All Scrubbed Up

What the hell is the world coming to? By LUCY HAGAN Published: 13 Feb 2009 BOY dad Alfie Patten yesterday admitted he does not know how much nappies cost - but said: "I think it's a lot." Baby-faced Alfie, who is 13 but looks more like eight, became a father four days ago when his girlfriend Chantelle Steadman gave birth to 7lb 3oz Maisie Roxanne. He told how he and Chantelle, 15, decided against an abortion after discovering she was pregnant. This story from the SUN UK took another twist when it was discovered that another 14 year old was actually the Dad . What is going on in the UK? We've previously blogged on a boy. And yes, I refuse to call him a man, who already had 3 kids at the age of 21 . Now... to read about this 13 year old (nay, 14 - love triangle) who is happy to be a father to a child just blows my mind. It's not the "he's trying to be responsible argument". It's the fact that he was actually having SEX. UNPROTECTED SEX. At that age...

Manto wishes to thank the Johannesburg Transplant Unit for her new liver. She's sorry little Johnny didn't get the liver instead. And would like to make a toast to all those out there who supported her cause. Cheers! Glug.

Read an article on the front page of the Citizen , about Discovery Health (Bongi's favourite) refusing to fund a liver transplant on what seems like suspicion of alcohol abuse. So I want to debate transplants. And the ethical eligibility to receive one. Liver transplants spring to mind. Many conditions cause end-stage liver disease that would then require a liver transplant for survival. Livers are a scarce resource that do not become available everyday. For instance, in the UK, 17000 people are waiting for a liver transplant. If you're lucky, between 50 and 200 become available every year. So, how do you allocate organs appropriately and fairly? Do you want to give a liver to a person, who through large consumption of alcohol caused cirrhosis? Or do you want to give it to a child, who through no fault of their own, has biliary atresia. Or to a woman who developed auto immune hepatitis? Most international guidelines say that for a person who has alcohol-induced liver failure t...