Q I am a 27-year-old woman. Last week during a major climax, I suddenly 'fired out' some fluid.

Is this serious, Doc?

A No, this is a well-known phenomenon of 'female ejaculation'. It is quite harmless.

Q Is it safe for a woman of 35, such as I am, to go on the Pill, Doctor? I have just found a wonderful new man and have fallen in love with him. Naturally, we want to go to bed together. But I thought I would go on the Pill first.

A Very wise of you. I hope you will also take precautions against sexually transmitted infections, by using a condom in the early days of your relationship. You see, no matter how 'wonderful' this new man is, there is the chance that he might bring an infection with him!

Turning to the question of the Pill, the risks of this form of contraception are real LOW. However, there is no question that they do start to increase a little after about the age of 35.

This is simply because of the fact that women become more liable to getting CLOTS as they grow older. And the Pill can give you clots - particularly in the veins of the legs.

In practice, most doctors will agree to prescribe the Pill for women aged 35, and maybe for a few years after that. But they will only do this if the woman has no serious risk factors for clotting.

These risk factors include:

1. Smoking - since cigarettes greatly increase a person's chances of getting clots;

2. A 'bad family history' - for instance, if your mother had a serious clot in a vein, or maybe a heart attack, at an early age;

3. A past history of bad vein trouble.

Other things which would make a doc think twice before prescribing the Pill to a 35-year-old include diabetes ('sugar'), high blood pressure, and obesity.

But one bit of real good news is that when a woman starts getting a little too old for the Pill, she can nearly always choose an alternative - namely, the mini-Pill.

The mini-Pill is a totally different preparation which carries little risk of clotting. Therefore, many woman take it until they are 50 or so.

Write to me again if you need further information.

Q Doc, I am a man who has 'been around' a bit. But now I feel it is time to settle down.

I have met a beautiful American woman, and I think we are in love with each other. To be truthful, I would like to marry her.

But she tells me that when she was younger and at college, she had a couple of lesbian relationships. At first, this came as quite a shock to me. But now, I must confess that I find it something of a 'turn-on'.

Doc, do you think it would be safe to go ahead and get married? Or do you feel that there is any chance that she might still be a lesbian?

A This is a tricky one. Some years ago, research carried out in the United States of America found that as many as one in five of all 'college girls' had had some form of lesbian contact.

The authors of the research said that this often occurred when the young women were away from home for the first time, living in female dormitory or hostel-type accommodation, and often lonely and in need of a cuddle or hug.

The researchers also suggested that many of these young females later 'grew out of' any lesbian tendencies, and went on to lead normal, heterosexual lives, mostly getting married and having children.

I really have no way of telling what might happen with your new girlfriend. But it might be good for you to ask her if she still has any desire for other women.

As her sexual orientation is still a little uncertain, I do NOT think that at present you should start making any arrangements for marriage. But why not just let your relationship develop, over the next six months or so, and see how you feel about each other?

Q I am seeking the doctor's advice. I am a young woman of 29. I had two very LARGE pregnancies, and my children are now three years old and a year old.

The problem is that since the first pregnancy I have had some loose skin, hanging from my lower abdomen. I do exercise, and I diet - but it's still there.

I am troubled, because I feel I am too young to have this problem. It does run in my family.

A I am sorry to hear about this. It can be real distressing if you have one of these little 'aprons' hanging down.

The first thing to do is to start some sort of scientific assessment of your problem. Are you really overweight? It is not at all clear that you are.

Therefore, you must weigh yourself and check your height. Then, you should check some weight tables, to see whether you are really carrying too much poundage or not. You can find many such 'height and weight charts' on the net.

In fact, anyone can do this. All you need is to type 'height weight tables' into Google.

Now when you have looked up these charts you will be able to see if you really are overweight. If you are NOT, then there is no point at all in trying to use dieting to get rid of this bulge, because weight loss simply will not work.

Next, you need to get some kind of professional assessment of the belly. If you are still in contact with your midwife, she could help you here. An alternative would be a physiotherapist, or an experienced nurse.

What she would do is to check out the belly muscles, and see what sort of shape they are in. If there are big gaps between them, or if they seems slack and weak, then you will need to start on some special 'abdominal muscle exercises' - rather similar to those used by boxers - which you will need to do several times a day for at least six months.

But what if she finds that the muscles are NOT in bad condition?

Well, in that case it would be almost certain that your little 'apron' is just composed of loose skin. If that is so, then exercise and dieting will not get rid of it, and you would have to consider getting a surgeon to cut it away. I wish you well.

Q I am a man who is now well into my 40s. Is it inevitable that a couple's frequency of sexual intercourse will decrease as they get older?

A Well, it does happen, in nearly all cases. However, do not despair! For many healthy and loving couples, the decline in frequency is very slight. For instance, statistics show that the majority of people in their 50s are still having sex at least once every 10 days.

And I certainly treat a few couples in their 70s who make love at least twice per week.