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Female, barren and 40+? This is me and it confuses me. Then I read nutritionist Jane Clark's adoption story about her fight to bring Maya from India to the UK. Her conviction is impressive, as is her determination to follow through on her thwarted maternal instincts

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After many years of painful and expensive plastic surgery, a once naturally pretty Laura Pillorella reveals how she wishes she'd tried therapy first.

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'But it's just a game!' Jason, a pale, spotty teenager, yells at his Mum.

'What kind of game keeps you awake continuously for three days, truant from school and missing all your meals?' Mum begs to know.

'But I'm competing with the top guy in the world over in Korea, Mum! He stays up for two weeks straight. I'm a lightweight compared to him, but my score's really up!

''What about your friends in the real world, meeting girls, studying for your exams...?' Mum asks.

'Oh, fuck off!' Jason's hand is glued to his console as he stares into the blipping, trippy screen.

Mum has never been told to 'eff off' by her 13-year-old son before.

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The Save Middlegate Campaign commenced in February, 2010.

Middlegate Lodge is the only teen drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic in the UK and has done incredible work getting teens off drugs, alongside tailored programs to help them develop self-esteem and self-awareness to keep them healthy in the long-term.

Rather than demonising 'problem cases'  Middlegate helps younsters and teens get to the root causes of their problems in a safe environment, away from their often chaotic home lives. Thus far it has saved 400 youngsters from a protracted life of drink and drugs.

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Crystal Renn, American plus-size model, happily makes a great living as a size 14. But only after travelling the well-trodden path of self-starvation and eating disorders rampant within the profession.

As so many young Western women aspire to this rarified existence of so-called glamour, fame and fortune, Renn's memoir is timely. Her short but intense journey — she is only 23 — and ultimate rejection of the standard model body, will open many a young eye to the realities of this hard-bitten and deceptively misogynous industry.

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Three years ago I came into contact with Sarah Graham, TV director, drugs counsellor, and adviser to the Talk To Frank drug abuse website and phoneline, and to the Association of Chief Police Officers

 

She has been an amazing support for myself and my journey through Recovery — in my case a rather rocky road — but a road that she has successfully followed for many years now.

Beyond her courageous honesty regarding addiction, Sarah writes a moving account of her personal experience as an 'inter-sex woman', similar to the runner Caster Semenya whose sexual genetics have recently been the subject of heated debate.

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The first known crystal meth cook, in the UK, has been imprisoned for four years in Grampian, Scotland, writes Clea Myers

 

 

 

Paul Ross, a well-heeled property developer, was cooking up meth for his own consumption but, regardless of fairness, Grampian police wanted to send out a strong message.

Local sheriff, Noel McPartlain says: 'In my view the operation of this illicit drug factory is a matter of such gravity, it is important a clear message is given that this should not be tolerated.'

Last week I was interviewed by mild-mannered and suited journalist, David Lowe, for The Sun. I think he did an excellent job of communicating, in a nut-shell, what crystal meth actually did to me, without going for the obvious sensationalist angle.

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