Motherhood is no longer a simple concept. Black’s Law Dictionary defines “mother” as “a woman who has given birth to or legally adopted a child.” Recent advances in reproductive technologies have called into question this basic definition of motherhood. Through in vitro fertilization, it is possible to extract an egg from one woman and implant the fertilized egg into the uterus of another woman...

The effectiveness of subfertility treatments has recently been reviewed in Effective Health Care.' Many health authorities are coming under increasing pressure to purchase treatments for subfertile couples, though because treatments are perceived to be ineffective2 few districts currently purchase comprehensive services. The review in Effective Health Care found that many treatments that includ...

Our meta-analysis analyzed the relationship between levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and fertilization rate after in vitro fertilization (IVF), and showed a statistically significant correlation between the ROS levels and the IVF fertilization rate (estimated overall correlation -0.374 [95% CI, -0.520, -0.205]). We conclude that ROS has a statistically significant effect on the fertiliza...

Research indicates that women undergoing In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) experience intense unwanted emotions, and that these emotions may result in the decision to abandon treatment. This case-study explored stressors, emotional responses and emotion regulation strategies of a female couple undergoing IVF procedures over a ten-week period. A mixed-method approach involved participants completing ...

The dominant reaction to recent advances in cloning technology has been a strong desire to prohibit all human reproductive cloning. A frequently mentioned concern of those who would ban all such cloning is the high rate of waste of oocytes, embryos, and fetuses.1 While this concern is valid, these remarks will focus on potential uses of human reproductive cloning after research with animals and...

The article is concerned with the life experiences of infertile women going through infertility treatment and their need for social and psychological support, which they try to find in their immediate social environment. The Internet has become one place where everyone can find "people like oneself." The best support is received from these people who are in the same life situation and are able ...

In vitro growth of immature oocytes provides opportunities to increase gametic resources and to understand the mechanisms underlying oocyte development. Many studies on the in vitro growth of oocytes have been reported thus far; however, only a few cases have been reported, which demonstrated that oocytes can support full-term development after in vitro fertilization. Our research group recentl...

In 2004 the term “designer baby” made the transition from sci-fi movies and weblogs into the Oxford English Dictionary, where it is defined as “a baby whose genetic makeup has been artificially selected by genetic engineering combined with in vitro fertilization to ensure the presence or absence of particular genes or characteristics.” This coinage was prompted by recent advances in genetics th...

The decision whether or not to resuscitate extremely low gestational age (GA) infants is recommended to be individualized according to antenatal counseling with parents, neonatologists, and obstetricians. A GA of 22⁰/₇-23⁶/₇ weeks is generally considered as the lower end of the range where infants can be candidates for selective resuscitation. Below this lower end of periviable gestation, resus...