Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Reproductive Technologies (reproductive + technology)
Kinds of Reproductive Technologies Selected AbstractsMiddle Eastern Masculinities in the Age of New Reproductive Technologies: Male Infertility and Stigma in Egypt and LebanonMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2004MARCIA C. INHORNArticle first published online: 8 JAN 200 Worldwide, male infertility contributes to more than half of all cases of childlessness; yet, it is a reproductive health problem that is poorly studied and understood. This article examines the problem of male infertility in two Middle Eastern locales, Cairo, Egypt, and Beirut, Lebanon, where men may be at increased risk of male infertility because of environmental and behavioral factors. It is argued that male infertility may be particularly problematic for Middle Eastern men in their pronatalist societies; there, both virility and fertility are typically tied to manhood. Thus, male infertility is a potentially emasculating condition, surrounded by secrecy and stigma. Furthermore, the new reproductive technology called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), designed specifically to overcome male infertility, may paradoxically create additional layers of stigma and secrecy, due to the complex moral and marital dilemmas associated with Islamic restrictions on third-party donation of gametes. [male infertility, masculinity, new reproductive technologies, stigma, Egypt, Lebanon] [source] TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY PINK OR BLUE: HOW SEX SELECTION TECHNOLOGY FACILITATES GENDERCIDE AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT ITFAMILY COURT REVIEW, Issue 1 2008Monica Sharma In the midst of a genetic revolution in medicine, Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) has become a well-established technique to help infertile women achieve pregnancy. But many women are now turning to ART not just to circumvent infertility, but consciously to shape their families by determining the sex of their children. Many patriarchal cultures have a gender preference for males and to date have used technological advances in reproductive medicine to predetermine the sex of the child being born. Women have sought sex-selective abortions, where the pregnancy was being terminated solely on the basis of the sex of the unborn fetus. The combination of ART advances and gender preference has led to the disappearance of at least 100 million girls from the world's population leading to a mass gendercide. This article examines the societal impact of unbalanced gender ratios and the need to regulate sex selection to avoid nations of bachelors. [source] Complex Adoption & Assisted Reproductive Technology: A Developmental Approach to Clinical Practice, by Vivian B. Shapiro, Janet R. Shapiro, and Isabel H. ParetAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 1 2003Article first published online: 24 MAR 2010 No abstract is available for this article. [source] Assisted reproductive technologies and birth defectsCONGENITAL ANOMALIES, Issue 2 2005Kohei Shiota ABSTRACT In vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are effective treatments for infertility and are widely provided at infertility clinics. Although IVF and related ART procedures are generally considered safe, some studies have suggested an excess occurrence of major malformations, low birth-weight and other perinatal complications in babies conceived by ART. Further, it was recently reported that IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) are associated with imprinting disorders in the offspring such as Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome and Angelman syndrome. Here we review the human and animal studies investigating the potential risks of ART, and discuss the need for further investigation. [source] Infertility and assisted reproductive technologies: Bright and dark sidesCONGENITAL ANOMALIES, Issue 3 2001Kaoru Suzumori ABSTRACT, Infertility is defined as a couples failure to conceive following 2 years of unprotected sexual intercourse, affects 10% of reproductive age couples in Japan. There are 3 main causes: (1) ovarian failure-anovulation (29%); (2) tubal factor-anatomic defects of the female genital tract (36%); (3) male factor-abnormal spermatogenesis (31%). The goal of the infertility evaluation are to determine the probable cause of infertility regarding prognosis and to provide guidance regarding options for treatment In the event an obstruction of the fallopian tubes is discovered or spermatogenesis cannot be improved, assisted reproductive technologies (ART) such as gamete intrafallopian tube transfer (GIFT) and in vitro fertilization with embryo transfer (IVF-ET) are recommended. Since the successful birth of Louise Brown by this IVF-ET, an explosion of ART has occurred all over the world in the last decade. In this review we discuss the revolution brought about by ART focusing on results in Japan, and clarify ethical issues that must be resolved. [source] Reproductive Freedom, Self-Regulation, and the Government of Impairment in UteroHYPATIA, Issue 1 2006Shelley Tremain This article critically examines the constitution of impairment in prenatal testing and screening practices and various discourses that surround these technologies. While technologies to test and screen (for impairment) prenatally are claimed to enhance women's capacity to be self-determining, make informed reproductive choices, and, in effect, wrest control of their bodies from a patriarchal medical establishment, I contend that this emerging relation between pregnant women and reproductive technologies is a new strategy of a form of power that began to emerge in the late eighteenth century. Indeed, my argument is that the constitution of prenatal impairment, by and through these practices and procedures, is a widening form of modem government that increasingly limits the field of possible conduct in response to pregnancy. Hence, the government of impairment in utero is inextricably intertwined with the government of the maternal body. [source] Molecular cloning of three nonhuman primate follicle stimulating hormone ,-subunit cDNAsJOURNAL OF MEDICAL PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 6 2001M.J. Wolfgang The follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) ,-subunit cDNAs were cloned and sequenced for an old world primate, the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta), and two New World primates, the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) and pygmy marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea). The cDNA and predicted amino acid sequences of the rhesus monkey FSH ,-subunit were related most closely to the human FSH , -subunit (>96% identity). The common and pygmy marmosets have identical FSH , -subunit cDNAs, whereas the marmoset FSH , -subunit diverges from the rhesus and human molecules with less than 93% identity. These results have significance for the implementation of assisted reproductive technologies in the nonhuman primate as well as the evolution of genes encoding reproductive hormones. [source] Sonography and Sociality: Obstetrical Ultrasound Imaging in Urban VietnamMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2007Tine Gammeltoft This article is about new reproductive technologies, maternal anxieties, and existential uncertainties. It explores the question of why pregnant women in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, have become avid consumers of obstetrical ultrasound scanning even while expressing profound doubts regarding the reliability and safety of this new technology of pregnancy. Through a phenomenological analysis of the social production of women's sense of reproductive risks and uncertainties, the article shows how Hanoian women's paradoxical stances toward ultrasound imaging can be explained through a consideration of embodied and historically generated experiences within everyday local worlds. The article argues that the "scientific stories" of fetal well-being and normality that are produced through ultrasonography are challenged by vivid and continual exchanges in everyday lives of stories of the inherent uncertainties of existence in general and of human reproduction in particular. [source] Middle Eastern Masculinities in the Age of New Reproductive Technologies: Male Infertility and Stigma in Egypt and LebanonMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2004MARCIA C. INHORNArticle first published online: 8 JAN 200 Worldwide, male infertility contributes to more than half of all cases of childlessness; yet, it is a reproductive health problem that is poorly studied and understood. This article examines the problem of male infertility in two Middle Eastern locales, Cairo, Egypt, and Beirut, Lebanon, where men may be at increased risk of male infertility because of environmental and behavioral factors. It is argued that male infertility may be particularly problematic for Middle Eastern men in their pronatalist societies; there, both virility and fertility are typically tied to manhood. Thus, male infertility is a potentially emasculating condition, surrounded by secrecy and stigma. Furthermore, the new reproductive technology called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), designed specifically to overcome male infertility, may paradoxically create additional layers of stigma and secrecy, due to the complex moral and marital dilemmas associated with Islamic restrictions on third-party donation of gametes. [male infertility, masculinity, new reproductive technologies, stigma, Egypt, Lebanon] [source] Governmentality and the Family: Neoliberal Choices and Emergent Kin Relations in Southern EthiopiaAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 1 2009JAMES ELLISON ABSTRACT, Rather than strictly local expressions of relatedness, kinship in southern Ethiopia has long been entangled with broad political and economic forces as people negotiate relations with each other, past generations, and the state. Accompanying government reforms in the 1990s, idioms of individualism and choice have circulated in transnational and national neoliberal discourses of development, rights, and economics. People in southern Ethiopia who use ideologies of ascribed social statuses to define local social hierarchies have employed these discourses in reshaping relatedness through an expansive trade association, which is referred to as a family and works through kinship principles of descent and generation. Drawing from recent scholarship on kinship and new reproductive technologies, I argue that, through mobile knowledges in neoliberal contexts, people choose this family and its lineage founder, transforming descent relations and land-based ideologies. These choices represent the workings of neoliberal governmentality in altering cultural relations of power and inequality. [Keywords:,kinship, neoliberalism, governmentality, hereditary status groups, Ethiopia] [source] Risk factors for non-syndromic holoprosencephaly in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study,,§AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL GENETICS, Issue 1 2010Eric A. Miller¶ Abstract Holoprosencephaly (HPE) is a complex structural brain anomaly that results from incomplete cleavage of the forebrain. The prevalence of HPE at birth is low, and risk factors have been difficult to identify. Using data from a large multi-state population-based case-control study, we examined risk factors for non-syndromic HPE. Data from maternal telephone interviews were available for 74 infants with HPE and 5871 controls born between 1997 and 2004. Several characteristics and exposures were examined, including pregnancy history, medical history, maternal diet and use of nutritional supplements, medications, tobacco, alcohol, and illegal substances. We used ,2 -tests and logistic regression (excluding women with pre-existing diabetes) to examine associations with HPE. Except for diet (year before pregnancy) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (throughout pregnancy), most exposures were examined for the time period from the month before to the third month of pregnancy. HPE was found to be associated with pre-existing diabetes (,2,=,6.0; P,=,0.01), aspirin use [adjusted odds ratio (aOR),=,3.4; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6,6.9], lower education level (aOR,=,2.5; 95%CI 1.1,5.6), and use of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) (crude OR,=,4.2; 95%CI 1.3,13.7). Consistent maternal folic acid use appeared to be protective (aOR,=,0.4; 95%CI 0.2,1.0), but the association was of borderline statistical significance. While some of these findings support previous observations, other potential risk factors identified warrant further study. Published 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Attitudes to prenatal and preimplantation diagnosis in Saudi parents at genetic riskPRENATAL DIAGNOSIS, Issue 11 2006Ayman Alsulaiman Abstract Background Prenatal diagnosis (PND) is only available for severe abnormality in Saudi Arabia, and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) has been proposed as a valuable alternative. The acceptability of PGD is unexplored, and may ultimately determine the value of this technology in Saudi Arabia. This study reports attitudes towards PND and PGD of Saudi couples offered genetic counselling following the birth of a child with a single gene or chromosomal condition. Methods Thirty couples attending the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. One couple had previous experience of PND and none had experience of PGD or IVF. Results Eight of the 30 couples (27%) would only accept PGD; four (13%) only PND; three (10%) either technology; the remainder would accept neither test, or were unsure. The main concerns of those who would accept neither technology were related to personal religious views. Specific concerns about PGD related to the IVF procedure, the risk of multiple pregnancies, the chance of mistakes and the chance of not getting pregnant. A high proportion of couples (six out of seven; 86%) who had a child with thalassaemia expressed interest in PGD, and all would be prepared to use technology to avoid having an affected child. Views were more mixed for the other conditions. Conclusion PGD is acceptable to many couples and for some, it represents a valuable alternative to PND. However, parents' concerns are complex, and the acceptability of different reproductive technologies must be established on an individual basis. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Issues and concerns of couples presenting for preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)PRENATAL DIAGNOSIS, Issue 12 2002Mandy G. Katz Abstract Background The use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to select genetically ,normal' human embryos and to transfer them to the uterus of a woman has generated considerable controversy. Debate has occurred over the implications of PGD, sex selection, safety of embryonic manipulation and eugenics. This study evaluates a range of social and moral concerns of couples towards PGD and assisted reproductive technologies (ART) prior to treatment to obtain unbiased authentic attitudes independent of the treatment cycle and the outcome. Methods A total of 121 subjects were administered a structured questionnaire after each couple's in vitro fertilization (IVF) or genetic counselling session. Group A consisted of 41 subjects presenting for PGD of single gene disorders (PGD-SG) and group B consisted of 48 subjects undertaking PGD for aneuploidy screening (PGD-AS). A control group consisted of 32 subjects that were about to commence their first IVF cycle. Results and discussion All groups found PGD to be a highly acceptable treatment. They expressed little concern about its extension to testing non-disease states such as sex and they were strongly in favour of a shared decision-making model in which couples have considerable autonomy over decisions about the embryo(s) to transfer. Differences between the groups included issues surrounding the transfer of embryos, restrictions to PGD and the destruction of embryos. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] First trimester screening for Down syndrome and assisted reproduction: no basis for concernPRENATAL DIAGNOSIS, Issue 7 2001K. R. Wøjdemann Abstract In pregnancies obtained after assisted reproduction the false-positive rate of second trimester Down syndrome (DS) screening is increased by 1.5,3-fold. This may cause an increase in the number of amniocenteses and the fetal loss rate. The present study for the first time examined whether assisted reproductive technologies affect the results of first trimester screening. The markers PAPP-A, free ,-hCG and the nuchal translucency (NT) thickness were examined at 12,14 weeks' gestation. Screening markers in 47 in vitro fertilisation (IVF), 63 ovulation induction (OI) and 3026 spontaneously conceived singleton pregnancies were compared. The MoM (multiples of the median) value in the IVF pregnancies was 1.02 (95% CI: 0.85,1.22) for PAPP-A, 1.14 (95% CI: 0.95,1.37) for ,-hCG and 0.97 (95% CI: 0.89,1.05) for NT; the MoM value in the OI pregnancies was 0.89 (95% CI: 0.76,1.05) for PAPP-A, 1.08 (95% CI: 0.93,1.25) for ,-hCG and 1.02 (95% CI: 0.95,1.11) for NT. The first trimester marker values in assisted reproductive pregnancies and spontaneously conceived pregnancies were not significantly different. Estimated false-positive rates for a risk cut-off of 1:400 varied from 4.7% in IVF pregnancies to 5.1% in OI pregnancies. Therefore the false-positive rate in Down syndrome screening should be independent of the method of conception. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] INCORPORATING INCEST: GAMETE, BODY AND RELATION IN ASSISTED CONCEPTION,THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, Issue 4 2004Jeanette Edwards This article is about the ways in which residents of an English town explore ever-changing possibilities presented by new reproductive technologies (NRTs). It focuses on the way in which the idiom of incest emerges as a conceptual brake to certain possibilities presented by biotechnological intervention in conception. In this specific ethnographic example, we see that the meaning of incest is neither fixed nor predictable and goes beyond ideas about either biogenetic connection or appropriate and inappropriate sexual relations, even while embracing them. I argue that we need to pay attention to the bodies in which procreative substances that ought not to be mixed are combined and grown into new persons. The article also shows that exploration of NRTs continues to be animated by problematics of kinship. [source] Modalities for Treatment of Antisperm Antibody Mediated Infertility: Novel PerspectivesAMERICAN JOURNAL OF REPRODUCTIVE IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 5 2004Rajesh K. Naz Immunoinfertility because of antisperm antibodies (ASA) is an important cause of infertility in humans. The incidence of ASA in infertile couples is 9,36% depending on the reporting center. Early claims regarding the incidence and involvement of ASA in involuntary infertility were probably overemphasized, which has resulted in subsequent confusion, doubt, and underestimation of their clinical significance. No immunoglobulin that binds to sperm should be called an antisperm antibody in a strict sense unless it is directed against a sperm antigen that plays a role in fertilization and fertility. ASA directed against the fertilization-related antigens are more relevant to infertility than the immunoglobulins that bind to sperm associated antigens. Several methods have been reported for treatment of immunoinfertility. These include: immunosuppressive therapies using corticosteroids or cyclosporine; assisted reproductive technologies such as intrauterine insemination, gamete intrafallopian transfer, in vitro fertilization, and intracytoplasmic sperm injection; laboratory techniques such as sperm washing, immunomagnetic sperm separation, proteolytic enzyme treatment, and use of immunobeads. Most of the available techniques have side effects, are invasive and expensive, have low efficacy, or provide conflicting results. Recent findings using defined sperm antigens that have a role in fertilization/fertility have provided animal models and innovative novel perspectives for studying the mechanism of immunoinfertility and possible modalities for treatment. The better understanding of local immunity and latest advances in hybridoma and recombinant technologies, proteomics and genomics leading to characterization of sperm antigens relevant to fertility will help to clarify the controversy and to establish the significance of ASA in infertility. [source] Effects of H2O2 exposure on human sperm motility parameters, reactive oxygen species levels and nitric oxide levelsANDROLOGIA, Issue 3 2010S. S. Du Plessis Summary Research has revealed that reactive oxygen species (ROS) negatively affect sperm function, both in vivo and in vitro. Sperm preparation techniques for assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are potential causes for additional ROS production. This study aimed to correlate the concentration of exogenous H2O2 with sperm motility parameters and intracellular ROS and nitric oxide (NO) levels to reiterate the importance of minimising ROS levels in ART. Human spermatozoa from 10 donors were incubated and exposed to different exogenous H2O2 concentrations (0, 2.5, 7.5 and 15 ,m). Subsequently, motility was determined using computer-aided semen analysis, while ROS (2,7-dichlorofluorescin diacetate) and NO (diaminofluorescein-2/diacetate) were analysed using fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Results showed that H2O2 did affect the sperm parameters. Exogenous H2O2 was detrimental to motility and resulted in a significant increase in overall ROS and NO levels. A significant increase in static cells was seen as well. It is important to elucidate the mechanisms between intracellular ROS levels with sperm motility parameters. While this experiment demonstrated a need to reduce exogenous ROS levels during ART, it did not illustrate the cause and effect relationship of intracellular ROS and NO levels with sperm motility. Further research needs to be conducted to define a pathological level of ROS. [source] Influence of cigarette smoking on spermatozoa via seminal plasmaANDROLOGIA, Issue 4 2005M. Arabi Summary Numerous investigations have been conducted on the relationship between cigarette smoking and male infertility, however, the exact molecular mechanisms are not well understood in most of the cases. Few studies have indicated the direct effect of seminal plasma (SP) [in different dilutions with phosphate buffer solution (PBS)] from smokers (SM) on the sperm functional parameters from nonsmokers (non-SM). The aim of this study was to provide evidence that cigarette smoking affects male fertility via altering the sperm quality. Our results indicated that exposure of spermatozoa from the non-SM to the SP from the SM yielded a significant reduction in the sperm motility and acrosome reaction and an elevation in the amount of malondialdehyde (MDA), in a certain time course. Exposure of spermatozoa from the SM to the SP from the non-SM or with PBS resulted in the nonsignificant improvement in the altered sperm functional parameters indicating removal of SM's SP and then subsequent reconstitution with physiological media could be of clinical significance in the various assisted reproductive technologies applied for SM. However, the detrimental effect of SM's SP on non-SM's spermatozoa was prominent. In addition, as spermatozoa in SM's SP are susceptible to peroxidative damages, men with such cells who wish to have children should especially benefit from quitting smoking. [source] Manipulating sex ratios for conservation: short-term risks and long-term benefitsANIMAL CONSERVATION, Issue 1 2002C. Wedekind Manipulating family sex ratio is often possible, either through non-invasive methods like changing sex-determining ecological or social factors, or through more invasive methods such as hormone treatment of embryos or sperm sexing prior to using assisted reproductive technologies. If the number of available eggs limits population growth, the production of relatively more daughters than sons may eventually lead to increased population growth in terms of absolute numbers. However, any deviation of the effective sex ratio from equality increases the rate of inbreeding and the loss of genetic variance in the next generation. I show here that there is a range of female biased sex ratios where increased population growth outweighs the effect of an enhanced inbreeding rate during the first generation or the first few generations after the start of a sex ratio manipulation programme. This is especially so in small and declining populations, where some sex ratio manipulations not only increase the effective population number Ne, but also shift the population quickly into population numbers that are safe against the Allee effect. Consequently, an optimal sex ratio manipulation with respect to the genetic quality of a population means sending an endangered population first through a genetic bottleneck to achieve increased Ne, and hence decreased rates of inbreeding, in the long run. [source] Maternal and neonatal outcomes in 54 triplet pregnancies managed in an Australian tertiary centreAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 3 2004Andrea BARKEHALL-THOMAS Abstract Background:, To provide current data on maternal and neonatal outcomes in triplet pregnancies in an Australian population. Methods:, Retrospective case note review of all triplet pregnancies managed within a single Australian tertiary centre. Results:, Fifty-four sets of triplets were managed from January 1996 to October 2002. A total of 59% resulted from the use of assisted reproductive technologies. The median gestation at delivery was 32.5 weeks (range: 21,36 weeks); 14% delivered prior to 28 weeks and 43% delivered before 32 weeks. Preterm labour and preterm rupture of membranes were the most common antenatal complications occurring in 57 and 22% of pregnancies, respectively. A total of 93% of pregnancies were delivered by Caesarean section and 37% of mothers experienced at least one post-partum complication. A total of 96% of neonates were liveborn, with a median birthweight of 1644 g (range: 165,2888 g). The two most common neonatal complications were jaundice and hypoglycaemia in 52 and 43% of liveborn neonates, respectively. A total of 28% of neonates were below the 10th centile for gestational age and sex. A total of 8% of neonates demonstrated congenital anomalies. The perinatal mortality at a gestational age of 20,24 weeks was 100%, 22% at 25,28 weeks and zero for those babies born at 29 weeks or beyond. Conclusion:, Assisted reproductive technologies contribute significantly to the incidence of triplet pregnancies. Gestational age at delivery and perinatal mortality is comparable to published international data. Triplets born in a tertiary centre beyond 28 weeks gestation have a very favourable prognosis in the newborn period. [source] Infertility in Australia circa 1980: an historical population perspective on the uptake of fertility treatment by Australian women born in 1946-51AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 6 2009Danielle L. Herbert Abstract Objective: To estimate the prevalence of lifetime infertility in Australian women born in 1946-51 and examine their uptake of treatment. Methods: Participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health born in 1946-51 (n=13,715) completed up to four mailed surveys from 1996 to 2004. The odds of infertility were estimated using logistic regression with adjustment for socio-demographic and reproductive factors. Results: Among participants, 92.1% had been pregnant. For women who had been pregnant (n=12738): 56.5% had at least one birth but no pregnancy loss (miscarriage and/or termination); 39.9% experienced both birth and loss; and 3.6% had a loss only. The lifetime prevalence of infertility was 11.0%. Among women who reported infertility (n=1511), 41.7% used treatment. Women had higher odds of infertility when they had reproductive histories of losses only (OR range 9.0-43.5) or had never been pregnant (OR=15.7, 95%CI 11.8-20.8); and higher odds for treatment: losses only (OR range 2.5-9.8); or never pregnant (1.96, 1.28-3.00). Women who delayed their first birth until aged 30+ years had higher odds of treatment (OR range 3.2-4.3). Conclusions: About one in ten women experienced infertility and almost half used some form of treatment, especially those attempting pregnancy after 1980. Older first time mothers had an increased uptake of treatment as assisted reproductive technologies (ART) developed. Implications: This study provided evidence of the early uptake of treatment prior to 1979 when the national register of invasive ART was developed and later uptake prior to 1998 when data on non-invasive ART were first collected. [source] GENETIC TIES: ARE THEY MORALLY BINDING?BIOETHICS, Issue 2 2006GIULIANA FUSCALDO ABSTRACT Does genetic relatedness define who is a mother or father and who incurs obligations towards or entitlements over children? While once the answer to this question may have been obvious, advances in reproductive technologies have complicated our understanding of what makes a parent. In a recent publication Bayne and Kolers argue for a pluralistic account of parenthood on the basis that genetic derivation, gestation, extended custody and sometimes intention to parent are sufficient (but not necessary) grounds for parenthood.1 Bayne and Kolers further suggest that definitions of parenthood are underpinned by the assumption that ,being causally implicated in the creation of a child is the key basis for being its parent'.2 This paper examines the claim that genetic relatedness is sufficient grounds for parenthood based on a causal connection between genetic parents and their offspring. I argue that parental obligations are about moral responsibility and not causal responsibility because we are not morally accountable for every consequence to which we causally contribute. My account includes the conditions generally held to apply to moral responsibility, i.e. freedom and foreseeability. I argue that parental responsibilities are generated whenever the birth of a child is a reasonably foreseeable consequence of voluntary actions. I consider the implications of this account for third parties involved in reproductive technologies. I argue that under some conditions the obligations generated by freely and foreseeably causing a child to exist can be justifiably transferred to others. [source] NARRATIVE ARTIFICE AND WOMEN'S AGENCYBIOETHICS, Issue 2 2005ALINE H. KALBIAN ABSTRACT The choice to pursue fertility treatments is a complex one. In this paper I explore the issues of choice, agency, and gender as they relate to assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). I argue that narrative approaches to bioethics such as those by Arthur Frank and Hilde Lindemann Nelson clarify judgments about autonomy and fertility medicine. More specifically, I propose two broad narrative categories that help capture the experience of encounters with fertility medicine: narratives of hope and narratives of resistance. This narrative typology captures the inevitable conflict that women feel when they become subjects of fertility medicine. On the one hand, they must remain hopeful; on the other, they must not surrender themselves completely. Nelson's account of counterstories as narratives of resistance helps us see how women can reconcile the experience of a strong desire to have children with the desire to remain authentic and whole. [source] Fertility treatment in male cancer survivorsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ANDROLOGY, Issue 4 2007Kirsten Louise Tryde Schmidt Summary The present study reviews the use of assisted reproductive technology in male cancer survivors and their partners. As antineoplastic treatment with chemotherapy or radiation therapy, has the potential of inducing impairment of spermatogenesis through damage of the germinal epithelium, many male cancer survivors experience difficulties in impregnating their partners after treatment. The impairment can be temporary or permanent. While many cancer survivors regain spermatogenesis months to years after treatment, some become infertile with a-, oligo- or azoospermia. An option to secure the fertility potential of young cancer patients is to cryopreserve semen before cancer treatment for later use. A desired pregnancy may be obtained in couples where the husband has a history of cancer, using assisted reproductive technology with either fresh or cryopreserved/thawed semen. Successful outcomes have been obtained with intrauterine insemination (IUI) as well as in vitro fertilization (IVF) with or without the use of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). In conclusion, male cancer survivors and their partners who have failed to obtain a pregnancy naturally within a reasonable time frame after end of treatment should be referred to a fertility clinic. [source] Collaborative multidisciplinary team approach to fertility issues among adolescent and young adult cancer patientsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NURSING PRACTICE, Issue 4 2009Kim Nagel RN MHSc(N) Cancer treatment and the field of reproductive technology have each made impressive advancements in the last decade. Improved cancer treatment and survival rates have increased the number of cancer survivors, who might benefit from an array of fertility preservation strategies provided by emerging and advanced assisted conception technology. The challenge becomes bridging the gap between these two separate disciplines to ultimately improve the quality of life for cancer survivors. This paper discusses the issues and process involved with bringing these two teams of health-care professionals together. This model provides a framework for coordinating efforts in providing fertility preservation options to patients undergoing treatment for cancer. Effective multidisciplinary teams that include: oncologists, nurses in the specialties of oncology and infertility, social workers, reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialists, andrologists, and embryologists are required to work together in order to achieve success. The result of this unique team approach is not only a cancer survivor, but one whose quality of life might be enhanced by being able to have a child of his or her own in the future. [source] Microsurgical vasoepididymostomy with sperm cryopreservation for future assisted reproductionINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF UROLOGY, Issue 12 2000Hatsuki Hibi Abstract Background Although obstructive azoospermia is treatable with microscopic seminal reconstruction, the number of patients who choose to undergo vasoepididymostomy is limited because of recent advances in assisted reproductive technology (ART). We attempted to define the outcome of surgical reconstruction in patients with suspected epididymal obstruction and no previous history of vasectomy. Methods We described 40 eligible end-to-side vasoepididymostomy procedures performed on 24 azoospermic patients who had either bilateral or unilateral epididymal obstruction. Results The overall patency rate following surgery was 54% (13/24) and for four patients (17%), natural intercourse resulted in pregnancy. Two pregnancies were initiated with intracytoplasmic sperm injections using frozen sperm collected during vasoepididymostomy. Conclusions In the era of modern ART, microsurgical vasoepididymostomy with cryopreservation of sperm collected during the operation is recommended for patients with epididymal obstructions. [source] Diagnosis and treatment of post-herniorrhaphy vas deferens obstructionINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF UROLOGY, Issue 2000Tadashi Matsuda Childhood inguinal herniorrhaphy (IH) is one of the most frequent causes of seminal tract obstruction. The incidence of vasal obstruction was found to be as high as 26.7% in subfertile patients with a history of childhood IH. The distal end of the vas deferens was found at the internal inguinal ring or in the pelvic cavity in 56.7% of cases, more than 3 cm of the vas deferens had been resected in 37.9% of cases, and sperm was found in vasal fluid in 45.5% of cases during corrective surgery. Microsurgical two-layer vasovasostomy resulted in the postoperative appearance of sperm in 39% of patients. In patients with postoperative azoospermia, a secondary epididymal obstruction caused by a long-term vasal obstruction is a highly probable cause. Ipsilateral epididymovasostomy following successful inguinal vasovasostomy results in the postoperative appearance of sperm in the ejaculate in 100% of the patients and a subsequent natural pregnancy rate of 50%. The overall pregnancy rate among couples, following surgery in 18 patients, was 43%, excluding pregnancies achieved by in vitro fertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Microsurgical reanastomosis of the seminal tract resulted in high impregnation rates among partners of patients with seminal tract obstruction caused by childhood IH. After receiving sufficient information on each treatment modality, patients can choose their preferred treatment, either reanastomosis of the seminal tract or assisted reproductive technology using epididymal or testicular sperm. [source] New frontiers of assisted reproductive technology (Chien Tien Hsu Memorial Lecture 2007)JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY RESEARCH (ELECTRONIC), Issue 1 2009P. C. Ho Abstract Many significant advances have been made in assisted reproductive technology since the birth of the first baby conceived with in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer. The development of recombinant gonadotropins and gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonists helps to simplify the ovarian stimulation. Excessive ovarian stimulation should be avoided because of the risks of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and reduction in endometrial receptivity. Maturation of oocytes in vitro has been developed in some centers. It is still uncertain whether techniques such as assisted hatching, blastocyst transfer and pre-implantation aneuploidy screening can improve the live birth rates in assisted reproduction. The introduction of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis for selection of human lymphocyte antigens (HLA) compatible embryos for treatment of siblings has raised ethical concerns. There is a higher risk of obstetric complications and congenital abnormalities even in singleton pregnancies achieved with assisted reproduction. Because of the risks of multiple pregnancies, elective single embryo transfer is increasingly used in good-prognosis patients. With a good freezing program, the cumulative pregnancy rate (including the pregnancies from subsequent replacement of frozen-thawed embryos) is not adversely affected. Improvement in cryopreservation techniques has made it possible to cryopreserve slices of ovarian tissue or oocytes, thus helping women who have to receive sterilizing forms of anti-cancer treatment to preserve their fertility. It is important that the development of the new techniques should be based on good scientific evidence. Ethical, legal and social implications should also be considered before the introduction of new techniques. [source] Middle Eastern Masculinities in the Age of New Reproductive Technologies: Male Infertility and Stigma in Egypt and LebanonMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2004MARCIA C. INHORNArticle first published online: 8 JAN 200 Worldwide, male infertility contributes to more than half of all cases of childlessness; yet, it is a reproductive health problem that is poorly studied and understood. This article examines the problem of male infertility in two Middle Eastern locales, Cairo, Egypt, and Beirut, Lebanon, where men may be at increased risk of male infertility because of environmental and behavioral factors. It is argued that male infertility may be particularly problematic for Middle Eastern men in their pronatalist societies; there, both virility and fertility are typically tied to manhood. Thus, male infertility is a potentially emasculating condition, surrounded by secrecy and stigma. Furthermore, the new reproductive technology called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), designed specifically to overcome male infertility, may paradoxically create additional layers of stigma and secrecy, due to the complex moral and marital dilemmas associated with Islamic restrictions on third-party donation of gametes. [male infertility, masculinity, new reproductive technologies, stigma, Egypt, Lebanon] [source] Spontaneous abortion and assisted reproductive technology in the United StatesPAEDIATRIC & PERINATAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 4 2001L M Tatham No abstract is available for this article. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||