Some of the human embryos generated by in vitro fertilization (IVF) are treasured by the couples whose gametes were fused to create them; they may fulfil the wish of the prospective parents to have a child. We call these ‘wanted embryos’. It would be wrong to destroy such embryos in research; however, not all embryos are wanted. We argue that it is, with the consent of the parents, morally perm...

The temporal variation in the stillbirth rates (SBR), measured as the number of stillborn per 1000 total births, among singletons, twins and triplets was studied on Swedish birth data for the period 1869 to 2001 and comparisons with data from other populations were made. Among both single and multiple births there were marked, almost monotonously decreasing trends in the stillbirth rates. Among...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the outcomes and particular characteristics of monozygotic (MZ) pregnancies conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF). DESIGN Retrospective data analysis. SETTING Large private-academic fertility center. PATIENT(S) IVF-conceived MZ pregnancies. INTERVENTION(S) Statistical analysis of MZ pregnancy outcomes depending on fetal order and pregnancy reductions status. M...

BACKGROUND Studies suggest that the process of patient consent to clinical trials is sub-optimal. Participant information sheets are important but can be technical and lengthy documents. Performance-based readability testing is an established means of assessing patient information, and this study aimed to test its application to participant information for a Phase 3 trial. METHODS An independ...

AIM To study parenting stress in lesbian parents and to compare that stress with heterosexual parents following in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or spontaneous pregnancies. METHODS This survey took place during 2005-2008 and was part of the Swedish multicentre study on gamete donation. It comprised 131 lesbian parents, 83 heterosexual IVF parents, who used their own gametes, and 118 spontaneous p...

The Ethics Committee recommends development of evidence-based policies that are patient-centered for each in vitro fertilization (IVF) center. In most cases, the provision of futile therapies is not ethically justifiable. For those treatments with very poor success rates, clinicians must be vigilant in their presentation of risks, benefits, and alternatives. This document was reviewed in January ...

The explosive growth in genetic technology quickly will make possible an unprecedented number of tests for genetically based conditions. A necessary condition for the use of such tests without risk of harm to the patient is their accuracy. However, most discussions of test accuracy in the literature have equivocated between two importantly different meanings of the word. In particular, it must ...

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a method of treatment for infertility in selected indications. Recent years have brought dynamic development of technologies related to IVF. This article presents problems pertaining to the safety of technology with respect to the patient, as well as the embryo, based on an analysis of scientific reports and our own experience. Invasiveness of the IVF procedure f...

Women who undergo sterilization may later regret this decision. This systematic review examines whether age at sterilization is associated with poststerilization regret. Using MEDLINE and EMBASE, we identified 19 articles that examined associations between women's age at sterilization and later regret, requests for sterilization reversal and undergoing sterilization reversal or requesting in vi...