Tag: reproductive technology

News (23)

April 16, 2012 3:13 pm

IVF can't beat biological clock, warns Yale fertility expert (BioNews)

A leading fertility expert in the USA has warned of young women’s serious misconceptions about their own fertility. Writing in the journal Fertility and Sterility, Professor Pasquale Patrizio, from Yale School of Medicine and director of the Yale Fertility Centre, says that clinicians should ‘begin educating women more aggressively’ – but goes further. He argues that young women who choose to delay motherhood for whatever reason should be offered the opportunity to have their eggs frozen as an act of preventive medicine.

April 13, 2012 2:25 pm

Surrogacy Experts Help Navigate Murky Legal Waters (NPR)

There are a growing number of lawyers making a living by coordinating surrogacies — a pregnancy where a woman bears a child for someone else who can’t conceive or carry a pregnancy to term.

April 9, 2012 1:11 pm

Scientists rewrite rules of human reproduction (The Independent)

The first human egg cells that have been grown entirely in the laboratory from stem cells could be fertilised later this year in a development that will revolutionise fertility treatment and might even lead to a reversal of the menopause in older women. Scientists are about to request a licence from the UK fertility watchdog to fertilise the eggs as part of a series of tests to generate an unlimited supply of human eggs, a breakthrough that could help infertile women to have babies as well as making women as fertile in later life as men.

April 2, 2012 1:59 pm

The Case Against Kids (New Yorker)

A New Yorker book review asks the question “Is Procreation Immoral?” and reviews two books that explore the ethical issues in the decision to (or not to) reproduce.

April 2, 2012 11:41 am

DIY sperm banking? Some clinics offer at-home kits (MSNBC)

Last Monday, the Cleveland Clinic launched its “NextGen” sperm banking kit. But are American men really crying out for such a service? And while sperm are pretty hearty swimmers in their intended environment, can they really survive the punishment meted out by the UPS guy? #reproduction #sperm

April 2, 2012 9:21 am

So who's the daddy? Ethics dilemma over UK sperm donor boom (Independent.ie)

The gift of life is not immune to pecuniary incentives. Charities working with sperm and egg donors report a boom in enquiries from potential volunteers as new regulations allow fertility clinics to make more generous payments. . . The new rates, agreed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) following a public consultation last year, are intended to boost the number of donors to meet rising demand. But they have also focused attention on the question of transparency in donation after decades in which the biological origins of tens of thousands of children have been kept secret.

March 26, 2012 1:34 pm

Legislation would set rules for use of frozen eggs, sperm (The Baltimore Sun)

If you wanted to use your late husband’s frozen sperm to have a baby, you would need his written permission under legislation that appears poised for approval in the Maryland General Assembly. The House and Senate have both passed bills that would make it illegal to use a dead person’s preserved genetic material to reproduce without the notarized, written agreement of the donor.

March 20, 2012 9:27 pm

In vitro babies denied U.S. citizenship (USA Today)

Chicago native Ellie Lavi could not have been happier when she gave birth to beautiful twin girls overseas. She found that the U.S. State Department did not share in her joy when she went to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to apply for citizenship for her children. An embassy staffer wanted to know whether Lavi got pregnant at a fertility clinic. She said yes and was told that her children were not eligible for citizenship unless she could prove that the egg or sperm used to create the embryo was from an American citizen.

March 19, 2012 11:43 am

Is A Baby Conceived After Dad's Death A 'Survivor'? (NPR)

Two eras clash on Monday at the U.S. Supreme Court, when a law written in 1939 is applied to in vitro fertilization. At issue is whether children conceived through in vitro fertilization after the death of a parent are eligible for Social Security survivors benefits. At least 100 such cases are pending before the Social Security Administration.

March 7, 2012 11:53 am

Egg Freezing: Taking a Closer Look at the Experimental Label (Center for Genetics and Society)

Should young women who aren’t ready to have children have their eggs extracted and frozen as an “insurance policy” for future motherhood? Several recent media features seem to be promoting egg freezing, with little or no mention of the risks involved for women who undergo egg retrieval procedures or for the children that might be born as a result.