Three Degrees of Womanhood

Woman, 64, gives birth: report
Monday Dec 3 10:24 AEDT

A German woman aged 64 has given birth to a healthy baby girl, a national record and her first child after years of unfruitful attempts and false pregnancies, a report said yesterday.

"Mother and child are doing well," said doctor Elias Karam at the Aschaffenburg clinic in southern Bavaria, quoted by the Internet site of the Der Spiegel weekly.

The baby was born on Thursday by caesarian section and weighed two kilograms, The German birth came thanks to the donation of ovules by a 25-year-old donor but used the sperm of her husband, who is also aged 64, Spiegel Online reported.

Man shoots wife with Alzheimer's to end suffering
Sunday Dec 2 09:16 AEDT

A 77-year-old Italian burst into a hospital ward where his wife was being treated for Alzheimer's disease on Saturday and killed her with three gunshots because he "couldn't stand seeing her suffering", he told police.

The man, whose name was not given by police, shot his 82-year-old wife in the face and heart in full view of other patients and staff in the hospital in the Tuscan city of Prato and was arrested immediately.


The woman had been suffering for eight years from the illness, which affects elderly people and brings on dementia, and had been admitted to hospital earlier in the week, police said.

(Reporting by Stephen Brown)

New website used to speed up separation
Thursday Nov 29 11:27 AEDT

While some people use the internet to find true love, a new website now makes it possible for others to finalise their separation.

An online service called Resolution Online (www.resolutiononline.com.au) has been developed to allow couples, especially those with children, to complete the final stages of their separation without being face-to-face.

"In many situations, the last thing most couples wish to do is actually sit down, face-to-face, to try and resolve sensitive issues," Resolution Online chief executive officer, Katherine Graham, said.



The service involves both parties taking part in a real-time, secure, private chatroom, facilitated by an accredited family dispute resolution practitioner.

At the conclusion of a session, a formal, written agreement can be printed, which both parties will be required to abide by.