When my now ex husband and I discussed children, I opted to practice with cats. So we adopted two six week old long tailed, pointy eared 'boys' as our first 'children'

The cats have turned out lovely, my husband is history, and I decided I *never* want children. I enjoy them when I can give them back to their real Mothers... when I'm tired of playing with them or they have some bodily function I don't want to deal with... it's a good system.

I've got a strong family history of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. And I've started to show signs of PCOS... which always seems to be the first sign of impending diabetes for the females in the family. I also know I've been insulin resistant for over ten years.

In the family they call it the 'fatal fifties'... those who become diabetic rarely survive to see the age of 60. My Father died of a sudden heart attack at 56, my Uncle at 60 after a quintuple bypass and some months on a transplant list, and my Aunt, the youngest of the three, has started having health problems... she's nearing her 60th birthday. She has shown the outward signs of PCOS for as long as I've known her but I don't know if she was ever diagnosed with it. In my Mother's family it was her Father's line with heart disease... but no known diabetes.

Since I've started Atkins the signs of PCOS have markedly diminished. Since I'm not concerned about conception, and I don't like doctors and pills, I'm going to hope this is the answer and not take further action unless the symptoms come back or change for the worse.

I just hope that at 36 it's not too late, and that I'm making a choice in my life that will see me through the 'fatal fifties'.

That and I really hate facial hair that I don't think belongs there!