Remember that abortion party we told you about? The general reaction to that little shindig was, um, “Appalled!” But, as I’ve never heard of one before, I don’t think it’s an indication of a trend. However, one aspect to the story did inspire another conversation about how much say a man should have in a woman’s decision to keep or terminate a pregnancy.

Carmen Bousada, the world’s oldest mom, recently passed away from cancer at age 69. The Spanish mama conceived twin boys via donor eggs and artificial insemination, despite having gone through menopause 18 years earlier. How did a lady her age get knocked up in the first place? Bousada lied to an L.A. fertility clinic and pretended to be 55-years-old, not 67.

Tell me, what compels older women—and their doctors—to make mommies out of grannies? She went through menopause 18 years earlier. Menopause is nature’s way of telling your body that your babymaking years are finished.

When Alice Eve Cohen, 44, noticed her belly bulging, she thought the worst—she was convinced she had a cancerous tumor growing inside her at an alarming rate. Doctors said her odd symptoms were caused by menopause and a bladder infection. Well the docs really missed the mark, ‘cause the thing that’s been growing and bobbing around in Alice’s tummy for the past six months was actually a baby girl. Alice was told years ago that she was infertile and that fertility treatments would harm her uterus, but lo and behold after three more months, Alice successfully gave birth to baby Eliana. Alice talks about her whole ordeal in her novel, What I Thought I Knew. As scary as that must have been, being mistaken for a tumor is still better than being born in a toilet. [Huffington Post]

It turns out some women are having babies for the wrong reasons. I won’t mention any names (cough, Nadya, cough), but according to Women’s Health, the social, psychological, and hormonal benefits of getting preggers are making some women wanna pop ‘em out like there’s no tomorrow. When a woman is rockin’ a baby bump, she gets mucho attention from her friends, family, hubby, and even strangers—which makes gals feel less lonely and is heaven for those attention-starved chicks.

According to an article in the Telegraph today, research suggests that ugly men are more likely than attractive ones to get their mates knocked up. The theory is based on behavior in the animal kingdom where “the most desirable males restrict their ‘sperm load’ with each mating to ensure enough to go around.” Scientists are researching whether the same is true for humans, and if it is, women who want a baby may be wise to avoid the hotties. “Males with the opportunity to mate with a lot of females would be likely to produce less sperm on each occasion than those making fewer sexual conquests.” The researchers’ theory that hot guys have smaller sperm loads is based on the idea they’re the ones with the highest sexual conquests. In my experience and years of gossiping with friends and observing the behavior of people around me, that certainly doesn’t seem to be the case. What do you think? Are hot guys getting laid the most? [via Telegraph]

One abortion or miscarriage raises the risk of giving birth to a premature baby by 20 percent, while two abortions or miscarriages raises the same risk by 90 percent, according to Dr. Robbert van Oppenraaij of the Erasmus MC University Medical Center in The Netherlands. Dr. van Oppenraaij presented his findings, which are based on 75 studies about complications during pregnancy between 1980 and 2008, at European Society of Human Production conference in Amsterdam this week. [Mirror UK]

Pregnant women no longer have to wait nine months to carry their baby in their arms. Jorge Lopes invented a way to converts data from ultrasound machines and MRI scans into plaster models of the babies. Lopes uses 3-D technology to create the models, which are on display at the Royal College of Art in London. Now you might ask why someone would want a replica of their growing fetus? Well, my guess is it would make an awesome one-of-a-kind paperweight. But seriously, experts say the plaster models will help expectant mothers understand the size of their baby, along with any physical abnormalities it might have. They also say the models could help mothers who have a difficult time naturally bonding with their baby. I’ve never been pregnant, but I don’t think stroking a plaster model of my fetus would make me feel all warm and fuzzy as I pray to the porcelain gods because I had morning sickness. Then again, a series of these, one for every trimester, would totally trump any bronzed baby shoes. [Impact Lab]

This week, I got a question from a sexy lady whose been hanging around some loose se(a)men. Bon voyage! But before she sets sail care-free, she’s wondering:

“I feel silly asking this, but when I’m having sex with my boyfriend, right before we begin, something comes out of his penis. I hesitate to call it pre-ejaculate, because after it leaks out we do it for a long time and he eventually comes. Do you know what this is? Does it have sperm in it?”

Puh-lease do not be embarrassed. Even the experts aren’t really sure how to answer some of your questions. As for Dr. V, I got you boo.I once dated a drip that had his own leaky faucet. Actually, he was more like the busted fire hydrant of pre-ejaculatin’ and I swear, he got wetter from foreplay than me!

The Baby Gender Mentor kit seemed like a godsend to expectant mothers who wanted to know the sex of their babies before the delivery. The mothers shelled out $25 for the kit and $250 for results. But the company couldn’t deliver on its promise. Although it promised 99.9 percent accuracy, the Baby Gender Mentor kit inaccurately concluded the sex of six infants. The moms have filed a lawsuit in New York City because they say they were stiffed out of a promised 200 percent refund, and the incorrect results severely impacted their lives.

I’ve always wondered what happens to women who think the scale is their enemy when they get pregnant. Most women are fine, and realize that gaining weight is just a part of the cycle. But in other cases, the result is “pregorexia,” a rare disorder in which pregnant women starve themselves and over-exercise. This week, Maggie Baumann, the pregorexia survivor pictured here when she was seven months pregnant, wrote on MomLogic.com:

“Pregnancy was a nine-month battle in which I lived in a dissociated state from my body—horrified by my expanding ‘self’ that protested every ounce of weight I gained…I did not experience the freedom to eat for two; rather, I experienced the restriction of starving for two.”

So, guys gain an average of 14 pounds while their ladies are pregnant. Not so cute. But Craig Kinsley and Kelly Lambert recently released a study that shows that fatherhood has some pretty great side effects for dudes. According to their research, male hormones are altered when a guy is expecting or has a baby, making him “more canny and resourceful.” The chemistry is simple. A man’s testosterone level lowers when he lives with a woman he loves—be it girlfriend or wife—and his prolactin level rises when he has a child, making him more sympathetic, motivated to care for his kids, and better at handling stress. Now that gets a big awww. [Utne Reader]

Whenever I see non-alcoholic beer on the menu at a restaurant, I always wonder what kind of crazy, misguided person would order such a thing. Well, I found out recently when I went to a bar with my friend who is preggers. She’s missing the beertastic taste of her fave booze, so she ordered up a non-alcoholic beer and began sipping away. A few minutes later we looked around and realized that people were staring—or rather, glaring—at her. I guess it looked like she was swigging away with little regard for the bun in her oven?

Although these bar-goers had the wrong idea, way more women that you’d think sip the real stuff while they’re pregnant. A recent study shows that 12% of women drink alcohol while they are pregnant. Considering that more than half of non-pregnant women don’t drink at all, this number is high. Pregnant chicks ages 35 to 44 are the worst offenders. Almost 18% of these women drink up. Interestingly, less than 9% of pregnant ladies ages 18 to 24 chose to drink.

We watched our pregnant friend stuff her face with everything from turkey bacon to barbecue chicken over the weekend. She’s only in her first trimester, but she’s wholeheartedly adopted the misconception that she’s eating for two. We’ve decided to give her Feed the Belly: The Pregnant Mom’s Healthy Eating Guide by nutrition expert Frances Largeman-Roth, so our preggo buddy can make sure she and the baby are getting proper nutrients. Not only does the book have 70 easy-to-make recipes organized by craving, it also contains a handbook on healthier fast food and yoga tips for pregnant women. Now our friend won’t have an excuse to eat a banana-filled Belgian waffle at 11 p.m. [$10.19, Amazon]

It’s about time selfish women stopped thinking about themselves when they give birth. Their poor male partners have to stand beside them through all that screaming and crying while their ladies look so sweaty and unkempt! Giving birth is no time to let yourself go, ladies.

Fortunately, now we have Pretty Pushers’ A Dressed Up Delivery Kit. The product site asks, “Who is that unrecognizable monster in the hospital gown? Not you!” The kit comes with Picture Perfect Pink Sheer Lip Gloss and a mirror, a lavender-colored cotton dress, a headband, a lemon water towelette, and massage oil. What, no manicure kit?

Pink lip gloss will be the last thing on my mind if I ever push out an eight-pound bundle of joy. But if you get a Dressed Up Delivery Kit, maybe your baby photos will be less “monstrous” than mine. [$34.99, Perpetual Kid]

I’m gonna be honest. I’m turning 30 this year and my biological clock is a-tickin’. I want kids in the next 3-5 years, partially because I don’t want to fork over any dough for fertility treatments. That’s why—along with marathon sessions of “The Millionaire Matchmaker”—I’m rapidly losing patience with men my age or older who don’t feel that they’re “ready” to have kids. When you don’t have a fire under your ass that’s pushing you to be ready, or else, it’s really easy to delay parenthood until the day your 40-year-old self grows up, decides it’s time to spread the seed, preferably in a 25-year-old’s egg. But science might finally have a little pressure to put on these guys. In The New York Times’ Sunday Magazine this weekend, Lisa Belkin wrote about a new study out of Australia that found that children of older men have slightly lower IQ than those of younger fathers.

I am a woman. I have all the biological requirements to have a child. Yet, I do not have the instincts or rational desire to do so. Does that make me less of a woman to not want to have a child either by using my body, my eggs, or my money to adopt?

Thanks to Amy Benfer at Broadsheet for pointing out this article in the new issue of Self, called “Single, Pregnant and Panicked,” about the trend of twentysomething women having unplanned pregnancies. As the feature points out, we’ve all seen this trend in Hollywood—Nicole Richie, Jessica Alba, and Ashlee Simpson have all had babies in the last few years—but some of us, especially given the statistics, have probably seen it in our personal lives or experienced unplanned pregnancy ourselves. Despite editing this site, the statistics shocked me. About half of American women will have an accidental pregnancy before the age of 45. That’s kind of a scary thought, considering my addiction to high-fructose corn syrup (um, and red wine).

I was lying there on the cold, hard examining table. A stranger came in and before I knew it, I was uncomfortably spreading my legs. He told me it wouldn’t hurt and proceeded to stick a strange contraption up into my body. I was there to find out “if all my parts were as they should be.”