How do rapid social and technological changes shape reproductive realms today? This book considers the complex choices, anxieties and challenges that come alongside postmodern reproduction for women and men in the West. Topics include surrogacy, fatherhood, sperm banking, egg donation, contraception, breastfeeding, and postpartum body image.

This book contributes in an important way to the psychoanalytic understanding and impact of Assisted Reproductive Technology on a majority of patients who have difficulties starting new families. Recent advances in reproductive technology and the increased use of techniques based upon it have created a need for psychoanalytic thinking and understanding of the psychological implications of Assisted reproductive procedures, in-vitro fertilization and other similar procedures.The recent and rapid advances in medical technologies confront us with a mandate in our clinical work to understand their complex impact on women, men, and children. However, attention to the intra psychic conflicts, traumatic experience of the use of such techniques has not been addressed in psychoanalytic literature. The developmental trauma and intra psychic conflicts of individuals using reproductive technologies are ubiquitous, yet it has been neglected as a topic of special interest in our clinical work.The centerpiece of these collective chapters deal with psychic trauma of infertility, the compulsion to repeat through persistent repeated use of assisted reproductive technology, anxiety about motherhood, and finally the lives of children who are born and do not know from where they came.These poignant topics deal with family complexes and the Oedipal circle, repetition compulsion, trials and failures, anxiety related to motherhood, egg and sperm donors, parental identity formation, infertility, trauma, and discussion of a contemporary film depicting the challenging and newly defined family structure.

This book offers a vision of politics that govern the womb; from antiquity ('be fertile and replenish the earth'), through the ages (hysterectomy, to extirpate women's 'hysteria'), up to the present time (abortion wars; assisted reproduction), and into the future (reprogenetics; the artificial womb). It explores how the womb has served humanity, either tacitly or explicitly, through the ages and examines how women have accepted and still perceive the rules created by men as natural - including the new anti-abortion laws in the USA - because 'that is the way things are.' The book also explores how the emerging of assisted reproduction technologies and novel genetic tools (reprogenetics) will pose additional challenges to womb bearers, as all women will be made to reproduce with IVF. What is more, the advent of the artificial womb is in sight; the gender and social implications of this development would be enormous. Certainly not just another organ, the womb has been and remains a powerful tool that cannot be left to the decisions of half of the population. This book engages a wide audience, including women and men, professionals and laypersons who are interested in gender, politics, legislation, women's health, and ethics.

This concise, truncated version of Parekattil and Agarwal's "Male Infertility: Contemporary Clinical Approaches, Andrology, ART & Antioxidants" is the first resource dedicated solely to antioxidants and male infertility. With select chapters that will prove invaluable to the practitioner of reproductive medicine, "Antioxidants in Male Infertility" addresses issues such as:

- Molecular mechanisms of antioxidants in male infertility

- Oxidative stress

- The impact of infection, aging, obesity, and injury on male infertility

- Natural and synthetic antioxidants and antioxidant therapy

- Antioxidants in ICSI and IMSI

Also included is a new chapter reviewing the physiological role of reactive oxygen species in sperm function.

Practical for clinicians and researchers alike, "Antioxidants in Male Infertility" contains all of the need-to-know information about these cutting-edge topics in reproductive medicine.

The development of the placenta was a pivotal event in evolution. Without it, we would still be laying eggs instead of giving birth to live offspring. It represents the critical link between the foetus and the mother, but its character is extraordinary - it is, in effect, a foreign tissue that invades the mother's body. Compared to many other animals, the human placenta represents a particularly aggressive body. But how is it managed and controlled? How did such an organ evolve in the first place? And why is it tolerated by the mother? Y.W. Loke, a highly respected expert in the placenta and its development, explores the nature of the placenta and what it can tell us about evolution, development, and genetics.

The phenomenon of bleeding has been shown to appear in up to 22% of all pregnancies and is associated with significant maternal and fetal morbidities, and even mortality. Although vaginal bleeding occurs mainly during the first trimester, it can appear at any stage of pregnancy and in the postpartum period. This sometimes life-threatening event requires an extensive work-up in order to recognize its cause and establish a rapid and effective therapeutic approach. This book is a comprehensive appraisal of this critical condition. It draws on evidence-based data and brings together, in a single volume, updated information on all aspects of pregnancy-related bleeding. A global group of interdisciplinary experts contributed chapters on: bleeding during early pregnancy (early pregnancy loss, ectopic pregnancy, gestational trophoblastic disease, and cancer of the reproductive tract during pregnancy); bleeding in late pregnancy (preterm delivery, placental abruption, placenta previa, vasa previa and uterine rupture); and postpartum hemorrhage.

An assessment of some ethical implications of increasing life spans. Taking as a starting point the idea that to increase longevity is a form of medical enhancement, it examines the value of living longer; the means for extending life spans; the consequences of greater longevity for the fair distribution of resources and healthcare in particular.

In species with internal fertilization, sperm competition occurs when the sperm of two or more males simultaneously occupy the reproductive tract of a female and compete to fertilize an egg (Parker, 1970). A large body of empirical research has demonstrated that, as predicted by sperm competition theory, males and females in many species possess anatomical, behavioral, and physiological adaptations that have evolved to deal with the adaptive challenges associated with sperm competition. Moreover, in recent years, evolutionary biologists and psychologists have begun to examine the extent to which sperm competition may have been an important selective pressure during human evolution. Some research has suggested that male humans, like males of many bird, insect, and rodent species, might be able to adjust the number of sperm they inseminate according to the risk of sperm competition. Other research has examined whether such responses might be accompanied by psychological changes that motivate human males to pursue copulations when the risk of sperm competition is high. Furthermore, there is research suggesting that aspects of human penile anatomy might function to enhance success in sperm competition. Much of this work has been controversial; some of the findings have been disputed and others have been greeted with skepticism. However, the idea that some aspects of human psychology and behavior might best be understood as adaptations to sperm competition remains intriguing and, in certain cases, very persuasive.

The development of new reproductive technologies has raised urgent questions and debates about how and by whom these treatments should be controlled. On the one hand individuals and groups have claimed access to assisted reproduction as a right, and some have also claimed that this access should be available free of charge. As well as clinically infertile heterosexual couples, this right has been claimed by single women, gay couples, post-menopausal women, and couples who wish to delay having children for various reasons. Others have argued that a desire to have children does not make it a human right, and, moreover, that there are some people who should not be assisted to become parents, on grounds of age, sexuality, or lifestyle. Mary Warnock steers a clear path through the web of complex issues underlying these views. She begins by analyzing what it means to claim something as a 'right', and goes on to discuss the cases of different groups of people. She also examines the ethical problems faced by particular types of assisted reproduction, including artificial insemination, in-vitro fertilization, and surrogacy, and argues that in the future human cloning may well be a viable an

The concept of reproductive health promises to play a crucial role in improving health care provision and legal protection for women around the world. This is an authoritative and much-needed introduction to and defence of the concept of reproductive health, which though internationally endorsed, is still contested. The authors are leading authorities on reproductive medicine, women's health, human rights, medical law, and bioethics. They integrate their disciplines to provide an accessible but comprehensive picture. They analyse 15 cases from different countries and cultures, and explore options for resolution. The aim is to equip readers to fashion solutions in their own health care circumstances, compatibly with ethical, legal and human rights principles.

Clinical case studies have long been recognized as a useful adjunct to problem-based learning and continuing professional development. They emphasize the need for clinical reasoning, integrative thinking, problem-solving, communication, teamwork and self-directed learning - all desirable generic skills for health care professionals. This volume contains a selection of cases on assisted reproduction that will inform and challenge reproductive medicine practitioners at all stages in their careers. Both common and uncommon cases are included. The aim is to reinforce diagnostic skill through careful analysis of individual presenting patterns, and to guide treatment decisions. Each case consists of a clinical history, examination findings and special investigations, before a diagnosis is made. Clinical issues raised by each case are discussed and major teaching points emphasized. Selective references are provided. The book provides a useful complementary adjunct to existing textbooks of reproductive medicine, and an excellent resource for teaching and continuing professional development.

Gender, Identity and Reproduction draws on a variety of perspectives relevant to an understanding of reproduction across the life-course. Through a consideration of the representation of reproductive identities and experiences, the book highlights difference and diversity in relation to contemporary reproductive choices. The book focuses on women's and men's experiences of agency, control and negotiation within the context of cultural, medical, political, theoretical and lay ideologies of the reproductive process in contemporary Western societies.

'It is very hard to produce a timely book about a subject that changes as quickly as technologically assisted reproduction, but John Harris and Soren Holm have managed to do exactly that. The fourteen essays in this small volume provide an extremely useful and highly readable overview of the key moral, legal, and social themes raised by new ways of making babies. . . . The book is unique in that it offers perspectives on all these topics from a variety of disciplines and professions as well as from a broad range of national and cultural perspectives.' Arthur Caplan, British Medical Journal

With the rigor of a dedicated scholar and the passion of a committed activist, Nancy Lublin offers a fresh perspective on the ethical dimensions of providing and using reproductive technologies, including contraception, assisted conception, and antenatal and childbirth interventions. Combining feminist philosophy and legal theory, Lublin considers these issues under a single category that she calls 'technological intervention in the womb.' She addresses the positions of technophiles (who advocate acceptance of technological intervention in the womb as a source of liberation), technophobic feminists (who reject artificial invasions as anti-natural and anti-women), and other feminists who have argued that technological intervention in the womb should be legal and available to women because freedom of choice should be gender-neutral. Lublin identifies core principles that are common to a kaleidoscope of feminist theories, and she argues that a materialist feminism provides the most effective framework for establishing public policy and creating social change in the name of gender justice.

Random Families is about the unprecedented families that have grown up at the intersection of new reproductive technologies, social media, and the human desire for belonging. Children of the same donor and their families, with the help of the internet, can now locate each other and make contact. Based on over 350 interviews with children (ages 10-28), their parents and related donors from all over the U.S., Random Families chronicles the chain of choices that couples and single mothers make from what donor to use to how to participate (or not) in donor sibling networks. Children reveal their understanding of a donor, the donor's spot on the family tree and the meaning of their donor siblings. Through rich first-person accounts of network membership, the book illustrates how these extraordinary relationships-woven from bits of online information and shared genetic ties-are transformed into new possibilities for kinship. Random Families offers down-to-earth stories from real families to highlight just how truly distinctive these contemporary new forms of family are.

In Quest for Conception, Marcia C. Inhorn portrays the poignant struggles of poor, urban Egyptian women and their attempts to overcome infertility. The author draws upon fifteen months of fieldwork in urban Egypt to present moving stories of infertile Muslim women whose tumultuous medical pilgrimages - or their "search for children," as they call their quests for conception - have yet to produce the desired pregnancies. Inhorn examines the devastating impact of infertility on the lives of these women, who are threatened with divorce by their husbands, harassed by their husbands' families, and ostracized by neighbors. Beliefs about procreation and infertility causation and cure among the Egyptian urban poor derive from a five-thousand-year history of shifting medical pluralism. Although colonially produced Western biomedicine is the dominant system in Egypt today, it represents only one of an array of therapeutic alternatives. Infertile women seek help from both "biogynecologists" (practitioners of Western biomedicine) and "ethnogynecologists" (practitioners of indigenous ethnomedicine), often using the remedies of both simultaneously. Quest for Conception examines in detail the variety of ethnomedical and biomedical treatments for infertility and concludes that treatments of both types are often ineffective and sometimes harmful. Given this untherapeutic setting, the future of infertile Egyptian women is explored in light of needed changes in reproductive health policy and the introduction of new reproductive technologies. Quest for Conception is the first comprehensive account of non-Western women's experiences of infertility and is a novel study within the literature on Middle Easternwomen.

Sexual problems are approached from a psychological and educational perspective with stress placed on the importance of the enhancement of individual relationships in this new text for clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse therapists, social workers and other professional groups.;Of special interest is the book's academic basis as it includes a review of the literature regarding the aetiology of psychosexual dysfunction and in the treatment that is provided.;Assessment of problems is comprehensive and the need for a tailored programme of treatment is supported by clinical examples. Problems encountered by the physically or intellectually handicapped, homosexuals and older people are addressed with sensitivity.;This cognitive-behavioural approach to the subject brings together the main therapies in a unique sythesis combined with the author's individual emphases, based on her clinical experience in Great Britain and Australia.

This book is on ovulation induction and controlled ovarian stimulation which is an integral part of most infertility therapies like intrauterine insemination and in vitro fertilization. It would deal with causes of anovulation and indications for ovarian stimulation. This book deals with basics as well as current and advanced practices. It provides a step by step protocol for ovarian stimulation. It gives a clear understanding of the science of reproductive endocrinology behind these stimulation protocols and roadmaps the latest therapies, defining their current relevance to treatment. Besides the practical guidance it also covers latest research work done in this field. In this day of information overload it is an attempt to integrate relevant information in a manner which can be applied in infertility practice in evidence based manner, making it rational, logical and rewarding for the reader.

The average physician and even cancer care-givers are not knowledgeable about the effects of cancer treatment on sex and reproductive life. They are even less aware of the options available for treatment of such patients. Cancer and Sexual Health fills a great need for a reference work devoted to the link between cancer and human sexuality. The volume is designed to give a comprehensive and state-of-the-art review of the sexual and reproductive consequences of cancer diagnosis and treatment. It will prove an invaluable resource for those clinicians caring for cancer patients as well as acting as a reference text for the sexual medicine clinician who may not see a large number of cancer patients.

An authoritative account of the causes of infertility that fully explores the clinical assessment of patients and covers the decision-making behind treatment options. The content follows the MRCOG syllabus as well as delving deeper into subjects covered by the RCOG Advanced Training Skills Modules (ATSMs), leaving readers well prepared for their examinations. Written by nationally recognised leaders in the field, this volume concisely reviews contemporary clinical practice. Using an aetiology-based approach, chapters discuss ovulatory dysfunction, endometriosis, male infertility, uterine/tubal factors and unexplained infertility. The increasing use of third-party reproduction and surrogacy is explored, along with the psychosocial aspects of this type of treatment. Ethical dilemmas surrounding reproductive medicine and their management are covered in depth. With an emphasis on practical approaches to the delivery and organisation of clinical and laboratory services, readers learn how to ensure the support and care they offer is of the highest quality.

Millions of Americans rely on the likes of birth control, IVF, and genetic testing to make plans as intimate and farreaching as any over a lifetime. This is no less than the medicine of miracles. It fills empty cradles, frees families from terrible disease, and empowers them to fashion their lives on their own terms. But accidents happen. Pharmacists mix up pills. Lab techs misread tests. Obstetricians tell women their healthy fetuses would be stillborn. Political and economic forces conspire against regulation. And judges throw up their hands when professionals foist parenthood on people who didn't want it, or childlessness on those who did. Failed abortions, switched donors, and lost embryos may be first-world problems. But these aren't innocent lapses or harmless errors. They're wrongs in need of rights. This book lifts the curtain on reproductive negligence, gives voice to the lives it upends, and vindicates the interests that advances in medicine and technology bring to full expression. It charts the legal universe of errors that: (1) deprive pregnancy or parenthood of people who set out to pursue them; (2) impose pregnancy or parenthood on those who tried to avoid these roles; or (3) confound efforts to have a child with or without certain genetic traits. This novel architecture forces citizens and courts to rethink the reproductive controversies of our time, and equips us to meet the new challenges-from womb transplants to gene editing-that lie just over the horizon.

Period positivity starts with asking questions. This informative, irreverent, and absorbing book covers all your period-related questions - why they're taboo (and needn't be) and how to navigate the whole bleeding thing, from first periods to fertility, euphemisms to uteruses, menstrual products to menopause. Let's get period positive. It's about bloody time. Feel your best at any time of the month! This science-backed menstruation book is full of good advice and friendly tips to give you the tools to re-frame your thinking and learn to love your cycle. This frank, funny, and fascinating menstruation guide from Period Positive movement founder and menstrual researcher, Chella Quint's offers: - A practical, science-backed guide to your period with arresting infographics, and anatomical diagrams - Answers to all your period-related questions, exploring topics like the functions and effects of hormones, when periods "normal" or "abnormal," hormonal birth control, sex, fertility, pregnancy - Explanations of common female health conditions such as PCOS and endometriosis Light or heavy, early or late, painful or painfully bad timing - periods can be a nightmare. With its beautiful visuals and question and answer format, Be Period Positive provides practical advice on managing the common symptoms most women have during their period - from easing cramps to using a menstrual cup, coming off the pill and managing PMS. Find answers to the common period myths like whether your menstrual cycle is linked to the moon or if period syncing is a thing. Explore how periods evolved and what is going on in your body to deepen your understanding of your cycle. This period positive book includes sections that will help you "hack your period". Learn how adapting your diet, exercise, and other strategies can help you manage hormonal fluctuations' physical and emotional effects. Learn how to recognise when you're at your most receptive, creative, and vulnerable so that you can get the best out of every stage of your cycle.

Now in a completely newly revised and expanded second edition, this comprehensive text presents the current state of the art in our understanding and management of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the most common hormonal disorder of reproductive aged women. The numerous bothersome symptoms of PCOS include menstrual irregularities, hirsutism, acne, scalp hair thinning, weigh excess and infertility; additionally, as they age, women with PCOS are at a higher risk for metabolic abnormalities such as diabetes and dyslipidemias, as well as for cardiovascular disease and even certain cancers. Despite improvements in our understanding of this condition, the exact cause/s of PCOS remain elusive; genetic, hormonal, metabolic and environmental underpinnings are all suggested as relevant. All chapters have been updated, with eight new chapters added across seven thematic sections. Part one discusses the epidemiology of PCOS in both adults and adolescents. Part two covers the pathophysiology of PCOS, including genetics, the hypothalamo-pituitary-ovarian and the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axes, insulin resistance, inflammation, and obesity. The next three sections present the various management strategies, medical and surgical, for harnessing the symptomatology, including PCOS-related infertility; these chapters include added case material to provide real-world examples of the treatments in action and their efficacy. Part six covers the comorbidities that women with PCOS commonly encounter, such as issues of mental health, sleep disturbances, endometrial hyperplasia, and cancer, as well as examines the economic burden of PCOS. The final section discusses emerging concepts surrounding possible mechanisms and potential therapeutic approaches to PCOS, including angiogenic dysfunction, the role of vitamin D, future potential therapies to targeted AMH signaling. The closing chapter, by familiarizing the readers with the intergenerational implications of PCOS and by raising awareness of potential "ripple effects", aims at alerting the community on a need for vigilance as regards the health of PCOS progeny. With contributions from leaders in the field, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Second Edition remains the gold-standard text on this common medical condition and a valuable resource for the wide range of healthcare professionals engaged in caring for the women with PCOS (including but not limited to reproductive endocrinologists, gynecologists, family physicians, dermatologists, mental health professionals), for the aspiring women's health providers of tomorrow, and for the researchers who are striving to unravel the mysteries of the complex entity that PCOS is.

This book aims to address a number of controversies concerning the use of testosterone treatment. It explains topics that clinicians regularly encounter such as whether to use free or total testosterone in the evaluation of the patient with testosterone deficiency; what factors actually impact testosterone levels, polycythemia, gynecomastia, bone density, and hyperprolactinemia in the testosterone deficient patient; critical analysis of the numerous questionnaires that are available to clinicians; and the impact of testosterone therapy on male fertility, cardiovascular disease, and prostate events including prostate cancer. Guiding the reader in both evaluation and management, the book also illuminates novel concepts in the T space such as testosterone use in the transgender population, T therapy as an endothelial modulator, bipolar testosterone therapy in the patient with advanced prostate cancer, and testosterone therapy as a performance enhancer. Controversies in Testosterone Deficiency is intended for any clinician involved in the care of patients with testosterone deficiency, exploring hot topics and correcting existent misinformation in the routine care of patients.