Kinking is something I don't think will ever go away (I still see some kinked babies/adults posted from time to time). The caramels and hets I own are non-kinked and came from non-kinked caramel parents of various caramel lines. I am hoping that greatly reduces my chances of producing kinked babies but who knows. The one breeding I've done of DHxDH produced one caramel offspring, he did not have kinks. I've got a few cooking for this season (more het breedings) so fingers are crossed my luck continues.

I was never able to find anything additional about female fertility, heard the same things over the years on both sides (that it's true and that it's not true). Some of my het babies were from a caramel female mother. I don't have any first hand experience yet, I do have a pastel caramel female that will eventually be bred. I'll be sharing whatever the results are good or bad when the time comes.

Not a lot of people work with the caramels like they used to because of these issues so it seems to be tough to find new info.