Assisted reproductive technology is widely practised around the world for the treatment of virtually all forms of infertility. The application of this technology in the Islamic world had been delayed for many years, based on the misconception that Islamic teachings do not approve assisted reproduction. The paper discusses derivation of Islamic rulings and its impact on the ethics of contemporar...

Human response to new developments regarding birth, death, marriage and divorce is largely shaped by religious beliefs. When assisted reproduction was introduced into medical practice in the last quarter of the twentieth century, it was fiercely attacked by some religious groups and highly welcomed by others. Today, assisted reproduction is accepted in nearly all its forms by Judaism, Hinduism ...

The Economics of Assisted Reproduction Typically, when two people decide to become parents, they procreate by copulation and produce a child. What do people do if, for some reason, they can’t produce their own children but want to be parents? Today, a prospective parent can go to the web, drop a vial of sperm from a donor with specific selected characteristics into a “shopping cart” and have th...

Parthenogenetic activation of human oocytes obtained from infertility treatments has gained new interest in recent years as an alternative approach to create embryos with no reproductive purpose for research in areas such as assisted reproduction technologies itself, somatic cell, and nuclear transfer experiments and for derivation of clinical grade pluripotent embryonic stem cells for regenera...

This Article attempts to untangle Jewish law regarding assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs), namely artificial insemination with husband’s sperm, artificial insemination with donor sperm, and in vitro fertilization. The author examines teachings by prominent Jewish law scholars and clarifies basic schools of thought regarding each method. He explores Jewish law prohibitions on incest and a...

L-carnitine is required during the oxidation of lipids for the transport of fatty acids from the cytosol into the mitochondria for generation of energy. L-carnitine exerts a substantial antioxidant, anti-cytokines and anti apoptotic actions providing multi-mechanisms protective effects for the cell. The gametes in vitro may be exposed to damaging effects from oxidative stress (OS) due to either...

Lifestyle is increasingly recognized as an outcome-determining factor in assisted reproduction, not only with regard to the cost-effectiveness but also in view of the balance of benefits and risks, including risks related to the welfare of the future child. This document briefly summarizes the evidence concerning the impact of three lifestyle-related factors (obesity, tobacco smoking and alcoho...

OBJECTIVE To assess the feasibility of refreezing human semen using the technique of liquid nitrogen vapor with static phases. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty samples from 16 subjects who required disposal of their cryopreserved semen were thawed, corresponding to 6 cancer patients and 10 participants in the assisted reproduction (AR) program. Samples were refrozen using the technique of liquid ...