shortlist: Women bypass sex in favour of 'instant pregnancies'

An increasing number of women want to have kids without the inconvenience of sex with men.

Wealthy career women in their 30s and early 40s, some of whom have given up regular sex altogether, are turning to "medicalised conception" - despite being fertile and long before they have exhausted the possibility of a natural conception.

They are prepared to pay thousands of pounds for private IVF treatments - even though they have unpleasant and potentially harmful side effects - because they believe it offers them the best chance of "instant" pregnancy.
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Each year about 43,000 women receive IVF treatment, most of them privately. The cost of a single treatment - and often several are needed - is at least £2,500.
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Mr Dooley practises at Westover House clinic and the Lister Hospital, both in south-west London, and a clinic in Poundbury, Dorset. He said: "I have people who come to me for IVF who haven't got time for sex. Those people don't care about looking for a lifestyle or maximising their natural potential."