Pregnancy is now a dream within reach for those who have trouble with conception thanks to advances in assisted reproduction. But as recent reports have shown, doctors are facing a catch-22 when it comes too many moms birthing two babies at once.
Tag: reproduction
Only 2 Genes From Y Chromosome Needed To Produce Offspring: What This Means For Male Infertility
Science has long established the Y-male chromosome as being male-specific, but new research confers the chromosome as possessing two genes that do the bulk of the heavy lifting during reproduction.
A Doctor, Patient and Dad Tells His Tale
By Mark Leondires, MD
As a reproductive endocrinologist at a large IVF practice, I am responsible for our third party reproduction program where we have an anonymous egg donation program. Over the years we have often discussed; what do …
Assisted Reproduction: When Does a Father Become One?
SB 115, scheduled for a hearing in the California Assembly this week, is inspired by actor Jason Patric’s efforts to obtain custody of Gus, the son born to a former girlfriend through assisted reproduction. State law says a man is not a parent if he donates sperm to a woman other than his wife with the help of a doctor.
BPA Exposure Could Increase Risk of Infertility
About 20 percent of infertile couples in the U.S. have some unexplainable reason for their lack of ability to reproduce. A new study by Catherine Racowsky, PhD, director of the Assisted Reproductive Technologies Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), recently showed that, exposure to BPA could have affected their reproduction system.
Science and Sex: Everything You Wanted to Know About ‘Doing It’
“How We Do It” may sound like a sex manual, but it isn’t: In fact, that’s about the only topic you won’t find addressed in anthropologist Robert Martin’s book-length survey of human reproduction and what we can learn from the animal world.
Pornography, Sperm Competition, and Behavioural Ecology
Over millions of years, evolution by natural selection has produced adaptations in humans: biological and psychological traits that improved human survival and reproduction in ancestral environments. For example, ripe fruit was an infrequent but calorically rich part of the human ancestral diet. We therefore have a sweet tooth that rewards us when we eat ripe fruit.
Researchers Identify Gene Variations Linked to Male and Female Infertility
Identification of genetic variations in the genes coding for the hormone FSH may provide new treatments for male and female infertility, according to work presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Copenhagen. A group of researchers at the University of Muenster has characterised gene variations which may improve treatment for almost half of infertile men, as well as allowing tailored treatment for women undergoing assisted reproduction.
Kan. case reveals risks with assisted reproduction
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The case of a Kansas sperm donor being sued by the state for child support underscores a confusing patchwork of aging laws that govern assisted reproduction in the United States and often lead to litigation and frustration among would-be parents.
Complex questions about parental responsibility resurfaced late last year, as Kansas officials went after a Topeka man who answered a Craigslist ad from a lesbian couple seeking a sperm donor. Because no doctor was involved in the artificial insemination, the state sought to hold William Marotta financially responsible for the child when the women split up and one of them sought public assistance. A hearing is set for April.
Many states haven’t updated their laws to address the evolution of family structures — such as same-sex families, single women conceiving with donated sperm or artificial inseminations performed without a doctor’s involvement. At-home insemination kits are inexpensive, and obtaining sperm from a friend, or even a donor met over the Internet, allows women to avoid medical costs that generally aren’t covered by insurance. Read full article.
Girls Who Got HPV Vaccine Had Better Understanding of Reproduction and Sexuality
Research presented at the 68th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine showed that girls who had received the HPV vaccine had higher levels of knowledge about human sexuality and reproduction than girls who had not.