Gilbert Gottfried reading Fifty Shades of Grey.

in ,

I feel like I should save all of the Fifty Shades of Grey posts until the section on kinks and paraphilias, but there are too many hilarious spin-offs to wait. I mentioned Fifty Shades of Grey in class a couple of weeks ago. It started as Twighlight BDSM fan fiction, and became a viral phenomenon. It was eventually picked up by Random House and has sold almost 50 million copies worldwide. This is despite the horrifically bad writing and completely inaccurate depiction of BDSM. The novel has been credited with rekindling the sex drives of many, many middle-aged women (these anecdotes come from sex and relationship therapists).

This clip was passed along by Conrado (thanks!). It's full of NSFW language and is loud!

If you like punishment, you'll like this video. Check out Gilbert's latest project, GILBERT GOTTFRIED'S AMAZING COLOSSAL PODCAST, named one of iTunes' "Best Podcasts of 2014!" Includes one-of-a-kind interviews with showbiz icons Adam West, Henry "The Fonz" Winkler, Micky Dolenz, Billy West, Roger Corman, "Weird" Al Yankovic and MORE!


Are purity balls effective?

in ,

Back during the second week of class, I spent a bunch of time reviewing the research on the effectiveness of abstinence-only sex education and virginity pledges. Large meta-analyses show that neither delay first incidence of sex or reduce transmission of STIs. I also mentioned purity balls during that class, and have previously posted about them on the blog (here and here).

The following piece was recently published in the New York Times:

‘Purity Balls’ Get Attention, but Might Not Be All They Claim

In 1998, in Colorado Springs, Randy Wilson threw the first “purity ball,” a formal dinner and dance at which he and other fathers signed pledges to protect the virginity of their unmarried daughters. This October, Mr. Wilson will host his 13th purity ball (they have been almost annual). And from the first ball to now, the Wilson family has made an industry of purity.

A field director for the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian organization, Mr. Wilson has promoted purity balls across the United States, and his Web site says they have been held in 48 states. He and his wife, Lisa, have written a book, and they sell a “purity ball packet” for $90.

Three of their five daughters also wrote a book, “Pure Woman.” One of those daughters, Jordyn Wilson Peppin, runs the Purely Woman School of Grace, a weeklong program where “ladies” can learn a godly path to “etiquette, grace and hosting.”

The media have lustily promoted the Wilsons. The family has been featured on Anderson Cooper’s television show, in magazines like Glamour, in many newspapers, includingThe New York Times, and in at least two documentaries: one, a Swiss production called “Virgin Tales,” was released this summer.

But there is something fishy about all this media attention.

Despite all the coverage of the Wilson family and their balls’ dramatic imagery — the girls doing ballet, placing roses before a cross, ballroom-dancing with their dads — there is little hard evidence that purity balls have spread much beyond Colorado Springs. And even some alumnae of Mr. Wilson’s dances express skepticism that they had much effect.

In her 2010 book “The Purity Myth,” the feminist writer Jessica Valenti, founder of the blog feministing.com, reported that “more than 1,400 purity balls” were held in 2006. Her footnote refers to a 2007 article by Jocelyne Zablit, who gives as the source of that figure Leslee J. Unruh, the president of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse, in South Dakota. Reached by telephone this week, Ms. Unruh was rather more vague with her figures.

Go get the rest of the scoop here.

Sex ed gone wrong.

in ,

From Reddit via BuzzFeed:

26 Ridiculous Sex-Ed Fails

New York high school students learn in sex ed that the definition of "vagina" is "sperm depository" and that gay people don't exist according to a new study [PDF] by the New York Civil Liberties Union. The students also learn that if you have sex you WILL get an STD. The NYCLU report came out this month, but months before all this a Reddit user outed her New York school — saying the same thing. Here is that original Reddit post and 25 other examples of sex ed fails.

1. "What are the two uses of the vagina?"

2. The clitoris is for peeing.

3. "Use the pull-out method."

See the other 23 here.

A lesson in grace and respect.

in , ,

This story has been making the rounds the last few days.

From the CBC:

Bearded Sikh woman teaches Reddit a lesson

A young Sikh woman -- whose photo was taken at an airport, posted online, and then ridiculed by hundreds -- is being hailed across the web today after defending herself so eloquently that her original tormenter felt compelled to apologize to all Sikhs everywhere.

In the widely-shared photo, Balpreet Kaur, an Ohio State University student, is shown waiting in line at an airport. She glances down at her iPhone, unaware that her picture is being taken.

“I’m not sure what to conclude from this,” wrote a person with the handle European_douchebag when he posted the photo to Reddit’s /funny section.

 

It is clear from the thread that user is referring to the hair on Kaur’s face, but commenters also took digs at the young woman’s turban and looks in general.

 

Kaur, a neuroscience major, was unaware that her image was starting to go viral until a classmate mentioned it on Facebook.

Showing a commendable amount of grace and maturity, Kaur signed up for Reddit and visited the thread to defend herself and her religion.

Hey, guys. This is Balpreet Kaur, the girl from the picture. I actually didn't know about this until one of my friends told on facebook. If the OP wanted a picture, they could have just asked and I could have smiled :) However, I'm not embarrased or even humiliated by the attention [negative and positve] that this picture is getting because, it's who I am. Yes, I'm a baptized Sikh woman with facial hair. Yes, I realize that my gender is often confused and I look different than most women. However, baptized Sikhs believe in the sacredness of this body - it is a gift that has been given to us by the Divine Being [which is genderless, actually] and, must keep it intact as a submission to the divine will. Just as a child doesn't reject the gift of his/her parents, Sikhs do not reject the body that has been given to us. By crying 'mine, mine' and changing this body-tool, we are essentially living in ego and creating a seperateness between ourselves and the divinity within us. By transcending societal views of beauty, I believe that I can focus more on my actions. My attitude and thoughts and actions have more value in them than my body because I recognize that this body is just going to become ash in the end, so why fuss about it? When I die, no one is going to remember what I looked like, heck, my kids will forget my voice, and slowly, all physical memory will fade away. However, my impact and legacy will remain: and, by not focusing on the physical beauty, I have time to cultivate those inner virtues and hopefully, focus my life on creating change and progress for this world in any way I can. So, to me, my face isn't important but the smile and the happiness that lie behind the face are. :-) So, if anyone sees me at OSU, please come up and say hello. I appreciate all of the comments here, both positive and less positive because I've gotten a better understanding of myself and others from this. Also, the yoga pants are quite comfortable and the Better Together tshirt is actually from Interfaith Youth Core, an organization that focuses on storytelling and engagement between different faiths. :) I hope this explains everything a bit more, and I apologize for causing such confusion and uttering anything that hurt anyone.

Kaur’s short essay shot up the thread immediately, earning her the “best comment” spot and soliciting a flurry of supportive words.

By Tuesday, the original poster, came forward with an apology:

“I felt the need to apologize to the Sikhs, Balpreet, and anyone else I offended when I posted that picture. Put simply it was stupid. Making fun of people is funny to some but incredibly degrading to the people you're making fun of. It was an incredibly rude, judgmental, and ignorant thing to post.” He wrote.

“I've read more about the Sikh faith and it was actually really interesting. It makes a whole lot of sense to work on having a legacy and not worrying about what you look like. I made that post for stupid internet points and I was ignorant.”

News of Kaur's eloquent retort and its ability to solicit a heartfelt apology from a person who only four days earlier felt it was okay to mock photos of unsuspecting women online, started spreading out from feminist and web culture blogs this morning.

Soon, thousands were praising the young Sikh woman who refused to get rid of her facial hair – and proudly so.

Many were taken by the apology, noting that perhaps the internet's meanest are growing up.

 

See some of the other Reddit comments here (scroll down). They will restore your faith in humanity.

Male body enhancing garments.

in , , ,

No longer just for women. From Buzzfeed:

Have Male Enhancing Body Garments Finally Hit The Mainstream?

Remember a time when mirdles, Manx, and butt pads were simply a lifestyle story that no one actually took seriously? No longer a niche item, they are now sold on major websites and retail stores at reasonable prices. Here are 14 ways to jazz up your junk.

And an example:

6. The "Original" Ball Lifter®

From the description: "A soft cloth elastic band rests under your balls, lifting them up and forward giving you a fuller package. The best part is it's all you!" This is like the male equivalent of a push-up balconette bra.

They cost between $18-20. (Link is NSFW!!)

Go see the other 13 garments here.

Foreskin restoration stretching.

in

There are several companies out there selling devices to restore, through stretching, circumcised men's foreskins. It has been well established that stretching of skin tissue promotes mitosis and can actually cause skin to regenerate. Based on this, foreskin stretching, in combination with topical steroids, is often prescribed to treat phimosis. Research has shown this type of treatment to be very effective.

These stretching devices take the concept one step further, the idea being that a foreskin can be recreated through stretching of the remaining skin (i.e., the skin left behind after circumcision). Whether or not these stretching devices actually work to restore foreskins (as opposed to treating phimosis) isn't clear - I couldn't find any research.

The Dual Tension Restore (pictured above) is one of the devices being marketed for foreskin restoration. The homepage for the device, with lots of photos of it in action (NSFW!), can be found here.

Manscaping.

in , ,

Female pubic hair trimming, shaping, removing, sculpting, etc., is a relatively new phenomenon. While female body hair removal has been around for centuries, pubic hair removal has only become really popular among the Western female population in the last century (especially the last few decades). Not to be left out, men have very recently been jumping on the pubic hair removal bandwagon and many men of the younger generations are now dedicated manscapers. The execs at Gillette saw this shift as an opportunity to sell their products in a new market. Gillette is clearly trying to get ahead of the curve (i.e., get a jump on their competitors).

This is a recent ad from Gillete, which is part educational, part marketing:

Have you ever thought about manscaping or shaving down there? You might say when there's no underbrush, the tree looks taller. http://gillette.com/en-us/products/razor-blades/fusion-proglide-razors/proglide-styler-beard-trimmer-power-razor Follow these simple tips from Gillette and get the best shave of your life, down there. Go further with body shaving tips from Gillette.

I'm in no way promoting Gilette products - this is simply an interesting study in cultural shifts in preferences. To make the idea of manscaping more palatable to men who might be hesitant, Gillette has cleverly played the it looks bigger card.

Man busted for having sex with couch in public.

in ,

From the Huffington Post:

Gerard Streator, Wisconsin Man, Had Sex With Couch: Cops

For this guy, being forced to sleep on the couch might not be much of a punishment.

Police in Wisconsin have accused a 46 year old man of enjoying curbside sex with a discarded sofa.

Waukesha Patch reports that an off-duty officer was jogging when he spotted Gerard Streator allegedly doing the deed with the furniture. Authorities charged Streator on Thursday with one count of lewd and lascivious behavior, which carries a maximum of nine months in prison.

According to a police report obtained by the Smoking Gun, officer Ryan Edwards said Streator "had been thrusting his pelvic area against the cushions and trying to sexually gratify himself by rubbing his penis between the two cushions.”

So much for resting in the love seat.

When Edwards approached Streator, the suspect allegedly fled. Police arrested him the next day at the hotel where he works.

Streator's motive remains unclear, but D Listed did offer one possible suggestion.

"You know what they say, more cushion for the pushin'."

Jonah Falcon frisked by the TSA.

in

Jonah Falcon, who I posted about last week, recently ran into some trouble at the San Francisco International Airport.

From the Huffington Post:

Jonah Falcon, Man With World's Largest Penis, Frisked By TSA At California Airport

Turns out it's legal to have a weapon of mass conception at the airport.

Jonah Falcon was stopped and frisked by the TSA at the San Francisco International Airport on July 9 because of a bulging package hidden in his pants. But the 41-year-old New Yorker wasn't packing a dirty bomb, drugs or a Costco-sized tube of toothpaste. The New Yorker has the world's largest recorded penis.

In an exclusive interview with The Huffington Post, Falcon described his hard times with security guards after his extra carry-on became suspect.

"I had my 'stuff' strapped to the left. I wasn't erect at the time," said Falcon, whose penis is 9 inches flaccid, 13.5 inches erect. "One of the guards asked if my pockets were empty and I said, 'Yes.'"

Falcon said he knew that his interview was about to get a lot more personal when he was led through one of the X-ray body scanners and passed a metal detector.

"Another guard stopped me and asked me if I had some sort of growth," Falcon said, laughing.

Indeed he did have a growth.

Vulval whitening.

in , ,

From The Guardian:

Thailand's skin-whitening craze reaches woman's intimate areas

Critics say vaginal whitening wash is extreme example of how cosmetic industry has changed Thai definition of beauty

A new product said to make women's intimate areas "fairer within four weeks" has revived the beauty debate in colour-conscious Thailand, where fair skin is associated with opportunity, success and status, and caused critics to question when, if ever, the skin-whitening craze will end.

Products promising to lighten the face, body and armpits are already available across the country, with skin-whitening pills and diet supplements claiming to pick up where the cosmetics leave off. But this is the first time that a vaginal whitening wash has hit the Thai market.

In the adverts, which are available online, on TV and on radio, a fair-skinned woman in skinny jeans wanders into her closet to change clothes, describing how "everyone wants to look good – but tight shorts can leave your skin darker". The camera then zooms in on her new outfit, which includes a pair of white shorts, to a voiceover claiming that Lactacyd White Intimate can make skin in that area become "bright and translucent".

The launch of a similar product in India this year was met with international disdain after a TV advert insinuated that having a fairer vagina would make women more attractive to men. In Thailand, however, the companies responsible say they have been successful. "Products [have] evolved from face-whitening to body and deodorant solutions to even out dark areas in the armpits," said Louis-Sebastien Ohl of Publicis Thailand, which created the adverts. "Now an intimate toiletry also offers a whitening benefit, because research evidenced that … women [are] keen to have such a product."

In many countries across south-east Asia, fairer skin is equated with higher class as it suggests a life not spent toiling in rice paddies under the sun. The Thai language is peppered with expressions that denigrate dark skin, such as the insult dam mhuen e-ga – "black like a crow". These days, rice farmers wear long sleeves, trousers, wide-brimmed hats and gloves. According to DRAFTFCB, the agency behind many of Nivea's skin-lightening ads in Thailand, such labourers make up much of of the Thai market for Nivea's face- and body-lightening products.

Using pale Korean and Japanese pop stars as illustrations, Thai women's magazines are full of fair-skinned Asians promoting products that promise to whiten, lighten and "boost" the complexion, with slogans such as "Show off your aura" and "Get to know the miracle of white skin". Fair-skinned actors and singers dominate the media nearly all over the Asia-Pacific region, where the skin-lightening industry is expected to reach $2bn this year , with the fastest growing markets in China and India.

But the trend has been associated with health risks as many products contain ingredients such as hydroquinone and mercury, which can lead to permanent skin discolouration or kidney damage. Some products are illegal. There is no suggestion that Lactacyd White Intimate or Nivea products are illegal or contain hydroquinone or mercury.

Critics of the whitening trend, such as Kultida Samabuddhi of the Bangkok Post, who wrote an opinion piece on the whitening feminine wash, say such products have changed the country's value system.

"As the definition of beauty has been changed by cosmetic industry, Thai women who fail to meet the beauty standards set by cosmetic producers and ad agencies have to struggle very hard to maintain their self-esteem," she told the Guardian.

But the skin-whitening craze looks set to continue. The male market is yet to be fully tapped, said Ohl, who added that future variants of Lactacyd White Intimate would be formulated to include anti-ageing properties, "so you can keep intimate parts fresh and young" as well.

Europe > America.

in ,

Via Copyranter. In class last week, someone noted how ridiculous it is that North American tampon and maxipad ads always depict menstrual discharge as blue or green, rather than red. Finally, an American ad came out that makes reference to the real colour, albeit very subtly:

Europeans, typically have a far more relaxed attitude towards sex and the body. Here are two clever ads that don't try to obfuscate the issue:

It Gets Better project wins award at the Emmys.

in

It's hard to imagine that people haven't heard about the It Gets Better project, started by Dan Savage of Savage Love and his husband Terry Miller. I've posted about it on the blog several times (link, link, and link), including a video submitted by President Obama. The project is fundamentally about providing hope to gay and bisexual teenagers.

From the Hollywood Reporter via the SLOG:

Dan Savage and husband Terry Miller received a standing ovation Saturday when they were presented with the Governors Award at the Creative Arts Emmys. The men were honored for their work on the “It Gets Better Project,” an anti-bullying campaign and video series that has earned submissions from stars and international figures including President Obama....Savage told reporters afterwards that he became emotional when seeing the crowd’s warm response. “The award is not for us. It’s for the project,” Savage said. “I think it’s a moment in our culture when it's broken through to the world that LGBT children were suffering and dying. The award means that the culture is reconciling itself to the needs of LGBT kids, who grow up in straight families and are often bullied by their own families. “To get a standing ovation from that crowd was flabbergasting ... I actually teared up and then I couldn’t see to read the teleprompter and I had to wing it.”

All about periods.

in

From Jezebel:

A Brief History of Your Period, and Why You Don’t Have to Have It

Valerie Tarico

Seattle family planning doctor Deborah Oyer routinely asks new female patients, "How often do you want to have your period? Monthly? Every three months? Or not at all?" Until she asks, some don't know they have a choice. Like every other aspect of reproductive health, menstruation is a fraught topic. A woman who is actively managing her period is in control of her fertility; in Judeo Christian folklore, she is cheating Eve's curse. Even talking about menstruation can violate taboos. Consequently, most of us are astoundingly under-informed about a facet of womanhood that affects anyone who either has a uterus or loves a person who does.

For example, did you know that:

  • Modern Western women have four times as many periods over a lifetime as our hunter gatherer ancestors and triple the number for women just a hundred years ago. In other words, what seems "natural" now is very different from what our bodies have historically supported or have evolved to support.

  • In the 19th Century there was approximately a five year gap between when females startedtheir periods and age at first marriage; now the gap is closer to fifteen years, with many girls starting in grade school.

  • Girls who start early are more likely to have painful cramps and heavy bleeding.

  • Menstrual contractions can be as severe as early labor and can trigger vomiting or blackouts.

  • Menstrual symptoms cause over 100 million lost work hours annually for American women; they are the number one reason young women miss school or work. In the developing world menstruation is a factor in adolescent girls leaving school.

  • A woman can now choose to regulate her periods using either short acting contraceptives like pills or rings or a long acting method like an IUD or injections.

  • Given an option, about one third of women would choose to keep their period; the other two thirds would prefer to ditch it.

  • There are no known long term health consequences of menstrual regulation or suppression in healthy women.

  • IUDs (which are as effective as sterilization from a contraceptive standpoint) were recently approved by the FDA to decrease menstrual symptoms and endometriosis and are rapidly becoming a first-line treatment for many menstrual problems.

  • A hormonal IUD reduces menstrual bleeding by on average 90% and many women have no period by the end of the first year –yet menstruation and fertility return within a single cycle after removal.

  • Italian researchers found that menstrual symptoms and related absenteeism accounts for approximately 15% of the wage and promotion gap between men and women.

Read much more fascinating history of periods here.

 

The Beautiful Cervix project.

in

From the homepage (link):

The Beautiful Cervix Project is a grassroots movement celebrating the beauty and intricacies of women’s bodies and fertility! This website provides accessible information about women’s fertility and menstrual cycles and showcases photographs documenting changes in the cervix and cervical fluid throughout the cycle.

The Beautiful Cervix Project teaches cervical self-exam and fertility awareness as a revolutionary path of promoting respect, confidence, and health. We believe that this form of self-empowerment and education will help contradict shame and misinformation around women’s reproductive health and choices, affecting positive change from the personal to global levels.

We hope The Beautiful Cervix Project inspires our readers’ curiosity to observe and appreciate what is normal for each one of us as we track the subtle changes in our bodies throughout our cycles.

The website includes a gallery of photos of cervixes in a range of states (e.g., different times of the cycle, during pregnancy, during procedures, abnormalities, etc.). There are also two sub-galleries with photos from each day of one woman's cycle. The photos are all accompanied by descriptions of observed physiological changes. Here's a sample:

Day Two

Blood – Dark red, medium/light flow

Breasts – normal

Basal body temperature – 97.2 F (and remains between 97 F and 97.4 F until day 20)

See the rest of her series of photos here.

Fifty Shades of Eh.

in ,

This will only be funny to you if you've read, or know of, 50 Shades of Grey.

By Scott Feschuk for Macleans magazine:

The Fifty Shades of Grey book series, about a young woman who signs a contract to enter into a submissive sexual relationship with a manipulative billionaire, has been described by critics as good news for publishing and bad news for words. It’s spawned its own line of lingerie, bedding and S&M-themed accessories. The thing is such a gold mine that scoundrels are cranking out quick knock-offs—a reprehensible act, in that it may cut into the sales of my own.

Luckily, my work occupies a very specific niche. Welcome to an excerpt from my highly erotic—and profoundly Canadian—new novel, Fifty Shades of Eh.

•••

He pulls the leather strap tight against my left wrist. I wince.

“Sorry,” Christian says. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay.”

“I’ll loosen it a bit.”

“Don’t trouble yourself.”

“Honestly, it’ll just take a minute.”

“It’s fine, Christian.”

I gaze upon him with my intrepid eyes. My mouth, which is also intrepid, curls into a sly smile. “Did you remember the clamps?” I ask.

“Canadian Tire was closed. But I found a bunch of clothespins in the garage.”

I swoon. My breathing quickens. My heart beats a frantic tattoo as I surrender myself to the anticipation oflanguid erotic pleasures and several hours of splinter removal. Why, oh why have I fallen for someone so Canadian—so okay looking, so gainfully employed, so . . . nice?

“I need you to fill out some paperwork before we go any further.” His face impassive, Christian hands me a single shiny sheet. He draws close—so tantalizingly near that I can sense his energy, his essence, his Head & Shoulders—and whispers: “No more than three toppings, or they charge extra.”

He hums a few bars of Nickelback and I’m helpless, trussed up and pressed into his brother’s old futon from university. Christian sighs.

“I’m damaged, Ana. You just don’t get it. I was born to a successful pediatrician . . .”

“Well, that doesn’t sound so—”

“. . . in Winnipeg.”

“Oh. Oh, Christian. I’m so sorry.”

“You’re not the one who’s sorry. I’m sorry.”

There is a pause.

“Sorry,” I say.

My intrepid eyes cast around Christian’s Rec Room of Pain and across his many instruments of torture: the ball gag, the whip, the black gadget that with the press of a single button turns on the cruelest device of all: the television. Sportsnet, TSN . . . Oh Christian, stop teasing and turn it to CBC for the Leafs game! The chronic incompetence . . . the annual ritual of false hope . . . such delicious pain!

My tongue tentatively prods his and they join together in a slow, erotic dance. A tongue dance.

Blissful moments pass. Are they minutes? Hours? A dollop of something cold lands along the intrepid curve of my hip—splash!—and I am alert again. My body is electric, pulse pounding, skin alive with sensation.Desire. This is what desire feels like. “Sorry, spilled my beer.” The sensual gyrations of our relationship, all bump and grind and dancing tongue, continue.

Christian frowns at me.

“Why are you frowning?”

“Sorry,” he says. Now he’s smiling. The Earth shifts on its axis, tectonic plates slide into a new position, volcanoes erupt, trains speed into tunnels and other suggestive images. My inner goddess yearns to be touched by this tragic figure with the jaw of a lumberjack and the clothes also of a lumberjack.

“Do you like my beaver?”

“Sure, but it looks a little small next to the stuffed caribou,” I say.

“Damn rodent put up a hell of a fight. I still say it was worth losing my leg.”

He picks up a riding crop and limps over. I can feel a stirring deep within me, somewhere beneath my snow pants. This feels so different than the last time, so vital, so carnal, so . . . wait, is that the “Coach’s Corner” theme?

Suddenly, Christian is on top of me. He forces something into my mouth. It’s firm, so very hard. I curl my tongue around it and instantly recognize its elegant contours.

Timbit. Chocolate glazed.

“I only had enough cash on me for day olds. Sorry.”

I surrender myself to the sweet agony, and chew.

Mother-daughter womb transplant.

in ,

From the BBC:

Mother-to-daughter womb transplant 'success' in Sweden

Two Swedish women could be able to give birth using the wombs in which they were carried, doctors say, hailing the world's first mother-to-daughter uterus transplants.

The weekend procedures were completed by more than 10 surgeons at Sweden's University of Gothenburg.

The names of the patients have not been revealed.

Doctors caution they will not consider the operations successful unless the women achieve pregnancy.

"We are not going to call it a complete success until this results in children," said Michael Olausson, one of the Swedish surgeons told The Associated Press.

"That's the best proof."

Both women started in-vitro fertilisation before the surgery, he said, adding that their frozen embryos will be thawed and transferred if the women are considered in good enough health after a year-long observation period.

Up and walking

Both recipients, who are aged in their 30s, were tired after the surgery but recovering well, said the university in a statement.

One had her uterus removed due to cervical cancer and the other was born without a uterus, they added

"The donating mothers are up and walking and will be discharged from the hospital within a few days," said Mats Brannstrom, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the university.

He is the leader of a research team - comprising 20 scientists, doctors and specialists - which has been working on the project since 1999.

Turkish doctors said they had performed a successful uterus transplant last year, giving a womb from a deceased donor to a young woman, but Dr Olausson said he was not sure whether the recipient had yet started undergoing fertility treatment.

The first widely reported womb transplant from a live donor was performed in 2000, in Saudi Arabia, but the organ had to be removed three months later because of a blood clot.

Last year, 56-year-old Eva Ottoson, who lives in Nottinghamshire, said she hoped to become the first woman to have her womb transplanted into her daughter, Sara, 25, who lives in Sweden and was born without reproductive organs.

It remains unknown whether they were involved in the weekend's procedures.