'This book is totally brilliant - informative, sensitive, funny and wise. Reading it is like talking to a fairy godmother who also happens to be a gynaecologist and expert on all things fertility' Sophia Money-Coutts Big Fat Negative (BFN) - a term commonly used on internet forums to refer to a negative pregnancy test. Infertility can be a lonely journey. One in every six couples will struggle to conceive but, despite this, many don't feel comfortable talking openly about their experiences and sharing what they are going through. As a result, they feel isolated and alone. It doesn't have to be this way. By talking, laughing and shouting about our experiences we can start to lift the cloak of shame that so often engulfs those going through it. Big Fat Negative does just that. This no-nonsense, honest guide to infertility from the hosts of the Big Fat Negative podcast smashes the taboo around this isolating and heartbreaking illness, offering first-hand experience, an understanding voice when friends don't get it, expert advice, reassurance for when you feel alone and - most importantly - humour when it you need it the most. Using first-hand accounts of the various hurdles of infertility, from work to diagnoses and IVF, coupled with advice from leading experts, Big Fat Negative will hold your hand on the not-so simple journey to motherhood - helping you to face and defeat the trials of trying for a baby.

The treatment of cancer in young women and men is increasingly turning from focusing purely on survival to a recognition of the long-term effects of treatment on subsequent quality of life. In this regard, fertility is a very high priority for patients. This is the first book to explain the latest techniques in fertility preservation. Chapters cover fertility preservation in both women and men, management of cancer in pregnancy, egg donation and surrogacy, hormone replacement options, counselling and ethical issues. A multidisciplinary team of over 60 specialists were involved in this work, with contributions from leading obstetricians, medical oncologists, gynaecological oncologists, urologists and fertility specialists. The book is formally supported by the Association of Cancer Physicians (ACP). This highly patient-centred, readable text will be of value to a wide range of clinicians and physicians, and doctors in training, in their daily work.

Practical Management of Ovulation Induction is a concise resource for postgraduate students, infertility specialists and gynaecologists. Divided into seventeen chapters, the book begins with the physiology and regulatory factors of ovulation, and proceeds to cover topics such as ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, premature ovarian failure, and a variety of ovulation induction therapies including new drugs. The book concludes with chapters on the surgical management of anovulation, oocyte donation, ovarian transplant and surrogacy. This book features new clinical applications for old medications, and discussion on various treatment combinations, as well as new drugs such as Anastrozole. Discussion on complications of ovulation induction and strategies to avoid them, are also included. Illustrated throughout, Practical Management of Ovulation Induction is an invaluable tool to assist practitioners in the selection of appropriate ovulation induction treatment. Key Points Concise guide to the selection and administration of ovulation induction therapies Includes new therapies, drugs and treatment combinations 41 images and illustrations

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.

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.

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.

The Fallopian tube has until recently been a neglected structure, bypassed by IVF and seen only as a tube that transports the egg to the uterus. More recently, its central role as the site of fertilization and early embryogenesis has been recognized, along with the major effects of tubal disease, such as chlamydia trachomatis, on fertility. Tubal surgery is an option for those women who avoid IVF because of anxiety about medication side-effects or for religious reasons. The tube is also the site for female sterilization and its reversal. This definitive guide to the Fallopian tube and its disorders collates all these topics, with authoritative text covering the spectrum of clinically relevant topics in a digestible fashion. It will be of interest to gynecologists, specialists in reproductive medicine and infertility and family planning, and others with interest in this fascinating and underestimated organ of reproduction.

If you need help having a baby, reproductive technology can supply the answer. But it also raises a host of questions that won't arise until after the child is born: What will you say to "Where did I come from?" when the answer includes a donor or surrogate? Will knowing the truth about how you conceived make your child love you less? Will having a baby with someone else strain your relationship with your spouse or partner? What will grandparents, family members, friends, and coworkers think? Dr. Diane Ehrensaft--a developmental and clinical psychologist who's worked with families formed using assisted reproductive technology for more than 20 years--helps you anticipate the big questions and find solutions that are right for you and your loved ones. Dr. Ehrensaft offers information, support, and straightforward advice for coping with private worries, confronting public prejudices, and raising happy, healthy children. Single or married, straight or gay, anyone looking forward to the joys and challenges of building a family with the help of a donor or surrogate will discover a wealth of thought-provoking ideas and fresh insights in this sensitive, practical, and positive book.

Are girls entering puberty earlier than they used to? This question, which has been debated recently by doctors and scientists in the pages of "Time" magazine and the "New York Times," proves that there is still a great deal to learn about women's reproductive health. "Female Fertility and the Body-Fat Connection" is the record of one scientist's groundbreaking and decades-long work on the connections among fertility, body fat, and reproductive health in women.
Rose E. Frisch explains here how, in women, a certain amount of body fat is crucial to the reproductive system and sexual maturation. Women who are too lean are infertile and cannot conceive children; young girls who are too thin have a delayed onset of their first period. "Female Fertility and the Body-Fat Connection" illuminates how and why a "critical fitness" level underlies a woman's reproductive health. In the process Frisch gives readers a comprehensive view of the research done to date on the relationship between body composition and fertility and also describes her own journey as a woman scientist working to advance her critical-fitness hypothesis both to the general public and the scientific community. Frisch answers the questions every woman has about the desirable weight for health and fertility and even includes tables to help women find their own best weight. She also demonstrates how important diet and exercise are for the long-term reproductive health of women, and shows what factors influence the onset of puberty in girls.
Each milestone of the reproductive life span is affected by food intake and energy output, the factors affecting the storage of fat. "Female Fertility and the Body-Fat Connection" is acornerstone to understanding the health of girls and women.

Drawing on the experiences of parents, offspring and donors, including her own and her family's story, this is an exploration of the process of donor conception, from the consumer advocate for the Donor Conception Support Group of Australia.;Caroline Lorbach takes the reader step by step through the process of deciding to use donor conception, choosing a donor, and discussing the decision with others. She also considers the perspective of the donor alongside those of parents and offspring.

A complete and up-to-date guide for those men (and their partners) concerned about preventing and overcoming impotence. Does increasing age inevitably lead to a sexual decline in men? What are the links between heart attack, stroke, and impotence? Can vasectomy cause sexual dysfunction? Richard Milsten and Julian Slowinksi answer these and numerous other questions in this clear and comprehensive guide to maintaining lifelong sexual health. The authors bring together the two critical areas of expertise--medical and psychological--to explain healthy male sexual function and the problem of sexual dysfunction. With an emphasis on prevention, they discuss the medical and psychological causes of impotence and all available treatment options. Topics include what questions to ask a doctor, what to expect from treatment or therapy, information for women about their partners' health, and a self-evaluation questionnaire. "The Sexual Male" provides important knowledge for men and women of any age.

A groundbreaking new book on American policy and human fertility control which reviews and analyzes policies and practices over the last thirty years in each of the fifty states. Arguing that morality politics has helped make fertility policies contentious and complex, McFarlane and Meier conclude that current policies are inadequate for addressing unintended pregnancies and even contribute to high abortion rates. The authors offer alternative public policy designed to be more effective in the future.

Every Conceivable Way recounts one couple's nine-year quest to become parents, while giving an inside peek into the IVF and surrogacy industries, the fertility merry-go-round, and what it's like to live for years with uncertainty. After relocating to Australia from New York, Despina Meris and her husband, Bill, settle down to baby-making. What they never expect is a string of heartbreaking unexplained miscarriages, even with the help of IVF. They turn to surrogacy - first in India, then in the Ukraine and finally in Thailand, where their baby is conceived. But more drama unfolds when, overnight, they are caught up in the Thai government crackdown on commercial surrogacy, leaving them with no way of contacting their pregnant surrogate. Every Conceivable Way, a real-life story that is stranger than fiction, asks how far you would go before you call it quits, when it seems like all the odds are stacked against you.

This practical book provides need-to-know information vital for acupuncturists to treat patients with fertility problems. Nick Dalton-Brewer details the causes of fertility issues, including the impact of lifestyle and diet, and explains the scientific basis for the different methods of treatment. Integrating Assisted Reproduction Techniques (ART) with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) therapies and acupuncture, he presents his own cutting-edge research on the successful use of these therapies to improve fertility and pregnancy rates and describes a method for integrated diagnosis and treatment. This book will give TCM practitioners direct access to the vital specialist knowledge and technical information needed to treat the increasing numbers of patients with fertility problems effectively. It will also be of interest to doctors of Western medicine concerned about the efficacy of recommending acupuncture treatments as adjuncts to ART.

Girl meets girl. Girl marries girl. They want to have babies - but they need a little help. Double Pregnant is author Natalie Meisner's light-hearted, poignant and informative true story of two lesbians who want to have children. For a variety of reasons, one being that Natalie's wife is a woman of colour who was adopted into a white family, the couple decides not to take the anonymous sperm clinic route. Natalie and Vivien want their children to have some connection to their donor if possible. Taking matters into their own hands leads the couple to a series of often-hilarious "dates" with potential donors, all of whom have wildly different opinions on how the donation process should go and also of what this new, twenty-first-century version of a family will look like.

Around three quarters of people who turn to adoption do so because of infertility and those working in this field need information, guidance and support to assist them in the process of adoption to support the adopters and to deal with any issues that may result from infertility. Adopting after Infertility is an accessible and informative interdisciplinary book that addresses the issues that professionals working with adopters and the adopters themselves face when going through the adoption process and the impact of infertility on their experiences. The book includes chapters on the effects of infertility, why people may choose adoption and the assessment and preparation process. It also covers what an Adoption Panel needs to know about the prospective parents, the experiences of those coming to adoption from minority communities or when living with health conditions and post-adoption support needs. Personal accounts by people who have experienced adopting after infertility are included throughout the book. This book will be essential reading for professionals and academics from a range of disciplines including social work, psychology, health, mental health and counselling. It will also be invaluable to students studying for post-qualifying awards.

Gain a solid understanding of how to treat infertility with Chinese medicine Written by experts in Chinese medicine, this textbook provides a comprehensive overview of Chinese medicine therapies for fertility disorders. It opens by reviewing the basics of current Western reproductive medicine in terms of diagnosis, treatment options, and possible risks. The book then introduces the reader to traditional Chinese fertility treatments, providing information about how they complement Western reproductive medicine. The authors describe in detail the different treatment methods, ranging from qi gong and tui na to moxibustion and acupuncture to Chinese dietetics and medicinal therapy. The main section of the book provides in-depth discussion of specific fertility disorders and their management, including menstrual disorders, early menopause, sexual disorders, male infertility, endometriosis, and polycystic ovary syndrome. It closes with a section on patient support, addressing issues such as the mind-body relationship and the impact of stress. Key features: Case studies with real-life examples of specific treatment approaches Information on both Chinese and Western therapies. Perspectives from numerous Chinese medicine specialists. Extensive quotations from classical texts in translation. Historical, cultural, and social perspectives on the issue of fertility in Chinese culture, modern and ancient Chinese Medicine in Fertility Disorders is an invaluable resource for practitioners in complementary medicine, including acupuncturists and Chinese herbalists who wish to include fertility treatment in their practice, and a useful reference for all physicians who seek to expand their perspective on managing fertility issues.

If you need help having a baby, reproductive technology can supply the answer. But it also raises a host of questions that won't arise until after the child is born: What will you say to "Where did I come from?" when the answer includes a donor or surrogate? Will knowing the truth about how you conceived make your child love you less? Will having a baby with someone else strain your relationship with your spouse or partner? What will grandparents, family members, friends, and coworkers think? Dr. Diane Ehrensaft--a developmental and clinical psychologist who's worked with families formed using assisted reproductive technology for more than 20 years--helps you anticipate the big questions and find solutions that are right for you and your loved ones. Dr. Ehrensaft offers information, support, and straightforward advice for coping with private worries, confronting public prejudices, and raising happy, healthy children. Single or married, straight or gay, anyone looking forward to the joys and challenges of building a family with the help of a donor or surrogate will discover a wealth of thought-provoking ideas and fresh insights in this sensitive, practical, and positive book.