Below the Belt

Lately, I have run across a slew of great articles about managing issues south of the waistline. They don’t exactly relate to one another, but they do share a common theme: the reproductive system.

The first article is from Perri Klass, one of the great pediatricians-turned-writers of our time. The issue of heavy menstrual bleeding is far more common than many people realize. In fact, I think its commonness sometimes leads to its downplay – because so many teenage girls manage extremely heavy flows, we have come to think of this as normal.

It is normal… but it can also be problematic. Girls can have a range of related issues, everything from anemia (blood levels drop when you bleed so much) to social anxiety (thanks to bleeding through pads, tampons, and period underwear in school or at a friend’s house). Sometimes anovulatory cycles, which are periods that occur without ovulation, can cause hormones to run amok and bleeding, too; other times there is an underlying bleeding disorder or a clotting problem. Every teenage girl – and every parent of one – should read this short piece to get a sense of when to seek medical advice.

Article number two tells the story of Deborah Roffman, one of the country’s leading voices in sex education. Roffman began her career almost 50 years ago, standing strong on the frontline of this field as medical, political, and social shifts radically changed the landscape. But she has a deep appreciation for the common themes across every generation, embodied in questions like: What is normal in the course of physical development? How should we navigate relationships?

The most beautiful part of her story is Roffman’s deep dedication to sex ed equality. She feels a personal responsibility to spread good information, and she dreams of a day when this curriculum is as integrated into K – 12 education as math and reading. Until then, she implores the schools with means to share their wealth with less resourced schools, which may be as simple as proving that valid and accessible sex education makes a positive difference.

The last article is probably going to throw you, because it’s about the ethics of post mortem sperm donation. Yes, the question of whether the sperm of a dead man can – and should – be used to impregnate a woman. This article is long and academic, but if you want to challenge yourself to think about something you likely have never considered, take some time to ponder this issue.