When my husband and I were in the middle of our IVF cycle and obsessing over shots, ultrasounds, invasive procedures and Googling every “early pregnancy symptom” ever documented, the last thing on our minds was having too many quality embryos.
Month: February 2015
It’s Time for the United States to Talk About Genetics
In the United States, mitochondrial transfer is being treated as a regulatory matter by the Food and Drug Administration . Although this approach might make the procedure available to parents more quickly than would a broader public dialogue, the stakes are too high for this to be a regulatory matter alone. The United States should follow Britain’s lead and begin a national conversation about mitochondrial transfer and the future of human genetic manipulation.
Sexual Activity and Sexual Problems Both Common In Late Life
These data on sexual health and wellbeing were collected in the latest phase of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). ELSA is a representative survey of a cohort aged 50 to >90 years, and has gathered detailed longitudinal data since 2002 on changes in health, economic and social circumstances as people prepare for and move into retirement and old age.
The Long, Strange History of Birth Control
Writing in the New York Review of Books last year, Carl Djerassi declared that with the invention of the birth control pill, “sex became separated from its reproductive consequences” and “changed the realities of human reproduction.” Djerassi would know. The pioneering chemist, who died on Jan. 30 of complications from liver and bone cancer at the age of 91, was dubbed the father of the birth control pill after he created the key ingredient used in oral contraceptives.
What Causes Girls to Enter Puberty Early?
Record numbers of girls not yet old enough for middle school are starting puberty. Almost by definition, puberty arrives at an awkward age, but these are grade-school girls, thrown into a developmental gantlet before they are ready for the change.
Are Common Chemicals Associated with Earlier Onset of Menopause?
A study of a representative sample of US women shows a clinically significant association between early menopause and exposure to 15 different endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) commonly found in personal care products, plastics, and packaging. The magnitude of the effect, the researchers said, was greater than that documented for smoking on menopause but they caution that their results do not establish cause and effect.
Study Finds Link Between Early Menopause and CFS
A newfound link between chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and early menopause was reported online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS).
U.K. Parliament Approves Controversial Three-Parent Mitochondrial Gene Therapy
The United Kingdom’s House of Commons voted overwhelmingly today to allow British researchers to pursue a new fertility treatment that could prevent certain kinds of genetic diseases. The technique, called mitochondrial DNA replacement therapy, could allow women who carry disease-causing mutations in their mitochondrial genes to give birth to genetically related children free of mitochondrial disease.
Legislation Would Help End Confusion About Surrogate Mothers, Supporters Say
The exact legal responsibilities of women who serve as surrogates — and the intended parents who ask them — to carry their babies remain unclear more than two years after Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill that sought to bring order to what can be an emotionally fraught and uncertain situation. Now another attempt to pass similar legislation is gearing up.
Swedish Researchers Question Treatment of Infertility with Stem Cells
New studies by Swedish researchers at institutions including the University of Gothenburg and Karolinska Institute are questioning the notion that infertility can be treated with stem cells.