April Ashley; Wendy Holden; Born with a heart defect

April Ashley was born in Liverpool in 1935 as George Jamieson and grew up praying that each morning she would wake up a girl. In 1960 she became one of the first people in the world to undergo pioneering gender reassignment surgery. April’s life has often been in the headlines; a former Vogue model and actress she was ‘outed’ as transsexual by the Sunday People in 1961. Her divorce from The Honourable Arthur Corbett set a legal precedent for all transsexuals. This remained until 2004 when the Gender Recognition Act was passed to legally allow people to change gender. She’s been a campaigner for transgender equality and is still an inspiration to many people. Sheila McClennon went to meet April at the Museum of Liverpool at the opening of an exhibition which charts April’s life alongside the lives of others from the trans and gender communities.

April Ashley: Portrait of a lady runs from 27 September 2013 to 21 September 2014. It is a collaborative project between the Museum of Liverpool and Homotopia.

Dropping off children for their first term at university is a rite of passage for them but also for their parents. The University of Sheffield has this summer opened a boutique hotel next to its student halls of residence specifically targeted at those parents wanting to be as near as possible to their offspring whenever they visit. Are today’s parents worse at letting go, and how much parental distance is best? Sheila talks to Wendy Holden, author of ‘Gifted & Talented’ and to business owner and father of three, Stephen Falder.

Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect affecting up to six thousand babies each year. Currently, babies hearts are checked via ultrasound at 20 weeks in the womb and again, within 72 hours of birth using physical examination. Despite this, at least a third of babies with undetected congenital heart defects are still leaving hospital. Campaigners are calling for pulse oximetry, an additional test, to be made compulsory for all new borns and the National Screening Committee has now launched a public consultation to look further into extra screening. To evaluate the relative benefits, Sheila talks to Kirsty Patience about her experience when her son was born with half a heart and also to neonatologist Dr Andy Ewer.

The National Screening Committee

British Heart Federation

Children’s Heart Federation

In September Woman's Hour reported on the conviction of four men who raped and murdered a 23 year old student on board a bus in New Delhi. A number of Indian cities have responded to the Delhi bus rape by creating women-only areas; in parks, streets, public buildings and on transport. In a country where reported sexual violence is increasing are women-only spaces a welcome refuge from unwanted male attention or a step backwards to segregation? To discuss the issues Sheila is joined by Monisha Rajesh, journalist & author of ‘Around India in 80 Trains’ and by Veena Nayyar, President of Women's Political Watch in Delhi.