Finance Minister Penny Wong And Partner Are To Have IVF Baby

[DeSwiss]

Finance Minister Penny Wong And Partner Are To Have IVF Baby

Ben Packham
The Australian
August 09, 2011 2:01PM


Penny Wong and partner Sophie Allouache are expecting a baby, due in December. Source: AdelaideNow

PENNY Wong and her partner Sophie Allouache are expecting a baby, the Finance Minister has announced. Ms Wong said Ms Allouache, who became pregnant by IVF, was due to have the baby in December. “The biological father of the child is known to us, and will be known to the child,” she said in a statement. “We have agreed with him that his name will not be released to the media.”

Ms Wong said she and Ms Allouache were delighted. “Like any expecting parents, the prospect of welcoming this child into our lives fills us both with joy,” she said. “We are extremely grateful to our IVF service and staff, and to our donor, for giving us the opportunity to raise a child together.”

She said the couple had decided to announce the pregnancy because they realised there would be public interest, but appealed for privacy. Senator Wong, one of the most senior ministers in the Gillard government, is the first openly gay minister in federal politics. Last year, she publicly came out in support of gay marriage, which will be debated at the ALP's national conference later this year.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard welcomed the couple's announcement today. "I'm very pleased for Penny Wong and her partner Sophie as they look forward to a new baby and the next phase of their lives," she said.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/people-in-politics/finance-minister-penny-wong-and-partner-are-to-have-ivf-baby/story-fn5oa9p3-1226111534682">MORE

- She thinks she's full of joy now -- just wait'll she gets to those 3AM feedings. Congratulations!!!


DeSwiss


''Does this make my butt look big?!?!''



"The true man walks the earth as the stars walk the heavens, grandly obedient
to those laws which are implanted in his nature." ~Lemuel K. Washburn

[Betsy Ross]

1. Wonderful!

A beautiful couple.

[DeSwiss]

3. Yes they are.

And what I respect just as much about Penny is, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHeDD9tnFw4">she does not suffer fools gladly. And she will tell them to bugger-off when they deserve it.

[RKP5637]

2. Recommend!!! n/t

[Sapphocrat]

4. Wonderful! But, but, but...

Gay-hating (and living-in-sin) Gillard is "pleased"? And Gillard "reiterated the gay marriage issue would be considered" by the ALP? (ALP: think: your worst spineless-ConservaDem nightmare.) What, is the leopard changing her spots? Why?

In any case, it's good to know the reforms of 2007 actually worked; before then, IVF was verboten for lesbians across Oz (and still is, unfortunately, in South Australia, the lone hold-out of all the states, which hasn't even caught up with traditionally conservative Victoria).

[DeSwiss]

5. Well, she has very likely blown-off.....

...a good chunk of the http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/29/2939879.htm">religious vote for good.... so yeah, I'd say it's http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/un-body-votes-protection-gay-rights">political.

''...you can stand back and look at this planet and see that we have the money, the power, the medical understanding, the scientific know-how, the love and the community to produce a kind of human paradise.

But we are led by the least among us - the least intelligent, the least noble, the least visionary. We are led by the least among us and we do not fight back against the dehumanizing values that are handed down as control icons.''

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYB0VW5x8fI">~Terrence McKenna

[Sapphocrat]

6. Well, whaddya know.

I read that as: The money was threatening to dry up in an otherwise extremely socially-liberal nation shucking off religious nutballs (save for Cardinal Pell, who's nearly dead) so fast, they have to export the likes of Ken Ham to the only country that'll put up with him.

Hey, DeSwiss, long time (my fault). So good to see you. :hug:

On edit: Stupid typo

[DeSwiss]

7. Hey Sapphocrat!

Not your fault. :hug:

My health ain't as good as it once was and I've been battling back from a Triple-A in addition to bladder cancer now for about 3 years now. So my time on DU has been spotty.

- Always good to see you too!