In storage facilities across the nation, hundreds of thousands of frozen embryos — perhaps a million — are preserved in silver tanks of liquid nitrogen. Some are in storage for cancer patients trying to preserve their chance to have a family after chemotherapy destroys their fertility. But most are leftovers from the booming assisted reproduction industry. And increasingly families, clinics and the courts are facing difficult choices on what to do with them — decisions that involve profound questions about the beginning of life, the definition of family and the technological advances that have opened new reproductive possibilities.
Month: June 2015
Will Sex become Purely Recreational by 2050?
The late Austrian scientist Carl Djerassi, a key player in the development of the birth control pill, boldly proclaimed last year that IVF is the future of procreation.”Over the next few decades, say by the year 2050, more IVF fertilizations will occur among fertile women than the current five million fertility-impaired ones,” he told The Telegraph. “For them the separation between sex and reproduction will be 100 percent.”
Trying for a Baby? Summer ‘is The Best Time to Conceive’, say scientists as They Discover Sperm is More Active in July and August
Researchers have discovered that sperm is more active during the summer months. They believe that the months of July and August may be the best time to try for a baby, as sperm motility is considerably greater then, when compared to January.
Kids Conceived With Assisted Reproductive Technology, Including IVF, Receive Equal Test Scores As Peers
Assisted reproductive techniques, such as artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization, have been used in the United States since 1981. A new study undoubtedly will assuage the fears of parents who have used (or hope to use) a birth technology to conceive a child. In ninth grade, the researchers found, academic performance of kids (including twins) conceived by assisted reproductive techniques is no better or worse than their peers.
Aid to Women, or Bottom Line? Advocates Split on Libido Pill
At a small luncheon last July in an elegant downtown restaurant, two well-known Washington feminists came to celebrate Cindy Whitehead, a senior executive at a pharmaceutical firm that is developing a pill to revive women’s sex drive.
Women With Endometriosis Have Greater Risk Of Pregnancy Complications, Including Miscarriage and Ectopic Pregnancy
A recent study in the UK has found that women with endometriosis are more likely to experience complications during and after pregnancy, including an increased risk of miscarriage, and ectopic pregnancy.
Appellate Court Sides With Chicago Woman In Landmark Embryo Case
An Illinois appellate court on Friday sided with a Chicago woman in a landmark custody case over frozen embryos.
Egg or Sperm? Scientists Identify A Gene that Makes the Call
Providing insight into the sometimes mysterious biology of reproduction, researchers in Japan have identified a gene that controls whether the reproductive precursor cells known as germ cells eventually become sperm or eggs.
Menopause Society Decries Undertreatment of Hot Flashes
Menopausal symptoms are undertreated in women older than 65 years, and insurers and clinicians need to shrug off notions of “hard and fast” rules discouraging hormone use in older women, urges a statement released June 8 by the North American Menopause Society.
Oregon 1st State Requiring Full Year of Contraception
Governor Kate Brown signed the bill into law on Thursday. Kate Brown on Thursday signed a first-of-its-kind legislation that will allow women to access birth control for a year at a time.