It is now routine to offer men the opportunity to bank sperm prior to medical treatments where there is a high risk of testicular damage. Some men also elect to bank sperm prior to vasectomy or before embarking on a high-risk activity, such as joining the armed services. This book examines the processes involved in banking sperm from sample production and storage, the subsequent treatment of the patient and the maintenance of the samples in storage, to the process of follow-up and the ultimate fate of frozen samples. Sperm Banking: Theory and Practice will be of particular interest to andrologists and embryologists involved in the running and establishment of sperm-banking services. The book will also be useful to medical and nursing professionals and counsellors involved in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions where there is a risk of infertility as a consequence of the treatment, including oncologists, hematologists and urologists.

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 contemporary account of male fertility provides a much-needed bridge between those seeking to understand the subject from an evolutionary and biological perspective, and those with clinical responsibility for the investigation and treatment of male infertility. Accordingly, the first half of the book deals with evolutionary aspects of male reproduction and sperm competition, sperm production and delivery in man and other animals, spermatogenesis and epididymal function, sperm transport in the female tract, and the apparent decline in human sperm count. The second part of the book puts greater emphasis on clinical problems and opens with a discussion of ICSI, including its value and limitations. This is followed by a review of modern developments in the genetics of male infertility and proceeds to a further chapter on the role of surgical procedures in the treatment of male infertility. The contributors provide a critical review of semen analysis and a full description of the molecular techniques now being used in preimplantation diagnosis and in the study of mitochondrial inheritance. This volume, written by an international team of authors, illustrates the breadth of vision needed to tackle the problem of male infertility.

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.

Reproductive tract infections and other gynaecological disorders among women represent an enormous global health burden. This significant book will help focus research on this important though neglected area. The primary aims of the book are to provide an overview of reproductive tract infections and other gynaecological disorders, to highlight the conceptual and methodological challenges associated with undertaking research on this subject, and to serve as a reference for future research in this area. The book focuses on developing country settings, and recognizes that gathering this sort of information requires a multidisciplinary and culturally sensitive approach. Findings from the research described in this book will undoubtedly assist physicians, social scientists, epidemiologists and public health practitioners in evaluating the magnitude of this problem within the community at large and in identifying potentially effective medical and behavioural interventions to address this problem.

Infertility Counseling: A Comprehensive Handbook for Clinicians, 2nd edition, is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary textbook for all health professionals providing care for individuals facing reproductive health issues. It is the most thorough and extensive book currently available for clinicians in the field of infertility counseling, providing an exhaustive and comprehensive review of topics. It addresses both the medical and psychological aspects of infertility, reviewing assessment approaches, treatment strategies, counseling for medical conditions impacting fertility, third-party reproduction, alternative family building and post infertility counseling issues. Each chapter follows the same format: introduction, historical overview, literature review, theoretical framework, identification of clinical issues, suggestions for therapeutic interventions, and future implication. This edition also includes extensive appendixes of clinical tools useful to the clinician, including an Internet database of resources and an extensive glossary of terminology.

This unique source of reference provides the first comprehensive guide to the adverse side-effects of many commonly prescribed drugs on fertility and sexual health. More than 150 drugs are listed in this compilation, and the evidence linking them with infertility and sexual dysfunction is carefully reviewed. The volume is designed to provide a rapid source of reference to alert doctors and pharmacists to these hazardous side-effects. The volume also includes an introductory account of the reproductive process and a review of the mechanisms by which these drugs can interfere with or inhibit reproduction. Another important theme of the volume is the effect of social and recreational drugs and environmental agents on reproductive health.

This volume provides a comprehensive account of the evaluation and treatment of the infertile male. It is suitable for all physicians who encounter this common medical problem. Despite the prevalance of male infertility as a common underlying cause of infertility, its evaluation and treatment remains a difficult and misunderstood area for many doctors - a problem this volume aims to overcome. It includes chapters which review the full range of modern techniques now available for analysing semen and identifying the underlying cause of infertility, and then goes on to consider the various treatment options. The volume also discusses endocrine assessment and treatment, psychological aspects of male infertility, and includes a chapter on female infertility. This will be a valuable source of reference for general practitioners and physicians, urologists and gynaecologists.

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.

The fetus occupies a critical phase during human development. It is at this stage when the body systems that will support us throughout our lives begin to face up to the challenge of life outside the womb. While the fetus can demonstrate a remarkably robust response to challenges in the uterus, it is also an exquisitely sensitive phase of development. It is now well recognized that disturbances to the materno-fetal environment can influence and even undermine our state of health well into adulthood. This exciting new publication provides a valuable insight into fetal growth and development across all the main body systems, and examines the influence of the materno-fetal environment on adult-onset diseases. This text contains additional chapters on the embryo, placenta, and parturition, to insure that this is a fully self-contained introduction. This book is written by world-renowned experts from leading centers of excellence and will be an invaluable introduction for students of medicine, reproductive biology, and human biology.

As we enter the twenty-first century, a number of medical, environmental, and social changes have profoundly affected human reproduction. This book discusses some of the more dramatic changes in an accessible manner, illustrating the ways in which human biology and culture can affect fertility. It provides a unique interdisciplinary perspective on the subject. Topics of discussion include medical technological advances that equip us with potential cures for many causes of infertility; diseases, such as AIDS, that have a devastating impact on the reproductive and social lives of humans; increasing industrialization and the development of fabricated materials that pollute our environment in unforeseen ways with possibly devastating effects on human health and fertility; and social revolutions that profoundly alter human relationships, such as nonmarital unions between heterosexual couples, same-sex relationships, and adoption and surrogacy.

IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed. The process involves hormonally controlling the ovulatory process, removing ova (eggs) from the woman's ovaries and letting sperm fertilise them in a fluid medium. This book presents topical research in the study of in vitro fertilisation including management of chronic viral infections in assisted reproduction; posthumous sperm procurement; assisted reproductive technologies for serodiscordant couples with an HIV-1 infection and the impact of laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy for infertile women with endometriomas prior to IVF/ICSI cycles.

The reproductive system and all of its functions related to sex, conception, pregnancy and delivery, all actions aimed at keeping it functioning optimally and free from diseases and harmful traditional practices are explored in this book.

This volume, and its companion volume on the oocyte, provide an authoritative and wide-ranging account of the gametes, and their reproductive role and function in humans. Acknowledged authorities from around the world provide a detailed and timely account of the spermatozoon. The volume starts with an evolutionary perspective before focusing on the molecular and cellular biology of the sperm cell, and its structure and function. The development and maturation of sperm are described, as is their movement and transport in the male and female genital tract. Practical issues such as sperm storage and assisted contraception are fully covered. The causes of male infertility are also an important theme. The volume concludes with a thought-provoking chapter on ethical considerations. The volume will be an essential source of information for all clinicians and scientists with an interest in human reproduction.

Since 1975, the Oklahoma Notes have been among the most widely used reviews for medical students preparing for Step 1 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination. OKN: Anatomy takes a unified approach to the subject, covering Embryology, Neuroanatomy, Histology, and Gross Anatomy. Like other Oklahoma Notes, Anatomy contains self-assessment questions, geared to the current USMLE format; tables and figures to promote rapid self-assessment and review; a low price; and coverage of just the information needed to ensure Boards success.

This volume, and its companion volume on the spermatozoon, provide an authoritative and wide ranging account of the gametes and their reproductive role and function in humans. Acknowledged authorities from around the world contribute a detailed and timely account of the oocyte. The volume starts with an evolutionary perspective before focusing on the molecular and cellular biology of the oocyte and its structure and function. The development and maturation of the oocyte is fully dealt with to include the endocrine and paracrine regulation of ovarian function. Practical issues such as oocyte storage and ovarian stimulation are also fully covered. The causes of female infertility are also an important theme. The volume concludes with a thought provoking chapter on ethical considerations. The volume will be an essential source of information for all clinicians and scientists with an interest in human reproduction.

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.

This concise 1993 volume proposes a standardized approach to the investigation of infertility. The volume provides clear guidelines and a logical sequence of steps which will quickly lead the clinician or physician to an accurate diagnosis of the underlying cause of infertility. This standardized approach to the management of infertility will lead to more efficient, systematic and economic care for the infertile couple. The diagnostic charts, which may be photocopied, provide an unambiguous route to diagnosis of the underlying cause of infertility, whilst the text fully explains and describes the essential clinical tests. The volume summarizes the results gained from the study of more than 10,000 infertile couples, who were investigated as part of the WHO's programme to counter the widespread personal distress caused by infertility. It is hoped that the standardized approach presented here will go some way towards countering this major problem.

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.

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 presents important and recent research on testosterone which is a steroid hormone from the androgen group. Testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females although small amounts are secreted by the adrenal glands. It is the principal male sex hormone and an anabolic steroid. In both males and females, it plays key roles in health and well-being. Examples include enhanced libido, energy, immune function, and protection against osteoporosis. On average, the adult male body produces about twenty times the amount of testosterone that an adult female's body does.

Brown Bodies, White Babies focuses on the practice of cross-racial gestational surrogacy, in which a woman - through in-vitro fertilization using the sperm and egg of intended parents or donors - carries a pregnancy for intended parents of a different race. Focusing on the racial differences between parents and surrogates, this book is interested in how reproductive technologies intersect with race, particularly when brown bodies produce white babies. While the potential of reproductive technologies is far from pre-determined, the ways in which these technologies are currently deployed often serve the interests of dominant groups, through the creation of white, middle-class, heteronormative families. Laura Harrison, providing an important understanding of the work of women of color as surrogates, connects this labor to the history of racialized reproduction in the United States. Cross-racial surrogacy is one end of a continuum in which dominant groups rely on the reproductive potential of nonwhite women, whose own reproductive desires have been historically thwarted and even demonized. Brown Bodies, White Babies provides am interdisciplinary analysis that includes legal cases of contested surrogacy, historical examples of surrogacy as a form of racialized reproductive labor, the role of genetics in the assisted reproduction industry, and the recent turn toward reproductive tourism. Joining the ongoing feminist debates surrounding reproduction, motherhood, race, and the body, Brown Bodies, White Babies ultimately critiques the new potentials for parenthood that put the very contours of kinship into question.

Has the college experience of women been an influence on the number of children desired and the number and spacing of their children? Do women come to college with their attitudes and values in this regard already formed? This study of 15,000 women, freshmen and seniors in 45 American colleges and universities, both secular and nonsecular, attempts to answer this question and to determine how such characteristics as religious preference, career intentions, and the number of children in her own family influence a woman's fertility values. Attention is paid to an earlier finding that Catholic college graduates have higher fertility than Catholic high school graduates, although higher education is usually associated with lower fertility. Originally published in 1967. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

A critical analysis of white, working class North Americans' motivations and experiences when traveling to Central Europe for donor egg IVF Each year, more and more Americans travel out of the country seeking low cost medical treatments abroad, including fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF). As the lower middle classes of the United States have been priced out of an expensive privatized "baby business," the Czech Republic has emerged as a central hub of fertility tourism, offering a plentitude of blonde-haired, blue-eyed egg donors at a fraction of the price. Fertility Holidays presents a critical analysis of white, working class North Americans' motivations and experiences when traveling to Central Europe for donor egg IVF. Within this diaspora, patients become consumers, urged on by the representation of a white Europe and an empathetic health care system, which seems nonexistent at home. As the volume traces these American fertility journeys halfway around the world, it uncovers layers of contradiction embedded in global reproductive medicine. Speier reveals the extent to which reproductive travel heightens the hope ingrained in reproductive technologies, especially when the procedures are framed as "holidays." The pitch of combining a vacation with their treatment promises couples a stress-free IVF cycle; yet, in truth, they may become tangled in fraught situations as they endure an emotionally wrought cycle of IVF in a strange place. Offering an intimate, first-hand account of North Americans' journeys to the Czech Republic for IVF, Fertility Holidays exposes reproductive travel as a form of consumption which is motivated by complex layers of desire for white babies, a European vacation, better health care, and technological success.

"Introducing the only clinically proven program--steeped in ancient Chinese healing traditions--that has enabled hundreds of infertile couples to conceive.
"At Wu's Healing Center in San Francisco, miracles are happening. Women and their partners come to the clinic--often from across the country-- to fulfill a passionately held yet fragile dream: to conceive and deliver the healthy baby that mainstream doctors have told them they cannot have. Using traditional Chinese medical techniques, sometimes integrated with Western fertility treatments, Dr. Angela Wu is helping these couples experience the miracle of birth.
In this book,"" Dr. Wu details a proven 6-part self-care regimen that helps create the internal harmony and balance vital to conception. Her techniques not only enhance the results and reduce the side effects of in vitro and other Western fertility treatments, they also shorten labor and speed postpartum recovery. Babies benefit too, adopting regular sleep patterns more quickly and getting sick less frequently.
At a time when one in five U.S. couples is struggling with fertility problems, this practical and uplifting volume, filled with the inspirational stories of Dr. Wu's grateful patients, will be a godsend.