New Zealand

This week the New Zealand government is set to approve new guidelines that will allow infertile couples to use both donor eggs and donor sperm if they need to.

The Government Advisory Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology has spent the past 18 months consulting with experts and the public in order to draft new guidelines for assisted reproductive technology in New Zealand.

A lesbian royal albatross couple - on the Otago Peninsula of New Zealand - have become proud parents.

The chick, which hatched last week, is one of 17 birds born this year in the South Island - the only mainland breeding colony of the endangered animal in the world.

A spokesman from the Department of Conservation, Robin Thomas, said while same-sex pairings have occurred before, it's "not common".