A couple have signed up to be frozen after death in the hope of being brought back to life together in the future – but say if one of them doesn’t make it they will ‘pull the plug’ on the other.

Allan and Barbara Pease, from Queensland, will be cryogenically frozen together at a newly built facility in the New South Wales town of Holbrook, which is operated by Southern Cryonics and is the first facility of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

The couple, experts in body language, communication and relationships and married for 35 years, said they want their love story to continue even after death.

Speaking to 60 Minutes Australia, Allan said: ‘They have the technology to put us in, but they haven’t figured out how to get us out yet, and there’s always a risk. But the alternative is eternal blackness.

“When we come back, if they find a way to unfreeze us, if one of us doesn’t do the freezing properly, one of us will pull the plug. We both don’t want to do it alone, I don’t want to come back without her.

Barbara added, “I don’t want to come back without him either. We don’t think about death, we just live in the moment and enjoy every second of it.’

Cryonics is an experimental field of research in which the bodies of the clinically dead are frozen at -196 degrees Celsius so that they can potentially be resuscitated if future medical advances permit.

When it is time for the couple, their bodies will be transferred from their home in Queensland to the cryonics facility in Holbrook, where their bodies will be frozen at sub-zero temperatures.

They will be placed in mental tanks where they will remain until science has evolved enough to extract them and bring them back to life, which could take as long as 100 years.

The couple admitted that they are not worried that the world will look very different when they return in the future.

Barbara said, “I think the world will definitely look different, but I’m excited about that. It would be great to come back and have our babies and grandkids here, but even if they choose not to [be cryogenically frozen]., there would still be descendants of ours around.’

People in the industry admit there is no guarantee of a future revival and that the procedure itself has long been met with skepticism from medical experts. But cryonics enthusiasts are willing to take the gamble for a chance at life after death.

Allan explained: ‘Cryonics is like, if you’re in a plane flying over the Alps and the captain comes along and says, ‘The engines are all gone, we’re going to crash in the next 15 minutes, but we do have experiential skills on board. Parachutes, they have never been used, but we think they will work”, would you like to take the parachute? Well, that’s what cryo-suspension is, it’s a parachute.’

So far, 50 Australians from all walks of life have paid $150,000 to secure a place at Southern Cryonics.

Southern Cryonics director Peter Tsolakides previously said this ABC news that it costs $50,000 for the process done immediately after death, which includes a chemical drip and staff waiting to act at the time of the expiration.

He said the remaining money will cover the company’s fees, and if anything remains, it will be returned to the deceased’s estate.

Another well-known freeze location in America is the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Arizona.

From the outside it looks like any other warehouse. But inside lie the frozen dead bodies of hundreds of patients.

It’s on the pricier side: It costs people $200,000 to have their entire body stored in a high-tech freezer, but there is an option to put just the brain on ice for a discounted price of $80,000.

The number of patients at the Michigan center has grown dramatically from about 600 in 2006 to nearly 1,975 in 2023.

The longest-running patient, named Rhea Ettinger, has been there since 1977.

Her son, Robert Ettinger, a World War II veteran and founder of the Cryonics Institute, is also in the Arctic limbo, along with his first and second wives.

The idea of ​​life being revived after being frozen for a while has largely been relegated to science fiction in scientific circles.

Dennis Kowalski, the president of the Cryonics Institute in the US, told us Discover Magazine There are three challenges that future technological developments must overcome.

Repairing the damage caused by frostbite, curing the ailment that killed the patient, and reversing the aging process will all be necessary so that the person has a healthy body to enjoy his second chance at life.

Shannon Tessier, a cryobiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in the US, said the freezing process alone is a permanent death sentence.

“There is absolutely no current way, no proven scientific way, to actually freeze an entire human being to that temperature without completely destroying — and I mean destroying — the tissue,” Ms. Tessier said.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Judgement:

Verdict: Somewhat lukewarm

Almost 40 years have passed since the original Ghostbusters arrived in Britain, which is somewhat disturbing for those of us who vividly remember seeing the film in December 1984.

To make matters worse, I recently rewatched it and it may just have aged better than we have.

It was also a very influential film. It got Hollywood excited about the comedic potential of special effects, while society as a whole, albeit especially in America, began adding the suffix “busters” to everything.

‘Price breakers’ and ‘budget breakers’ became everyday expressions. And of course, Ivan Reitman’s film went gangbusters at the box office.

Reitman died two years ago, but had a producer credit on the 2021 revival, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which was directed by his son Jason and was a ton of fun.

Now Gil Kenan, who co-wrote Afterlife, is directing a sequel, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.

It’s less engaging than the 2021 film, with a meandering plot that only really comes together in the last half hour. Like many of the best minds, it is somewhat formless.

But the lovable principals are the same as last time, led by the beautiful young Mckenna Grace, whose feisty character, 15-year-old Phoebe Spengler, looks and acts as if she’s been advised to envision a female Harry Potter.

Phoebe now lives in the Manhattan firehouse made famous by the original film, with her older brother Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), mother Callie (Carrie Coon) and her mother’s partner, formerly her own science teacher, Mr Grooberson (Paul Rudd ).

They spend their days patrolling the streets in a venerable Mercedes Sprinter, equipped to help them zap the city’s more dangerous ghosts.

But of course they are not alone in this noble mission. Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson reprise their characters from the 1984 film, while British stand-up comedian James Acaster joins the cast as a paranormal investigator.

He works out of a laboratory in an old aquarium, where technicians extract ghosts from everyday objects, but don’t quite manage to coax much discernible acting talent out of Acaster.

He is what you might call endearingly wooden, although I expect American audiences will be more than satisfied with his vague resemblance to the young Michael Caine.

Meanwhile, Phoebe is randomly playing solo chess in Washington Square Park one night and encounters a ghost about her age, Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), who died “in a terrifying tenement fire.”

The pair bond over obvious hints, as in the last film, that Phoebe may be homosexual. We can definitely expect an LGBTQ Ghostbusters next time. But in the meantime, is Melody the supportive spirit she seems to be?

Let’s just say she has conflicting motivations, ending in what you might call a wraith aligned with the real villain of the piece, an evil 4,000-year-old warrior who, of course, wants to destroy humanity.

He wants to do this with his all-too-literally chilling ability to freeze everything he touches.

And as all this silliness unfolds, there are some fun set pieces and crackerjack one-liners, especially when Murray enters the fray, but at no point was I as enchanted as when I watched the last film, or even to the first.

The Persian version

Judgement:

Verdict: Worth immersion

The Persian version is also about conflict, but only within a family.

In Maryam Keshavarz’s partly autobiographical film, Leila (Layla Mohammadi) is a bisexual screenwriter who grew up in New Jersey after her parents and eight brothers left post-revolutionary Iran.

Leila spent her school years feeling that she was too Iranian to assimilate into America, and too American to go on visits to Iran.

But as an adult, her identity crisis has more to do with her sexuality, and the confrontations it brings with her strict mother, Shireen (Niousha Noor).

If that makes it sound a bit too solemn and intense, I can reassure you.

Overall, The Persian Version is a comedy, and especially a lively one, full of self-aware quirks in which Leila breaks the so-called “fourth wall” and speaks directly into the camera, or in which characters become immobile as the action unfolds around the film. them.

Keshavarz also ambitiously tries to tell Shireen’s story and takes us back to her traumatic life as a very young mother during the time of the Shah.

This requires a change in tone that feels more like a stab; the director doesn’t quite execute it. But throughout, there’s enough that’s both funny and thought-provoking to make the film worthwhile.

In the middle of a Canadian city lies an abandoned shopping center that serves as a time capsule for the ’90s, as a fascinating documentary reveals.

Filmmaker Jake Williams was granted access to the City Center Mall in Hamilton, Ontario, and he took a thorough walk around to examine its innards.

He was shocked to discover that the mall – which opened in 1990 after a CA$150 million investment and closed in 2022 – appeared frozen in time, with the interior “completely preserved and completely unchanged.”

In one scene, he enters a former office, where he finds clothes in a closet, photos lying around and a retro computer on the desk. As he turns the camera around, he says, “Oh my God, has anyone been here since 1990?”

“There are pictures of them building this room… and painting it. I think I accidentally entered the 1994 office. This is bizarre…the clothes are scattered everywhere,” he added.

In another scene, Jake ventures to the mall’s food court, where he finds the remains of several eateries, including a Persian restaurant and an Italian that sells a plate of pasta for CA$3.99.

Other items on the menu include 12 wings for CA$10.99 and a hot chicken sub for CA$5.49.

While looking around the dining room, Jakes tells viewers that “the whole place stinks like hell.”

Of the food court design, he says the aqua green “chairs and tables bring back so much nostalgia” and “even the hip cans are straight out of the 90s.”

As Jake walks through the mall, viewers get a sense of its scale, with the main atrium having a grand vaulted ceiling and a glass elevator providing access to two balcony levels.

When it was open, the City Center Mall offered more than 50,000 square feet of commercial space, and hundreds of people worked in the sprawling building.

Jake reveals that the mall was originally called the Hamilton Eaton Center and has faced several hurdles over the years as footfall declined. After the name change and sale to a new owner, it finally closed its doors on December 26, 2022.

In Jake’s film, it appears that after closing most of the contents are left behind.

A Dollar Store in the mall still has “closing sale” stickers taped to the outside, along with other signs informing shoppers that a 70 percent discount applies to all merchandise.

At the discount store, Jake discovers that many unsold items have been thrown away, while he also notices a ‘wall of shame’ behind the cash registers with photos of unruly customers still taped up.

In another part of the building, Jake discovers an office space that was used as a call center, with cubicles still intact and decorated with headsets.

Meanwhile, another corner of the mall was converted into a gym to attract customers. However, no machine was left behind.

Regarding the condition of the building, Jake says that the “disrepair doesn’t look that bad, but when you look in certain corners it starts to show that this building has only just been here.”

He notes that there is water damage in some parts of the structure, with the “paint starting to peel.”

His images also show that some interiors, such as the elevator doors, have been vandalized with graffiti.

After the shopping center closed, there were ambitions to demolish it to make way for a $1 billion mixed-use residential and retail development, but plans are currently on hold.

The developer who bought the abandoned mall, IN8 Developments, said CBC in December 2023 that it had “halted the project and demolition until the real estate market improves.”

Company Chairman Darryl Firsten offered hope to the city’s residents, adding, “In the meantime, we will continue to refine and improve our design.” It will be a great project.’

A stay-at-home mum has revealed she is divorcing her husband after he planted a hidden camera in their home to prove she is “lazy and worthless”.

The mother of three said her husband installed a camera disguised as a phone charger in the house to show she is not doing enough as a stay-at-home mom.

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On Reddit, the 47-year-old stated that her husband first became annoyed with her after she failed to sign a permission form for her child to go on a school trip because she was busy “keeping up with household bills and subscriptions” .

She also said she was busy ‘supervising’ the cleaner and gardener.

The mother said she wanted to focus 100 percent on signing the form, but she didn’t have time to do so before the deadline passed.

She added that her daughter had become very upset when she realized she could not go on the trip, and her father had to go to the school and beg them to let her go.

The mother, whose youngest child is 12, said she and her husband have gotten into a lot of arguments over the fact that he is very organized at his job but she cannot do simple tasks at home, with the mother pointing out that she do. “emotional labor”.

She said her husband scolded her for not sending checks to his employees because she was busy “researching subscriptions for frozen meals”.

The mother said that after her husband admitted to installing the camera and mentioned the times she was on the phone or watching TV instead of working, she kicked him out of the house and is now divorcing him .

Reddit users have flooded the comments section of posts to share their thoughts.

Many agreed with the woman that installing the camera was an invasion of her privacy, but also admitted that they thought she was lazy.

One person said: ‘I really want to be on your side because I would file for divorce too if I found a hidden camera.

“But you supervise the cleaners and the landscapers… and this is a full-time job?

“What exactly do you do all day?”

In response to this comment, another person said: She spends her days on Reddit complaining about her life as a stay-at-home mom.

Another person said: “Honestly, you sound lazy and unreliable.

“Your youngest child is 12, there really isn’t much for kids to do and you have a “deep cleaning” service.

“So what exactly do you do?”

Another user chimed in: “Why do you need to mentor professionals?

“And I think the camera was his way of getting proof of how or why you’re being so irresponsible.”

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Nothing prepared me for this extraordinary phenomenon.

With the moon bouncing just enough light off the snow to light my path, I gaze up at the Northern Lights for as long as I can withstand the cold. It’s -27C, I’m wearing six layers of clothing and my hair and eyelashes are coated in frost.

‘I’m here,’ I tell myself, alone in the silence as the group I’m with climbs back on the bus.

The aurora borealis occurs when energy waves from the sun react with the Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere. That’s the science. The result when you see it? Being rendered speechless is likely.

Even here in the Arctic Circle, sightings are not guaranteed, which adds to the thrill of the chase.

However, this year promises the best sightings in two decades as the sun reaches the Solar Maximum, bringing stronger aurora activity, I’m told by Northern Lights photographer Tor-Ivar Naess.

This is certainly the case for us, having seen the dancing lights during our first of three nights in Tromso, Norway, on a ‘bus chase’ with Expedia – where we follow the auroras and stop at a location to take photographs.

It’s ‘the best destination for seeing the lights’ as there are bigger geomagnetic storms that result in ‘stronger auroras for longer’, says Tor, who accompanies me on the hunt.

Standing in the snow at 2am, snapping pictures of the luminous green swirls, he explains that we are currently witnessing ‘very low activity levels’ and rates it two out of 10.

I’m gobsmacked. ‘What’s a 10?’ I ask.

‘If there were a geomagnetic storm,’ he responds, ‘then, it can be like the Wild West up there.

‘Auroras will cover the entire sky, as though somebody spilt space stuff, and you can see not only green light but pink, purple and even red.’

After fumbling with my DSLR camera in the snow, struggling to adjust the settings in my gloves, Tor suggests I try photographing the lights with my iPhone. Surely not…

Removing my gloves and exposing my skin to the elements, I only have a few minutes to adjust the camera settings before I risk getting frostnip – a mild form of frostbite.

Snap. The results are extraordinary.

The photo shows the mountains beneath a neon-green blanket of light. But looking back up at the sky, I see only a faint glow.

‘It’s real, it’s up there,’ Tor reassures me. ‘We can’t see the lights so strongly with the naked eye but your camera, even on a smartphone, picks them up.’

Alternating between my iPhone 12 and my DSLR camera, fixed onto my tripod in manual mode, I enter into a five-minute photographing frenzy.

Then, it’s time to enjoy the show.

I look up at the sky and follow the green shimmers until I can no longer feel my toes.

Back on the bus, I kick off my snow boots and peel off some layers to let in the warm air.

Having witnessed the Northern Lights on the first night, everything else feels like a bonus.

And there are lots more bucket list experiences to be had, courtesy of Expedia, from dog sledding and whale watching to ice domes and fireside chats with Sami reindeer herders.

The trip had begun in earnest under the cover of darkness the previous night.

We touch down down at Tromso Airport where I can just about see the mist dancing in the light of the street lamps as the plane hits the runway.

Boarding the minivan to the hotel, I’m struck by its modern interior featuring leather seats and blue LED strip lights that wouldn’t be out of place in Magaluf.

What had I been expecting… a reindeer pickup?

Arriving at Clarion Hotel The Edge, our driver Viktor shares some parting advice: ‘In Tromso, it’s very slippery, every day, every hour. Be careful.’

It’s true. Taking three steps forward, I find myself slipping and sliding.

The following morning, we cross the Tromso Bridge in the dark on a one-hour bus journey to our first activity – dog sledding in Breivikeidet.

A sign reads ‘moose danger’. Seatbelt… check.

People are emerging from snow-capped houses and making the first snow footprints of the day. My clock says 8.30am, though it feels more like 5am.

The water looks like an enormous mirror, if mirrors were made of liquid. 

Later, it becomes shrouded in mist, making it appear as though we are driving above the clouds.

The sun begins to rise as we approach the site. Temperature check, -19C.

Under a pink haze, we ride through snow-laden valleys and vast snow fields on a sled pulled by five very eager dogs. And we are the drivers.

‘Whatever you do, don’t let go of the handlebar as the dogs won’t stop running,’ our guide warns. 

Heading back to Tromso, the sun begins to set, capping off just three hours of daybreak. This city doesn’t really wake up in winter.

Arriving to the sound of church bells, we take the Fjellheisen cable car to a mountaintop viewpoint. Home lights flicker on as early as 2pm, as the sky retains the last glimmers of daylight.

Tucking into my soup at the Fjellstua Café Og Restaurant, it very much feels like dinnertime.

The next day, we go sledding with reindeer under the supervision of the local Sami people.

Your reindeer is Násti – not to be confused with ‘nasty’ – which means ‘little star’, our Sami guide Herolina explains.

After the 30-minute sled ride, Herolina joins us in by the fire in a traditional Lavvu tent and shares stories about her family’s traditions.

The canvas tents are used as shelter, she explains, when they travel through the mountains with their 3,000-strong reindeer herd on a 250-mile (400km) journey between their summer and winter resting grounds – in temperatures as low as -50C.

It’s a portable alternative to the igloo shelters traditionally used in Canada. Genius.

Norway never went in for igloos – but it does have a hotel formed from ice domes.

It’s called Tromso Ice Domes. And does exactly what it says on the tin. 

We drop in and sit on furniture made from ice while enjoying local fruit juices served shot glasses made from ice.

Fancy staying the night? The beds are made from ice, too. 

That night, we set off on an odyssey to see more wildlife, embarking on an overnight voyage through the fjords onboard the MV Quest.

Wrapped up in my layers, with my snood scarf pulled over my nose and mouth to protect me against wind chill, I join aurora chaser Carlo Alberto outside on the front deck, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights once again. 

Sailing through the Arctic waters, he tells me we are standing beneath the Big Dipper and points at a warm light in the sky. ‘Jupiter,’ he adds.

It’s 2.30am. The clouds have rolled in, covering up any potential auroras, so I head to the captain’s cabin to warm up.

The crew seem glad for the company and invite me to sit in the driver’s seat.

‘It’s challenging out here,’ Captain Hordur Holm tells me as we gaze into the darkness catching the occasional red flashing light from a distant cargo ship.

‘There is a lot of ice. It may be foggy, or snowing, and on top of this, we are mostly in darkness. It’s made me a much more confident seaman.’

Soothed by the gentle rocking of the boat, I retreat to my cabin and sleep through the night.

The morning brings a visit from a pod of sperm whales, swimming close to the boat off the coast of Skjervøy.

First, a solitary whale shoots a jet of water skyward and flips its tail as it plunges back beneath the surface. 

Then several whales gather in the distance, identified only by misty clouds of water in the air. In a grand finale, a mother and her calf make a partial appearance above the water.

Setting sail back towards Tromso, I return to the deck to savour the final sunset and imagine what it would be like to live in one of the cabins I spot by the water’s edge.

On the flight home the following morning, we catch the sunrise, a Norwegian classic – a peachy haze licking the horizon. Only this time, it is topped by a bright blue sky and I see the sun for the first time in four days.

It’s 12C when we touch down in Gatwick – toasty – and the magical extremes of the Arctic seem like a dream.

But frozen forever in my memory. 

Simon Cowell has left fans shocked with his ‘frozen’ performance in the latest episode of Saturday Night Takeaway.

The media mogul, 64, appeared in the first episode of the new series of Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly’s show.

However, viewers found it difficult to concentrate on what he was saying and were more concerned about his appearance.

Simon has previously denied having a facelift, but admits he regrets his extensive use of Botox.

Several viewers took to X and commented on his appearance, with one writing: ‘Is that definitely Simon Cowell? He looks like a melting Ken Doll?’

A second user added: ‘Simon Cowell looks more and more like a cartoon every time I see him,’ while a third wrote: ‘Simon Cowell doesn’t look like Simon Cowell anymore.’

A fourth wrote: ‘I’m not sure Simon Cowell has aged gracefully!’

Fellow guest Stephen Merchant also couldn’t resist commenting on Simon’s performance on the show.

Simon was fooled by Ant and Dec when they had him stopped by fake police while on his bike in Malibu.

Commenting on the clip, Stephen, 49, joked: ‘I didn’t like it… I loved it. that was my Simon impression. It wasn’t very convincing because my face was moving.’

The comedian’s joke also provoked a quick response from viewers: “Stephen Merchant just robbed Simon Cowell.”

Another wrote: ‘Ahaha Stephen Merchant “it’s not entirely convincing because my face moved” after his Simon Cowell impression.’

The show saw Ant and Dec head to Los Angeles for an unmissable Undercover segment, targeting an unsuspecting Simon outside his Californian hideout.

The Britain’s Got Talent judge was originally picked for their first ever Undercover prank – a segment where celebrities are thrust into bizarre situations – while working on US reality show American Idol.

Ant said: ‘Catching him the second time was even more fun because we also caught him during his free time cycling around Malibu, it’s really funny.’

‘We end the Undercovers where we started… with Simon Cowell! Our very first Undercover was with Simon in LA when he was a judge on American Idol.

“So we went back and picked up Simon Cowell again. We went to LA and gave him a great day while he was judging America’s Got Talent.’

Last year, Simon proved he doesn’t mind making fun at his own expense after delving into his changing face Britain has talent.

During one of the talent show’s live shows, he set tongues wagging and made a cheeky comment across his face.

The surprise move came after one hopeful, Tom Crosbie, impressed the judges by creating Bruno Tonioli’s face from Rubik’s Cubes.

As the end result was shown to the panel, Amanda Holden, 52, took the chance to joke about Bruno, 67, saying: ‘Well, he’s got the orange [face] right!’

“How the hell do you do that?” asked a completely bewildered Simon, as the artist replied: ‘Practice… it turns out you have a very difficult face to make from Rubik’s Cubes.’

At that point, Simon joked, “I’ll change my face… again.”

In April, Simon insisted he has never had a facelift after presenters Ant & Dec made a cheeky joke about his changing appearance.

At the time, on December 47, he told the audience: “We have a new face on the jury,” to which his comedy partner, also 47, replied: “What? Simon has a new face?’.

Speak with The mirror Simon laughed off the suggestion that he had gone under the knife, despite his drastically changed facial features.

He told the publication: ‘I think it’s hysterical. I mean, it just makes me laugh. I haven’t had a facelift or anything.’

“I’ve had a little Botox or whatever, but nothing drastic,” he added.

“So when I hear about this, it honestly makes me laugh.”

The talent show boss recently revealed he took his love of Botox too far, leaving him looking like ‘something out of a horror show’ after his latest treatment.

According to The sunSimon said he decided to quit when his strange appearance made son Eric, eight, hysterical.

The former X Factor judge, who shares his son with partner Lauren Silverman, 44, revealed he no longer has any filler in his face as a result.

He also shows off his much slimmer figure after dropping three stone and has lately been wearing a surgical back brace to aid his recovery after being nearly paralyzed in a cycling accident in 2020.

The businessman broke his back in 2020 when he fell from an electric bicycle he was testing at his home in Malibu, California. He had to undergo surgery for six hours. Another setback followed after he fell off his bike again a year later.

The former X Factor star has since shed three stone after overhauling his diet and lifestyle to help with his recovery.

Looking forward to spring and a sunshine getaway?

It’s understandable if you are, but these beautiful images are a reminder that many destinations are actually even more enchanting when they’re besprinkled with snow, freckled with frost and draped in cheek-reddening cold mists. 

Our collection here includes iconic cities from New York to London via Paris and Madrid, all looking incredibly enticing in their winter finery.

This spellbinding portfolio will also whisk you to the village that inspired Frozen’s Arendelle, Slovenia’s iconic Bled Island and Cornwall’s Land’s End.

Our hope? 

That the images persuade you not to give winter the cold shoulder, but to wrap up warm… and embrace it. 

When I read last week about more than a hundred women who discovered that their frozen eggs and embryos may not have been viable due to an error in the freezing process, my heart went out to them.

I'd like to say I couldn't imagine how they must feel, but I could—all too well. Because I know firsthand exactly what it feels like to have done everything you could to preserve your fertility, only to have all your hope ripped away from you. It's downright devastating.

In my case it wasn't due to a technical error, but I vividly remember the July 2017 phone call telling me that of the last seven eggs they had thawed, only five had thawed normally, and of those five only two were fertilized – both abnormal. There was no chance they would form an embryo, let alone the baby I so desperately wanted.

Years later, I can still remember how utterly devastated I felt. If I think about it too much, tears still sting my eyes.

'Nothing?' I remember asking. 'I do not have anything?'

In an instant, I felt like my dreams of motherhood had been stolen from me. I'm not one for daydreams and flights of fancy, but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about the potential those frozen eggs held.

Even though I knew there were no guarantees, I couldn't help but think about what it might feel like to be pregnant; to hold my baby in my arms; to see that baby become a walking, talking toddler.

It only made sense that after doing everything I could to ensure I could become a mother – three years earlier, at the age of 36, I had three cycles of egg freezing, a total of 14 eggs for a sum of around £14,000 – I would wonder what my future descendants would look like, whether I would have a son or a daughter, and imagine the person they might become when they grew up.

Then in an instant there was nothing left.

So I know exactly how the 136 patients who froze their eggs and embryos in the assisted conception department of Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital in London in September and October 2022 must feel.

In recent weeks they will have received a letter telling them that there is a 'production issue' with some bottles of a solution that may have been used to freeze their hard-won eggs and embryos, which could mean they are 'finishing the thawing process' might not survive. and may not be useful in treatment'.

A sober list of hypothetical 'mays' that will undoubtedly have created a maelstrom of emotions.

After my own crushing phone call, I tried to explain how heartbroken I felt. But everyday language felt inadequate to describe the complexity of grief, loss and frustration I was experiencing.

On eggedonblog.com, the website where I documented my treatment, I wrote that I felt “sad, angry and resentful,” and lamented the fact that I had “nothing to say that didn't cry and rage at the world that it was so '. really unfair'.

Because, as I put it at the time, 'three years ago I froze my eggs, knowing that I might never have a child from those eggs, but knowing that it was a positive step I could take at a time when everything seemed very looked gloomy.

'I do not regret it. I really don't, but I didn't do it just because I wanted to be able to look back without regret. I did it because I wanted the opportunity to get pregnant from eggs that were younger than me. And I no longer have that option.'

Because those are frozen eggs and embryos: possibilities.

Some of the patients at Guy's Hospital will have been women, like me, who had not met the right person to have a child with, but were concerned about the impact their age might have on their fertility.

It is not impossible that they can still get pregnant with their own eggs. (I tried – and failed – this and ended up using donor eggs to become a mother.) Others, however, were cancer patients who may have since undergone treatment that left them infertile.

But I don't just feel pity for these women, I feel a seething, angry outrage on their behalf. Because the hospital knew this was a problem almost a year ago.

In March last year, just seven months after the women had frozen their eggs, they were informed of the problem. So why did it take so long for them to share the information?

This unnecessary delay has only exacerbated the tragedy. In a lifetime, a year may not feel like much. But when you talk about fertility, and every month counts, it can be the difference between success and failure.

When I underwent my own egg freezing treatment and then tried IVF with my own eggs at age 40, time felt like it was of the essence.

With each month that passed, I worried that my fertility was declining. I took a vacation so I could get treatment, and when a cycle had to be canceled because I had a cyst on my ovary, I feared this was the only one: my last fertile cycle.

So it is completely inexcusable that the clinic knew about these problems and – it seems – withheld this information from patients for 11 months. The arrogance, the complete disregard for the impact on patients' lives is – well, I was going to say unbelievable, but it's not.

Having been treated by four fertility clinics in the last ten years, and while many of the staff I encountered were friendly and compassionate, there is a culture in these places that seems worryingly prevalent.

Whether it's waiting hours for a scheduled appointment, having to chase down test results, or having to deal with thoughtless comments that feel casually cruel, like the receptionist telling me that if I didn't pay the £120 for a blood test there and then the results would be destroyed.

Then there was the anesthetist who hadn't read my notes and saw that I was trying to get pregnant myself with donor sperm, who asked where my other half was; and the nurse who cheerfully quizzed a desperate friend about her plans for Mother's Day. It all smacks of a lack of attention to the patient.

And this catastrophic delay in informing patients is the culmination of this.

I know that if you are one of the women affected, nothing I say will change what happened and the sense of loss and injustice you feel.

But as someone once told me after another failed IVF cycle: there are many ways to create a family and you will find the right one for you.

When I received that devastating phone call, I could never have anticipated that less than a year later, while trying – and failing – to get pregnant with the help of an anonymous sperm donor, I would meet the man who would later become my husband. and the father of my child.

Nor could I have imagined that having a child of my own would entail the altruism of an egg donor, or that I would have the ability to love a child to whom I am not genetically related in the way I fiercely believe. , proud and deeply loved. my son. They are without a doubt the right family for me.

Names have been changed.

A young woman living out of her car documented overnight conditions in subzero temperatures on a wintry night in Idaho, with both windchill and avalanche warnings in effect.

Rosa, originally from Philadelphia, has been on the road since 2017 and will celebrate the six-year anniversary of getting into her car in September 2023.

Last January, she ended up in Idaho in search of local hot springs, and faced a night in her car with temperatures as low as -33 F.

While sitting in her car, she captured the horrifying experience on camera and shared it on YouTube.

After running errands, Rosa prepared to spend the night and park her car a little higher due to the threat of an avalanche.

For dinner, she heated up a can of chili over an open fire in the back of her car, then gobbled it down with tortilla chips.

'I know the minimum tonight is around -25, but because of the wind chill they say it could be -40. But I'm in my car, so the wind chill shouldn't affect me. But if I tried to cook outside, it would certainly work!' she reasoned.

Then she wrapped herself up, stuffed a sleeping bag into a second sleeping bag, and covered herself with a huge blanket.

“Another thing I do when it gets really cold, especially below zero, throughout the night, I wake up throughout the night, turn on my car and let it warm up so everything doesn't get too hot. have a chance of freezing… just because it can be really hard on your engine and the fluids and everything when it's that cold,” she explained.

“So I'll wake up in a few hours to turn on my car and see if everything's okay. But in the meantime I'm going to bed. Good night!'

At 2:30 a.m., Rosa woke up for the first time to turn on her car and noticed that the dashboard registered an outside temperature of -26 F.

At 6 a.m. she woke up again – this time the outside temperature was a nippy -33 F.

“Oh my god, what the heck,” she exclaimed.

At dawn, Rosa officially woke up and immediately noticed that “everything” in her car was frozen.

“I need to thaw my contact lenses,” she realized, holding her contact case in her hands, the liquid inside frozen.

Her leftover Starbucks coffee had also turned into a block of ice.

“So much for saving my coffee for today!” she said, chuckling.

Despite the frigid temperatures, Rosa was still determined to reach the nearby hot springs.

But shortly after she got there, she quickly realized, “I guess I'm coming to the conclusion that it's just a little too cold for these hot springs.”

“The thing is, I'm not worried about getting in; the hot springs are clearly hot enough; I'm afraid I have to get out,” she explained.

“Breathing hurts a little,” she admitted as she walked back to her car.

She ended up driving two hours away to another one, and enjoyed an afternoon in a naturally heated outdoor hot tub, surrounded by ice and snow in the Idaho wilderness.

“When it comes to snow and winter, I think it takes some getting used to changing your plans,” she said. “And that's the fun of it, right?”