Reproductive technologies to assist in both human conception and animal breeding are increasingly in demand. These technologies, along with the advent of tissue engineering, have propelled the challenges of tissue collection, preservation, and banking to the research forefront. Using examples drawn from reproductive technologies, Reproductive Tissue Banking presents the scientific principles underlying tissue banking. These examples serve as models for the technology of banking other living tissues, including blood, bone marrow, cornea, and skin. In discussing research emerging from their laboratories and those of others, the authors meld fundamentals of biology, chemistry, and physics with the latest discoveries in the field to give the reader profound insight into research directions and ethical considerations crucial to the advancement of tissue banking.
With its emphasis on human applications and concerns, this book provides a valuable supplement to short courses on tissue preservation and tissue engineering. Researchers in reproductive medicine, animal and veterinary science, and cryobiology will find this book, with its extensive bibliography, a very handy reference.
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* Written by leading international researchers
* Provides insightful discussions on reproductive tissue banking
* Presents comprehensive citations to relevant literature, both current and historic
* Discusses in vitro preservation of spermatozoa, oocytes, embryos, and gonadal tissues of mammals
* Contains coverage of ethical considerations from a discussion of the splitting of embryos to an exploration of the protection of biodiversity

Take control of your hormones and feel happier and healthier, with this practical guide to re-balancing your body and getting your life back on track ____________ Hormones play a crucial role in our health and well-being, yet few of us understand the toll they take on our bodies when we don't achieve a balance. Whether you're riding the roller coasters of puberty, pregnancy or the menopause, we're all a slave to our hormones at some point in our lives, and they can leave you feeling tired, low and irritable. In It Must Be My Hormones, leading specialists in women's health Dr Marion Gluck and nutritionist Vicki Edgson, show you the role that each of our major hormones plays, how a deficiency can affect our well-being, and what we can do to restore the balance. In this book you'll discover: * How to keep the weight off with thyroid boosting mega-foods * Vitamins which work wonders for your skin * How herbs and spices can give you a caffeine-free energy kick * Which aromatherapy herbs are actually beneficial * Ways to improve cognitive function through mineral supplements From boosting fertility to easing symptoms of PMS, this practical, easy-to-implement guidance will restore mental and physical well-being. Filled with inspiring personal stories, nutritional suggestions and advice on bio-identical hormone therapy, this book will help you regain control of your hormones and your life.

This book provides up-to-date research on the prevalence, risk factors and outcomes of recurrent pregnancy loss. Chapter One discusses immunopathogenetic aspects of recurrent miscarriages with infectious genesis. Chapter Two examines abnormal endometrial decidualisation in endocrine disorders associated with early recurrent pregnancy loss. Chapter Three focuses on the significance of the determination of antibodies to different phospholipids and some genetic factors for thrombophilia in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Chapter Four explains immunorehabilitation in miscarriages of pregnancies.

There is an increasing demand for gestational surrogacy in current reproductive medicine practice. Infertile couples often engage overseas surrogates, which increases the risk for legal and ethical complications. This book provides clinical guidance on the provision of gestational surrogacy on a worldwide basis, with brief summaries of the legal position within countries where it is offered. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of surrogacy for clinicians, counsellors, attorneys, legislators and anyone interested in reproductive health policy by filling an immediate niche as a resource for those interested in third-party reproductive treatments.

Intrauterine insemination (IUI), also known as artificial insemination, is a fertility treatment that uses a catheter to place washed sperm directly into the uterus. Its aim is to increase the number of sperm reaching the fallopian tubes and subsequently increase the chances of fertilisation (American Pregnancy Association). This book is the first in a new series, Handbook on Infertility. Beginning with an overview of Intrauterine Insemination, the following chapters guide readers step by step through the process, from basic science to clinical application. Ethical, psychosocial and medicolegal aspects are also covered. Written by an internationally recognised author and editor team, this useful manual serves as a quick reference guide and includes photographs, illustrations and tables to enhance learning. Key points First title in new series Handbook on Infertility Presents complete overview of intrauterine insemination Includes chapters on ethical, psychosocial and medicolegal aspects Internationally recognised author and editor team

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.

Fertility is the natural capability of giving life. As a measure, the "Fertility Rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. This is different to fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction (influenced by gamete production, fertilisation and carrying a pregnancy to term). Human fertility depends on factors of nutrition, sexual behaviour, culture, instinct, endocrinology, timing, economics, way of life, and emotions. Animal fertility has no fewer complexities, and may display many interesting mechanisms. This book presents the latest research from around the world in this field.

From its crude and uneasy beginnings thirty years ago, Chinese sperm banking has become a routine part of China's pervasive and restrictive reproductive complex. Today, there are sperm banks in each of China's twenty-two provinces, the biggest of which screen some three thousand to four thousand potential donors each year. Given the estimated one to two million azoospermic men--those who are unable to produce their own sperm--the demand remains insatiable. China's twenty-two sperm banks cannot keep up, spurring sperm bank directors to publicly lament chronic shortages and even warn of a national 'sperm crisis' (jingzi weiji). Good Quality explores the issues behind the crisis, including declining sperm quality in the country due to environmental pollution, as well as a chronic national shortage of donors. In doing so, Wahlberg outlines the specific style of Chinese sperm banking that has emerged, shaped by the particular cultural, juridical, economic and social configurations that make up China's restrictive reproductive complex. Good Quality shows how this high-throughput style shapes the ways in which men experience donation and how sperm is made available to couples who can afford it.

Overcome your symptoms and live a better life. All the information you need to help you manage endometriosis. One in ten women suffers with endometriosis. So why is there no definitive cure and why does it take an average of 8 years to diagnose? Endometriosis experts Professor Andrew Horne and Carol Pearson explain what Endometriosis is and provide vital information for women who suffer from the disease. Find out: - How to get a diagnosis - What treatment options and care are available to you - How to overcome your symptoms and live a better life - The lifestyle changes you can make that could improve your condition With the voices of countless women at different stages of their journey and advice from a range of specialist healthcare practitioners, Endometriosis provides the information and support to empower anyone with the condition and those close to them.

A memoir of hope for the thousands of women struggling with infertility, from one who beat the odds by simply tuning in to her body and tapping her well of sheer determination.

At a time when more and more women are trying to get pregnant at increasingly advanced ages, fertility specialists and homeopathic researchers boast endless treatment options. But when Julia Indichova made the rounds of medical doctors and nontraditional healers, she was still unable to conceive a child. It was only when she forsook their financially and emotionally draining advice, turning inward instead, that she finally met with reproductive success. Inconceivable recounts this journey from hopeless diagnoses to elated motherhood.

Anyone who has faced infertility will relate to Julia’s desperate measures: acupuncture, unidentifiable black-and-white pellets, herb soup, foul-smelling fruit, even making love on red sheets. Five reproductive endocrinologists told her that there was no documented case of anyone in her hormonal condition getting pregnant, forcing her to finally embark on her own intuitive regimen. After eight caffeine-free, nutrient-rich, yoga-laden months, complemented by visualization exercises, Julia received amazing news; incredibly, she was pregnant. Nine months later she gave birth to a healthy girl.

Unlike the many infertility books that take a clinical “how to” approach, Inconceivable simply professes the wisdom of giving expert status back to the patient. Julia’s self-discovery, and her ability to see her body as an ally once again, yield a beautiful message about the importance of honoring the body’s innate powers, and the power of life itself.

"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 "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.

Obtaining good quality sperm for in-vitro fertilization, ICSI, or for cryopreservation can be a major problem if a man suffers from medical conditions that preclude normal collection. Major advances in sperm retrieval and preparation techniques have been witnessed in recent years, allowing a better understanding of the contribution of the sperm to a couple's fertility. This Manual is a complete guide to sperm retrieval methods performed for men with azoospermia. Covering all the basic and advanced steps for implementation of these procedures, the Manual includes descriptions of the underlying science along with detailed, practical advice on methods, including tips for optimizing outcomes and trouble-shooting, using an evidence-based approach. This will be an invaluable resource for andrologists, urologists, embryologists, male fertility specialists, gynecologists, and other healthcare workers practising reproductive medicine. It is particularly valuable for reproductive laboratory personnel wishing to refine or develop technique and improve outcomes, and for IVF Quality Managers.

Based on the gold standard procedures and protocols developed at Boston IVF, this new edition of a bestselling text continues to provide a structured approach to treating the infertile couple that can be of benefit to the gynecologist, reproductive endocrinologist, and reproductive medicine nurse alike. Both clinical and laboratory techniques are included, with material on preconception care. New to this edition are chapters on fertility care for the LGBT community, endometriosis, elective egg freezing, and effective nursing.

Forms of embodied labor, such as surrogacy and participation in clinical trials, are central to biomedical innovation, but they are rarely considered as labor. Melinda Cooper and Catherine Waldby take on that project, analyzing what they call "clinical labor," and asking what such an analysis might indicate about the organization of the bioeconomy and the broader organization of labor and value today. At the same time, they reflect on the challenges that clinical labor might pose to some of the founding assumptions of classical, Marxist, and post-Fordist theories of labor.
Cooper and Waldby examine the rapidly expanding transnational labor markets surrounding assisted reproduction and experimental drug trials. As they discuss, the pharmaceutical industry demands ever greater numbers of trial subjects to meet its innovation imperatives. The assisted reproductive market grows as more and more households look to third-party providers for fertility services and sectors of the biomedical industry seek reproductive tissues rich in stem cells. Cooper and Waldby trace the historical conditions, political economy, and contemporary trajectory of clinical labor. Ultimately, they reveal clinical labor to be emblematic of labor in twenty-first-century neoliberal economies.

Thirty-five years after its initial success as a form of technologically assisted human reproduction, and five million miracle babies later, in vitro fertilization (IVF) has become a routine procedure worldwide. In "Biological Relatives," Sarah Franklin explores how the normalization of IVF has changed how both technology and biology are understood. Drawing on anthropology, feminist theory, and science studies, Franklin charts the evolution of IVF from an experimental research technique into a global technological platform used for a wide variety of applications, including genetic diagnosis, livestock breeding, cloning, and stem cell research. She contends that despite its ubiquity, IVF remains a highly paradoxical technology that confirms the relative and contingent nature of biology while creating new biological relatives. Using IVF as a lens, Franklin presents a bold and lucid thesis linking technologies of gender and sex to reproductive biomedicine, contemporary bioinnovation, and the future of kinship.

Unlike most infertility books that focus on medical treatment, Healing the Infertile Family examines the social and emotional problems experienced by couples confronting infertility and suggests how they can be alleviated. In this updated edition, Gay Becker discusses her most recent study of couples experiencing infertility and offers guidelines for resolution of this common problem that will enable couples to face the future with hope. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1990.

Unlike most infertility books that focus on medical treatment, Healing the Infertile Family examines the social and emotional problems experienced by couples confronting infertility and suggests how they can be alleviated. In this updated edition, Gay Becker discusses her most recent study of couples experiencing infertility and offers guidelines for resolution of this common problem that will enable couples to face the future with hope. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1990.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, now with an extra chapter. 'All I ever wanted was to be a mum - I couldn't wait and it felt as though my time was so close. But the months started to tick by, with each one ending in disappointment and frustration. And then the inevitable panic started to set in ...' Having been told by doctors that, due to Izzy's polycystic ovarian syndrome, they would have difficulty conceiving - and after two years of trying - Izzy and her husband, Harry, turned to IVF. Izzy's aim is to break through some of the taboos surrounding miscarriage, IVF and fertility issues. This brutally honest and deeply personal account acknowledges the struggles that many couples go through but will ultimately focus on the positive, life-changing results that IVF can yield. Izzy hopes that this book will be a companion to those going through similar challenges to those she has experienced. As she herself says, 'No couple should have to go through it alone and in silence.'

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.

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) now accounts for 13% of all live births in the western world. Several procedures that may be used in the ART process are hormonal stimulation, egg retrieval, in vitro fertilisation (IVF), intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection, micro-manipulation of gametes; and exposure to culture medium. Although these techniques are considered safe, in recent years evidence has been accumulating that ART may be associated with an increased risk of birth defects, low birth weight, and genetic imprinting disorders. This book provides current research in reproductive technology with a focus on Down's Syndrome screening in assisted conception pregnancies; sexed semen technology in buffalo breeding and reproductive technologies; a nation-wide study of assisted reproductive technology and multiple births and accompanied birth defects; and assisted reproductive technologies and the risk for autism spectrum disorder.

Infertility is a major increasing concern. As the male factor contributes to about half of the infertility cases, sperm analysis is extremely important for diagnosis and investigation of infertility. In this book, the cytometric techniques used to evaluate sperm DNA/chromatin integrity together with some other functional properties of the male gamete are described and advantages and limitations are discussed. In addition, the authors provide an overview of how antioxidative and redox systems participate in spermatogenesis and in pathological conditions, such as heat stress, in the testes. Oxidative stress-induced damage to both oocytes in vivo and embryos in culture are also examined, as well as the role of ROS signalling in embryo development. Furthermore, endometriosis is an oestrogen-dependent disease which affects 6% to 30% of women in reproductive age and is associated with infertility in approximately 60% of cases. In this book, classic and recently proposed etiopathogenic mechanisms or endometriosis-related infertility are discussed, as well as some aspects of its clinical investigation and medical treatment. Other chapters in this book assess the capability of combining of Anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) and embryo quality as predictors of pregnancy outcome and an examination of how the use of animal models can help us to understand the female reproductive system and the aetiology of some female infertile disorders.