Proceedings of the 2nd World Conference Hormonal and Genetic Basis of Sexual Differentiation Disorders and Hot Topics in Endocrinology. The meeting took place at The Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, 1/15/10 1/17-10. Endocrinology and more specifically, the area of sexual differentiation disorders is an evolving field of medicine. The diagnosis and treatment of Disorders of Sex Development (DSD) is multi-faceted.

A much-needed overview of the available information now accumulating to indicate that assisted reproductive technologies are generally safe for both babies and mothers. However, the literature abounds with reports of a higher risk of obstetric and perinatal complications; regarding the long term outcomes for both women and children, the data are still scarce. The chapters summarized in this book review the current knowledge on long term safety of assisted reproduction and indicate the need for continued research to cover the lack of data in some specific patient groups and for recently developed treatments that only have a short period of follow-up.

Assisted Reproductive Technologies in the Global South and North critically analyses the political and social frameworks of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), and its impact in different countries. In the context of a worldwide social pressure to conceive - particularly for women - this collection explores the effect of the development of ARTs, growing globalisation and reproductive medicalization on global societies. Providing an overview of the issues surrounding ART both in the Global South and North, this book analyses ART inequalities, commonalities and specificities in various countries, regions and on the transnational scene. From a multidisciplinary perspective and drawing on multisite studies, it highlights some new issues relating to ART (e.g. egg freezing, surrogacy) and discusses some older issues regarding infertility and its medical treatment (e.g. in vitro fertilisation, childless stigmatisation and access to treatment). This book aims to redress the balance between what is known about Assisted Reproductive Technologies in the Global North, and how the issue is investigated in the Global South. It aims to draw out the global similarities in the challenges that ARTs bring between these different areas of the world. It will appeal to scholars and students in the social sciences, medicine, public health, health policy, women's and gender studies, and demography.

There is renewed interest in lifestyle medicine - the focus on food, physical activity, stress management, high-quality connections, restorative sleep, and avoidance of toxic substances - in the prevention, treatment, and sometimes reversal of chronic disease, but very little information exists on its application for improving specific women's health issues across the lifespan. Consequently, there is a growing need among health professionals who care for women for a textbook that addresses evidence-based lifestyle solutions to manage the health challenges they face every day in their offices. This book begins with a review of the fundamentals of Lifestyle Medicine through the lens of a woman's lifespan. It provides information about lifestyle interventions to improve gynecologic and sexual health and to manage and sometimes reverse gynecologic diseases. It clarifies the importance of lifestyle and behaviors before and during pregnancy to address infertility, reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes, and to lower non-communicable diseases in children along with emerging epigenetic evidence. The use of Lifestyle Medicine to prevent and manage breast and gynecologic cancers, enhance health as part of cancer survivorship, and decrease the risk or reduce many of the symptoms and diseases experienced during menopause including vasomotor symptoms and osteoporosis are also discussed. Additionally, the text covers cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, dementia and mental health from the perspective of gender specific differences. This book provides practical resources on implementing the components of lifestyle medicine. Some of the topics covered include models of care for women and families, reimbursement, health coaching and behavioral change, community engagement and health equity for under-resourced settings. The electronic version of the book presents supplemental material featuring in-depth reading, as well as online and digital resources for implementing Lifestyle Medicine. The book is an evidence-based source of information on women's health issues for health professionals already practicing lifestyle medicine, as well as an entry level textbook for those new to the field of lifestyle medicine. The collective expertise of each of the editors along with content provided by leaders within the American College of Lifestyle Medicine fills a much-needed void within the specialty of Lifestyle Medicine and is for providers of women's health globally. Features: Provides a basic overview of Lifestyle Medicine (nutrient-rich diet, exercise, stress resilience, sleep, and high-quality connections) in the care of women across the lifespan. Provides lifestyle-focused treatment recommendations for specific women health issues. Includes strategies for implementing Lifestyle Medicine with vulnerable populations and in communities. Summarizes key points at the close of each chapter and includes supplemental material with in-depth reading. Features additional resources for implementing lifestyle medicine into practice. "This women's health book is evidence based and comprehensive. There is nothing like it. Women need up to date information about physical activity, nutrition, sleep, stress resilience, social connection and substance use. In addition, there is a desire to better understand the power of these pillars throughout a woman's life including pregnancy, menopause and the golden years. This book fills that need." Elizabeth Pegg Frates, MD, DipABLM, FACLM, President Elect of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine "Healthy aging begins at pre-conception. Evidence overwhelmingly shows that it's we women who-through our lifestyle behavior choices-can take far greater control of our own health destinies, as well as the health destinies of our children and generations to come. We cannot underestimate the power of what we eat, how we move, and what we think in regard to our optimal health or lack thereof. This book is a must-read for all medical professionals!" Susan Benigas, Executive Director of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine Lifestyle Medicine is the science of taking core principles and customizing how they're applied to each individual and each situation to achieve positive health behavior change. This book sets the evidence based foundation for how that process happens, and why it needs to happen, with the most important segment of health consumers - women. It is the next for all who are passionate about changing how health care is delivered." Wayne S. Dysinger, MD, MPH, Physician, Founder and Chair, Lifestyle Medical "Lifestyle factors have a powerful role in chronic disease prevention, underscoring the profound control we have over our health. Improving Women's Health Across the Lifespan applies lifestyle medicine to women's health, empowering women and their clinicians with the tools to transform their lives, and fostering a legacy of health for future generations." JoAnn E. Manson, MD, MPH, DrPH, Professor of Medicine and the Michael and Lee Bell Professor of Women's Health, Harvard Medical School Chief, Division of Preventive Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital, Professor, Harvard Chan School of Public Health

The numbers of women undergoing Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART) treatments have risen steadily, yet they remain largely outside the scope of equality and employment law protection while undergoing treatment. Assisted Reproduction, Discrimination, and the Law examines this gap in UK law, with reference to EU law as appropriate, and argues that new conceptions of equality are necessary. Drawing from the literature on multidimensional and intersectional discrimination, it is argued that an intersectionality approach offers a more useful analytical framework to extend protection to those engaged in ART treatments. Drawing from Schiek's intersectional nodes model, the book critically examines two alternative interpretations of existing protected characteristics, namely infertility as a disability, with reference to the social model of disability and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006, and redefining the boundaries of pregnancy and/or sex discrimination, with reference to attempts to extend associative discrimination to pregnancy. Comparisons are drawn with the US, where infertility has been recognised as a disability under the American's with Disabilities Act 1990 and as a pregnancy-related condition under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act 1978. A specific right to paid time off work to undergo treatment is also proposed, drawing comparisons with the US Family and Medical Leave Act 1993 and the existing UK work-family rights framework. It is argued that the reinterpretations of equality law and the rights proposed here are not only conceptually possible, but could practically be achieved with minor, but significant, amendments to existing legislation.

What does it mean to have a child born through donor conception? Does it mean different things for heterosexual parents and lesbian parents? What is it like for the 'non-genetic' parent? How do grandparents feel about having a grandchild who is conceived with the help of an egg, sperm or embryo donor? Since 1991 more than 35,000 children have been born in the UK as a result of donor conception. This means that more and more families are facing the issue of incorporating 'relative strangers' into their families.
In this path breaking book, the authors explore the lived reality of donor conception in families by using in-depth interviews with parents and grandparents of donor conceived children. With reproductive medical technologies becoming more accessible, assisted donor conception is raising new and important questions about family life. This book will provide compelling reading for all those interested in the family, kinship, gender and sexuality, new reproductive technologies, and genetics.

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) includes recurrent first- and second-trimester abortions and recurrent preterm delivery, second- or third-trimester intrauterine fetal death, intrapartum stillbirth, and early neonatal death. This book includes protocols for case scenarios of early and late pregnancy loss as well as instances of poor obstetric history. Key Features Explores the management of different clinical presentations of RPL Includes preeclampsia, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, and hypertension-related disorders in pregnancy Includes clinical protocols with flowcharts Features tip boxes with learning points for easy reference

Infertility Comics and Graphic Medicine examines women's graphic memoirs on infertility, foregrounding the complex interrelationship between women's life writing, infertility studies, and graphic medicine. Through a scholarly examination of the artists' use of visual-verbal codes of the comics medium in narrating their physical ordeals and affective challenges occasioned by infertility, the book seeks to foreground the intricacies of gender identity, embodiment, subjectivity, and illness experience. Providing long-overdue scholarly attention on the perspectives of autobiographical and comics studies, the authors examine the gendered nature of the infertility experience and the notion of motherhood as an ideological force which interpolates socio-cultural discourses, accentuating the potential of graphic medicine as a creative space for the infertile women to voice their hitherto silenced perspectives on childlessness with force and urgency. This interdisciplinary volume will be of interest to scholars and students in comics studies, the health humanities, literature, and women's and gender studies, and will also be suitable for readers in visual studies and narrative medicine.

As a biological, cultural, and social entity, the human fetus is a multifaceted subject which calls for equally diverse perspectives to fully understand. Anthropology of the Fetus seeks to achieve this by bringing together specialists in biological anthropology, archaeology, and cultural anthropology. Contributors draw on research in prehistoric, historic, and contemporary sites in Europe, Asia, North Africa, and North America to explore the biological and cultural phenomenon of the fetus, raising methodological and theoretical concerns with the ultimate goal of developing a holistic anthropology of the fetus.

This book presents the contemporary history and dynamics of Mexican midwifery - professional, (post)modern or autonomous, traditional and Indigenous - as profoundly political and embedded in differing societal stratifications. By situated politics, the authors refer to various networks, spaces and territories, which are also constructed by the midwives. By politically situated, the authors refer to various intersections, unsettled relations and contexts in which Mexican midwives are positioned. Examining Mexican midwiferies in depth, the volume sharpens the focus on the worlds in which midwives are profoundly immersed as agents in generating and participating in movements, alliances, health professions, communities, homes, territories and knowledges. The chapters provide a complex panorama of midwives in Mexico with an array of insights into their professional and political autonomy, (post)coloniality, body-territoriality, the challenges of defining midwifery, and above all, into the ways in which contemporary Mexican midwiferies relate to a complex set of human rights. The book will be of interest to a range of scholars from anthropology, sociology, politics, global health, gender studies, development studies, and Latin American studies, as well as to midwives and other professionals involved in childbirth policy and practice.

Long regarded as biological waste, the placenta is gaining momentum as a viable product for clinical use. Due to their unique properties, placental cells and derivatives show great promise in curing various diseases. Utilizing contributions from world-renowned experts, Placenta: The Tree of Life considers the therapeutic potential of these cells. It examines new stem cell-based strategies and highlights recent studies that advance the range of treatment for a number of illnesses. Emphasizing the potential research and therapeutic use of stem cells, the book discusses the development, structure, and functions of the human placenta. It introduces overall aspects of the immune system, explains some of the immune mechanisms during pregnancy, and shows the role of the placenta in these mechanisms. Current scientific research is presented that focuses on the mechanisms of action underlying the therapeutic benefit of cells isolated from different placental regions. An exhaustive examination, this pivotal work: Considers how perinatal cells may represent an important source for cell therapy approaches in the near future, in both human and veterinary medicine Describes the clinical potential of placenta-derived cells in regenerative medicine-specifically in neurological disorders, metabolic liver diseases, inflammatory diseases, and autoimmune diseases Explains how cells isolated from different placental tissues share basic properties Placenta: The Tree of Life summarizes the advantages of perinatal tissue as a source of cells with therapeutic potential and is designed for use in the study of genetics, stem cell science, placental function, reproductive biology, regenerative medicine, and related fields.

Inspired by Carlos Beyer's 50 years of pioneering research and influence on his students and colleagues, Behavioral Neuroendocrinology builds upon Beyer's fundamental discoveries and concepts as well as their widespread implications. It presents original research and reviews on mechanisms - genomic and non-genomic - of steroid and protein hormone action; the role of steroid metabolism, especially aromatization, protein phosphorylation, and neurotransmitter action in mediating reproductive behavior and sexual differentiation; and brain and spinal cord mechanisms in sexual behavior and analgesia. This book presents a rich diversity of topics - lactation, maternal behavior, pheromone action, chronobiology, allodynia, angiogenesis, prostate physiology, sexual motivation, and specific brain systems, including vomeronasal system, cerebellum, preoptic area, hypothalamus, and spinal cord. This book brings together, in one source, an international "family" of researchers whose work has evolved in diverse but related ways from a seminal set of discoveries and concepts in behavioral neuroendocrinology.

This comprehensive volume focuses on recent trends and new technologies used in the management of reproduction in major farm animals, focusing on both males and females of bovine, equine, and porcine species. With chapters written by scientists who specialize in their respective topics, the volume presents a selection of different technologies that have been developed to assure reproductive success by improving reproductive efficiency, generating germplasm banks, and maintaining genetic diversity in cattle, horses, and pigs. In the last decade, reproductive technologies in veterinary medicine have progressed considerably, providing high profitability to livestock farms. This book provides basic and applied information on the most used reproductive technologies in bovine, equine, and porcine species for academics, scientists, and veterinarians. The volume discusses reproductive and postpartum management, reproductive ultrasound, sperm management, egg retrieval, artificial insemination, embryo transfer, nutrition, genetics, and certain clinical aspects, such as endocrinology and robustness of reproductive systems.

The examination for Membership of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (MRCOG) remains one of the most internationally recognised postgraduate examinations in the specialty. Over the years, the examination has evolved in keeping with changes in medical education; the Part 3 examination now consists of 14 tasks, each covering one of the 14 core modules in the curriculum and assessing specific skills which may include all or some of Information Gathering, Communication with Patients and Families, Communication with Colleagues, Patient Safety, and Applied Clinical Knowledge. This invaluable resource consists of analyses of different aspects of what is being tested, with general advice on how to prepare for the examination and discussion of the reasons why trainees fail the examination. There follow four sample 'papers' of tasks; in each of them, attempts have been made to cover all 14 modules in the core curriculum. There is also an additional paper with random tasks to help with preparation.

The examination for Membership of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (MRCOG) remains one of the most internationally recognised postgraduate examinations in the specialty. Over the years, the examination has evolved in keeping with changes in medical education; the Part 3 examination now consists of 14 tasks, each covering one of the 14 core modules in the curriculum and assessing specific skills which may include all or some of Information Gathering, Communication with Patients and Families, Communication with Colleagues, Patient Safety, and Applied Clinical Knowledge. This invaluable resource consists of analyses of different aspects of what is being tested, with general advice on how to prepare for the examination and discussion of the reasons why trainees fail the examination. There follow four sample 'papers' of tasks; in each of them, attempts have been made to cover all 14 modules in the core curriculum. There is also an additional paper with random tasks to help with preparation.

Office-Based Infertility Practice is an invaluable resource to all physicians treating infertile couples. The text emphasizes the practice of infertility in the office setting, reflecting the current trend away from the hospital into the outpatient environment. The most current and advanced therapies available are discussed by recognized experts in the field. The first half of the book is devoted to the evaluation and work-up of the infertile couple, including evaluation of the male, female, age-related infertility factors, and the roles of ultrasound, endometrium saline sonography, falloposcopy and diagnostic laparoscopy and hysteroscopy. The second half of the book presents the treatment and operative procedures for the infertile couple, including ovulation induction, IUI, tubal cannulation, treatment of cervical stenosis, the use of office laparoscopy and therapeutic hysteroscopy, male treatment as support for IVF, vas reversals, and testicular biopsy, as well as routine IVF, intratubal gamete transfer, and micromanipulation. With over 60 illustrations, this book is a must for all infertility specialists, obstetrician-gynecologists, fellows, and residents. Its practical, comprehensive approach will be of daily use to the office practitioner treating women of reproductive age.

Regulatory agencies worldwide have issued directives or such requirements for air quality standards in embryology laboratories. This practical guide reviews the application of clean room technology or controlled environments specifically suited for Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Units. Its comprehensive coverage includes material on airborne particles and volatile organic compounds, including basic concepts, regulation, construction, materials, certification, clinical results in humans, and more.

The sites, spaces and subjects of reproduction are distinctly geographical. Reproductive geographies span different scales - body, home, local, national, global - and movements across space. This book expands our understanding of the socio-cultural and spatial aspects of fertility, pregnancy and birth. The chapters directly address global perspectives, the future of reproductive politics and state-focused approaches to the politicisation of fertility, pregnancy and birth. The book provides up-to-date explorations on the changing landscapes of reproduction, including the expansion of reproductive technologies, such as surrogacy and intrauterine insemination. Contributions in this book focus on phenomenologically-inspired accounts of women's lived experience of pregnancy and birth, the biopolitics of birth and citizenship, the material histories of reproductive tissues as "scientific objects" and engagements with public health and development policy. This is an essential resource for upper-level undergraduates and graduates studying topics such as Sociology, Geographies of Gender, Women's Studies and Anthropology of Health and Medicine.

Published in 1998, this book is a collected volume of papers from the first conference of the European Network for Biomedical ethics. The main subject of this conference is the ethical assessment of IVF in view of its concrete application as an infertility treatment and the consideration of possible alternatives for use. Twenty years after the introduction and the establishment of this therapy a more concrete evaluation of its medical indications, social conditions and consequences, the psychological consequences for the women involved and the parent-child relationship becomes possible. The legal and ethical evaluation of the reproduction technology as regards for example the legal and moral status of supernumery embyos in cryo-conservation has also to be considered in a European perspective. The ethical evaluation concentrates today on the new evolution that IVF technology takes in relation to the extension of diagnostics possibilities due to genetic research. Little work has been done on the connection between IVF and genetic diagnostics and therapy, so the medical and ethical evaluation of the connecting lines are also included in the book.

The Lure of Hope portrays a snap shot of the rise and fall of commercial surrogacy in India. By chance, the author's fieldwork began around the same time NSW legislation in Australia extended its ban on commercial surrogacy to include overseas arrangements. Not long after returning from fieldwork in India, the Home Ministry of India changed the conditions of entry for intending parents (IPs) traveling to India for a surrogacy arrangement. From November 2013 IPs would have to apply for a medical visa, and could only obtain a medical visa for surrogacy if they had been married for at least two years. In 2016 the Indian Surrogacy (regulation) Act was introduced, commercial surrogacy was banned and foreigners were no longer able to enter into surrogacy arrangements in India. India was the first among a trail of 'pop up' reproductive destinations including Thailand, Nepal, Mexico, Cambodia and Laos. This book captures a moment in the recent history of the emerging global 'surroscape'. Alongside the detailed account of the experiences of parents and surrogate mothers the author offers a careful analysis of regulatory systems governing surrogacy and embryo use in Australia and India. With the authors archival research in the UK she further analyses the regulation of surrogacy with cross cultural comparison of the relatively longer history of surrogacy regulation in the UK. Reproductive technologies and the many options these create are ahead of the law and while the law struggles to keep up we have a rich field of investigation. What do different regulatory systems tell us about how we see society, children, women's bodies, reproduction and fecundity, kinship and family formation?

Human Reproductive Genetics: Emerging Technologies and Clinical Applications presents a great reference for clinicians and researchers in reproductive medicine. Part I includes a brief background of genetics and epigenetics, probability of disease, and the different techniques that are being used today for analysis and genetic counseling. Part II focuses on the analysis of the embryo, current controversies and future concepts. Part III comprises different clinical scenarios that clinicians frequently face in practice. The increasing amount of genetic tests available and the growing information that patients handle makes this section a relevant part of the fertility treatment discussion. Finally, Part IV concludes with the psychological aspects of genetic counseling and the role of counselor and bioethics in human reproduction.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is an age-related, nonmalignant condition that may lead to bothersome lower urinary tract symptoms. The standard treatment of BPH has been ordinary loop transurethral prostatectomy, but new therapies have been developed as a combined result of research, technological advances, and the cumulative experience of urological surgeons. Among the most promising therapeutic alternatives to ordinary loop resection are those that deliver topical or interstitial heat to prostatic tissue. Transurethral microwave thermotherapy, visual laser ablation with the Nd:YAG laser, high-intensity focused ultrasound, and transurethral electrovaporization are some of the techniques described in this book. These innovative procedures, employed by skilled urologists using state-of-the-art instruments, hold forth the promise of improved quality of life for BPH patients and represent significant advances in the field of urology.

The examination for Membership of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (MRCOG) remains one of the most internationally recognised postgraduate examinations in the specialty. Over the years, the examination has evolved in keeping with changes in medical education; the Part 2 examination now consists of two papers made up of Single Best Answer (SBA) questions and Extended Matching Questions (EMQ). This invaluable resource consists of 400 SBA questions (200 in Obstetrics and 200 in Gynaecology), followed by 400 EMQs (200 in Obstetrics and 200 in Gynaecology), grouped into papers, to provide enough material to guide preparations and to give some practice experience of the examination formats. All the questions have answers with explanations and sources of evidence. In preparing for the examination, candidates should make repeated references to these sources of evidence. There is also general advice on how to prepare for the examination and discussion of the reasons why trainees fail the examination.

A comprehensive survey of the use of ultrasound in management of infertile patients is presented in this publication. Particular atten-tion is given to recently developed techniques such as assessment of endometrial changes, ovarian blood flow measurements, and per-cutaneous oocyte retrieval for in vitro fertilization. The very re-cent technique of transvaginal sonography is presented and richly illus-trated with original results obtained in biopsy-guided oocyte re-trieval, and in the precise delineation of follicle size and number for infertility treatment. Guidance in the interpretation of ultrasonic findings, which include potential limitations and pitfalls, is provided in each chapter. Researchers and practitioners interested in the management of infertile patients will find this volume indispensable.

This volume contains the 1983 second edition of Textbook of Contraceptive Practice. The second edition represented a comprehensive reappraisal of the subject, taking account of the great expansion in information on all aspects of family planning that had occurred since the first edition was published in 1969. It emphasized the historical, social and political, and clinical perspectives of the subject. Advances in oral contraception, in the use of intra-uterine devices and in surgical methods of family planning were considered in relation to consumer choice and their overall risks and benefits. All techniques of contraception, from folk methods to methods of abortion and sterilization, were discussed in detail and evaluated.