A comprehensive integrative handbook on fertility treatment, and Assisted Reproduction Techniques (ART), the book is written by specialist contributors for health professionals and Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practitioners, and for those seriously considering ART themselves. Integrated approaches to infertility offer both a greater awareness and understanding of the combination of factors that can influence the chances of success when undergoing different types of ART. Leading experts review the evidence and discuss the benefits of different approaches to support the physiological and emotional aspects of fertility and fertility treatment. The book covers everything from identifying and treating conditions that may reduce fertility, including immunological abnormalities and specific male and female factors, to how nutrition, acupuncture, reflexology and yoga can support couples going through assisted reproduction, including helping to improve some immunological aspects. There is also a chapter that looks specifically at support for the over 40's.

Approximately five million children have been born worldwide as a result of assisted reproductive technology (ART). These techniques are now practised independently in most of the world's nations. Although the vast majority of ART parents and children are healthy following the procedures involved, there is an imperative to maintain a high standard of practice and monitor outcomes carefully. Interpretation of outcome data is difficult for a variety of reasons. As ART technologies evolve and new variants are established, the need for robust assessment of outcomes increases. This book gives a thorough review of potential complications of ART, with detailed analysis of outcome data for the various conditions described. A worldwide perspective is given throughout, with an international team of chapter authors.

The must-have fertility plan that will soothe your mind, nourish your body and maximise your chances at having a baby. Leading fertility counsellor, Ann Bracken, draws together her years of expertise in the field with this supportive guide that will boost fertility by putting wellbeing at the heart of your journey. Ann breaks down the mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques that are scientifically-proven to combat the stress caused by fertility problems and offers clear, practical advice and tips on how to nurture your health and wellbeing - to optimise your fertility and inspire positivity during difficult times. Includes chapters on: * How to manage the psychological and emotional impacts of fertility problems * Mindfulness Practice * Information on Reproductive Treatment * Natural Health Therapies * Nutrition & Supplements to Boost Fertility, by Dr Marilyn Glenville * Restorative Yoga and Mindful Movement * Fertility Thinking through CBT * Self-Care * Taking care of your relationships * Useful Resources Featuring line illustrations to complement the text, journaling exercises throughout, and a foreword by pioneer of Mind-Body Medicine, Dr Alice Domar. 'A definite must-read regardless as to where you are on your journey' My Fertility Specialist Magazine 'A much-needed antidote to the all-too-often stressful and soul-searching path to parenthood. I will be recommending it to my fertility patients' Emma Cannon, integrated fertility expert, author of The Baby-Making Bible 'This book provides the perfect balance outlining the integrative mind and body approach and provides an essential complement to the medical aspects of the fertility journey' Dr James Nicopoullos, Consultant Gynaecologist?& subspecialist in Reproduce Medicine, The Lister Clinic, Lister Hospital, Chelsea, London 'In this book Ann Bracken has compiled what you need to know in an easily accessible, friendly and compassionate format' Dr Alice D Domar, Associate Professor in Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School and Executive Director of the Domar Center for Mind/Body Health

The fully revised and updated second edition of this practical handbook provides comprehensive coverage of all aspects of subfertility, including treatment and diagnosis. Each chapter is written by a recognized world expert in the field and, together, they aim to provide state of the art answers to all the problems of subfertility in a single volume. The introductory chapter provides a flow-chart approach to systematic diagnosis and treatment. Clearly written and easy to read, the subsequent chapters describe what questions to ask, how to investigate, and what each treatment requires. With an expanded international team of authors, this new edition also offers new chapters devoted to third party reproduction and in vitro maturation of oocytes. From medical students studying for examinations to consultant physicians, this volume is a 'must-have' reference for anyone dealing with couples who have fertility problems.

"Original, important, moving, witty and exquisitely-written. WHAT a feat." - BERNARDINE EVARISTO "Incredible... beautiful and funny and humane." - EMILIE PINE "Pristine poetry and prose." KATHERINE MAY, AUTHOR OF WINTERING "I've read a beautiful perfect book. If you are straight or gay, read it." PHILIPPA PERRY "Babies who are this small, he says, have a good chance of survival. Small is not good for babies. It is not whimsical or cute or the cause of admiration. It is the first time it occurs to us that they might not survive. Babies die from smallness." Claire Lynch knew that having children with her wife would be complicated but she could never have anticipated the extent to which her life would be redrawn by the process. This dazzling debut begins with the smallest of life's substances, the microscopic cells subdividing in a petri dish in a fertility treatment centre. She moves through her story in incremental yet ever growing steps, from the fingernail-sized pregnancy test result screen which bears two affirmative lines to the premature arrival of her children who have to wear scale-model oxygen masks in their life-saving incubators. Devastatingly poignant and profoundly observant - and funny against the odds - Claire considers whether it is our smallness that makes our lives so big.

"Selected by" Choice" magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title for 1996""[Marsh and Ronner make for] a highly successful combination in which faultless clinical detail and a broad social and cultural approach are seamlessly woven to produce a very impressive and beautifully written historical work of the first importance." -- Irvine Louden, "Journal of the Social History of Medicine"

In "The Empty Cradle," Margaret Marsh and Wanda Ronner delve into the origins of the many misconceptions surrounding infertility as they explore how medical and cultural beliefs emerged throughout its controversial history. Drawing on a wide variety of sources -- including intimate diaries and letters, patient records, memoirs, medical literature, and popular magazines -- "The Empty Cradle" investigates the social, cultural, scientific, and medical dimensions of infertility over the past three hundred years.

Marsh and Ronner explore reactions -- among both physicians and husbands -- to the emerging scientific evidence that infertility was a condition for which men and women bear equal responsibility. The book concludes that infertility is still a subject affected by myth and misunderstanding. A lively and compelling history of a complex medical and cultural phenomenon, "The Empty Cradle" brings a valuable perspective to current debates about how we should think about and address the experience of infertility in our own time.

"Marsh and Ronner have sought to go beyond the published medical literature to disclose the voices of those most affected by the physiological and cultural condition of infertility... they have restored to the historical record the anguish and the hopes of women whoexperienced infertility." -- Rima D. Apple, "American Historical Review"

"The book's lucid explanations of medical terms and procedures will allow me to recommend it to my infertility patients. I plan to do so, trusting that it will give them a new perspective on their predicament. Knowing that it provided me a new perspective on both infertility and the practice of gynecology, I will also assign it an honored place in my medical library." -- Janet E. Shepherd, M.D., "Journal of the American Medical Association"

" "The Empty Cradle" demonstrates the profound impact of politics as well as culture on the development of medical practice. It is an excellent model for future scholarship on the complex relationship between science and society." -- Elaine Tyler May, "Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences"

Surrogacy is India's new form of outsourcing, as couples from all over the world hire Indian women to bear their children for a fraction of the cost of surrogacy elsewhere with little to no government oversight or regulation. In the first detailed ethnography of India's surrogacy industry, Amrita Pande visits clinics and hostels and speaks with surrogates and their families, clients, doctors, brokers, and hostel matrons in order to shed light on this burgeoning business and the experiences of the laborers within it. From recruitment to training to delivery, Pande's research focuses on how reproduction meets production in surrogacy and how this reflects characteristics of India's larger labor system.

Pande's interviews prove surrogates are more than victims of disciplinary power, and she examines the strategies they deploy to retain control over their bodies and reproductive futures. While some women are coerced into the business by their families, others negotiate with clients and their clinics to gain access to technologies and networks otherwise closed to them. As surrogates, the women Pande meets get to know and make the most of advanced medical discoveries. They traverse borders and straddle relationships that test the boundaries of race, class, religion, and nationality. Those who focus on the inherent inequalities of India's surrogacy industry believe the practice should be either banned or strictly regulated. Pande instead advocates for a better understanding of this complex labor market, envisioning an international model of fair-trade surrogacy founded on openness and transparency in all business, medical, and emotional exchanges.

This book is an illustrated and comprehensive compilation by experts in the field of fertility enhancing endoscopic surgery and assisted reproduction. This book catalogues full spectrum of diagnostic and operative hysteroscopy in the infertile population. The authors describe different techniques in various clinical conditions and review the recent evidence based literature supporting them. All procedures are explained in clear and precise text supplemented with high quality color pictures.