'm sad, bored or lost in thought.'

Sexual healing

'Just before I reached 55 I had a sudden decrease in libido, and another ten years later. Physically I don't need sex, but mentally I do.'

I felt my twin sister’s labour pains

Experience: Several weeks after Helen had told me she was pregnant with her first child, I began to feel waves of intense nausea