In this fascinating book, Jacques Balthazart presents a simple description of the biological mechanisms that are involved in the determination of sexual orientation in animals and also presumably in humans. Using scientific studies published over the last few decades, he argues that sexual orientation, both homosexual and heterosexual, is under the control of embryonic endocrine and genetic phenomena in which there is little room for individual choice. The author begins with animal studies of the hormonal and neural mechanisms that control the so-called instinctive behaviors and analyzes how this animal work may potentially apply to humans. The book does not focus exclusively on homosexuality, however. Instead, the book acts as a broader guide to the biological basis of sexual orientation, and also discusses important gender differences that may influence sexual orientation. While firmly grounded in the scientific literature, this text is developed for a broader audience and will be of interest to psychologists, researchers, students, and anyone interested in the biological factors that determine our sexuality.

This book provides the first clinically comprehensive and practical approach to ethical challenges in perinatal medicine.The first chapter introduces and explains the professional responsibility model of perinatal ethics.The professional responsibility model is based on the medical ethics of two major physician-ethics in the history of Western medical ethics, Dr. John Gregory (1724-1773) of Scotland and Dr. Thomas Percival (1740-1804) of England.The professional responsibility model is used to articulate the ethical concept of the fetus as a patient and to operationalize the ethical principles of beneficence and respect for autonomy.The book provides practical guidance for clinical judgment and decision making with patients about the responsible clinical management of the wide range of issues encountered by perinatologists in clinical practice and research.Topics included: periviability; feticide; intrapartum management; maternal-fetal conflict; innovation for fetal benefit; research for fetal benefit; non-aggressive obstetric management; managing the transition from pregnancy to birth; destructive procedures such as cephalocentesis; critical care for the pregnant patient; home birth; patient-choice cesarean delivery; neonatal care as a trial of management; and setting limits on neonatal care on the basis of clinical judgments of futility.

What does it mean to have a child born through donor conception? Does it mean different things for heterosexual parents and lesbian parents? What is it like for the 'non-genetic' parent? How do grandparents feel about having a grandchild who is conceived with the help of an egg, sperm or embryo donor? Since 1991 more than 35,000 children have been born in the UK as a result of donor conception. This means that more and more families are facing the issue of incorporating 'relative strangers' into their families.
In this path breaking book, the authors explore the lived reality of donor conception in families by using in-depth interviews with parents and grandparents of donor conceived children. With reproductive medical technologies becoming more accessible, assisted donor conception is raising new and important questions about family life. This book will provide compelling reading for all those interested in the family, kinship, gender and sexuality, new reproductive technologies, and genetics.

Prostate biopsy is now one of the most common procedures performed by urologists. This book presents all topics related to the diagnosis of prostate cancer, including risk factor assessment, indications for biopsy, techniques, complications, and emerging technologies in the science. It also covers such important topics in prostate biopsy as PSA, pain prevention, prediction models, and biopsy techniques. The book's contributors include those who have defined the science of prostate cancer diagnosis and continue to improve upon it. These internationally acclaimed specialists provide their expert opinions on all topics related to prostate cancer diagnosis.

Assisted reproductive technologies have had a profound impact on biomedical research through transgenic animals, food supply and production, as wells as genetic gain of domestic species, and treatment of human infertility. While significant advances in embryo culture have occurred over the last few decades. In Embryo Culture: Methods and Protocols, expert researchers in the field detail many of the methods which are now commonly used to study human embryo culture. These include emerging methods and the impact of embryo culture on epigenetics and offspring health is presented to set the stage for future research and laboratory application involving embryo culture. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and key tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Embryo Culture: Methods and Protocols seeks to aid scientists in the further study of this crucially important field of embryology and assisted reproductive technologies.

The central question of this book is whether or not particular cell entities of human origin ought to be considered human beings. The answer is crucial for making moral decisions for or against research and experimentation. Experts in the field discuss the production of embryonic-like pluripotent stem cells by altered nuclear transfer, parthenogenesis and reprogramming of adult somatic cells. They thoroughly analyse the biological and moral status of different cell entities, such as human stem cells, embryos and human-animal hybrid embryos, and make a decisive step towards establishing final criteria for what constitutes a human being. The topic is challenging in nature and of broad interest to all those concerned with current bioethical thought on embryonic human life and its implications for society.

aCahn explores the relationships that underpin artificial reproductive technology: parenting, donating, and becoming (those who are the children brought to life through this process). . . . Much about assisted reproduction are the relationships that are fostered and challenged by the use of the technology, whether donor to potential parent, potential parent to state, surrogate to intended mother, or embryo to clinic, and after it is all adone, a child to parent.a
--Michele Goodwin, author of "Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts"

The birth of the first test tube baby in 1978 focused attention on the sweeping advances in assisted reproductive technology (ART), which is now a multi-billion-dollar business in the United States. Sperm and eggs are bought and sold in a market that has few barriersto its skyrocketing growth. While ART has been an invaluable gift to thousands of people, creating new families, the use of someone elseas genetic material raises complex legal and public policy issues that touch on technological anxiety, eugenics, reproductive autonomy, identity, and family structure. How should the use of gametic material be regulated? Should recipients be able to choose the abesta sperm and eggs? Should a child ever be able to discover the identity of her gamete donor? Who can claim parental rights?

Naomi R. Cahn explores these issues and many more in Test Tube Families, noting that although such questions are fundamental to the new reproductive technologies, there are few definitive answers provided by the law, ethics, or cultural norms. The regulatory void outside of minimal requirements for gametic testing and limited protection against deceptivemarketing techniques used by fertility clinics creates thorny problems for all involved in the egg and sperm business.

As a new generation of adonor kidsa comes of age, Test Tube Families calls for better regulation of ART. It exhorts legal and policy-making communities to cease applying piecemeal laws and instead create laws that sustain the fertility industry, yet protect the interests of donors, recipients, and the children that result from successful transfers.

Incorporating real-life stories to illustrate her arguments, Cahn provides specific suggestions for legal reforms. The book sets out a series of controversial proposals, including an end to donor anonymity and a plea for states to clarify parentage decisions. She also calls for the federal government to regulate ART processes to ensure that donors are adequately protected against exploitation, that recipients receive the gametes they have been promised, and that the market functions ethically as well as efficiently.

Providing the latest evidence-based information on etiology, evaluation and treatment, this unique text provides an in-depth, comprehensive discussion of the epidemiology, genetic and endocrinologic factors and medical and surgical management of recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). Taking a multidisciplinary approach including psychological treatment and patient perspectives, all aspects of current RPL prevention and treatment are elucidated. Detailed chapters provide real-world illustrative material and cover the set-up and management of RPL clinics and databases, containing practical tips. Recurrent Pregnancy Loss will be an excellent resource for OB-GYN specialists, general and reproductive endocrinologists, radiologists, hematologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and any other investigators or clinicians treating patients confronted with this emotionally and physically trying condition.

This second edition emphasizes the environmental impact on reproduction, with updated chapters throughout as well as complete new chapters on species such as sharks and rays. This is a wide-ranging book that will be of relevance to anyone involved in species conservation, and provides critical perspectives on the real utility of current and emerging reproductive sciences.Understanding reproductive biology is centrally important to the way many of the world's conservation problems should be tackled. Currently the extinction problem is huge, with up to 30% of the world's fauna being expected to disappear in the next 50 years. Nevertheless, it has been estimated that the global population of animals in zoos encompasses 12,000 - 15,000 species, and we anticipate that every effort will be made to preserve these species for as long as possible, minimizing inbreeding effects and providing the best welfare standards available. Even if the reproductive biology community cannot solve the global biodiversity crisis for all wild species, we should do our best to maintain important captive populations. Reproductive biology in this context is much more than the development of techniques for helping with too little or too much breeding. While some of the relevant techniques are useful for individual species that society might target for a variety of reasons, whether nationalistic, cultural or practical, technical developments have to be backed up by thorough biological understanding of the background behind the problems.

Epigenetics is a rapidly expanding field in medical and biological research which concerns heritable traits that are not attributable to changes in the DNA sequence. Epigenetic mechanisms play key roles in many biological processes, and it has become clear that their disruption can gives rise to diverse pathologies in humans. Edited by preeminent experts, Sophie Rousseaux and Saadi Khochbin, this volume in the Epigenetics and Human Health' series discusses the role of epigenetics in human reproduction. The book presents epigenetic transitions that are important at defined stages of gametogenesis and during meiosis. Several of the sixteen chapters written by experts in the field cover fundamental concepts discovered through cellular and biochemical work and from research on animal models. In other chapters, key examples are provided of how disruption of these mechanisms affects germ cell development and fertility, and contributes to the germinal cancers. Finally, the book discusses how in vitro manipulation and culture in assisted reproduction can epigenetically perturb germ cells, and how this can trigger disease phenotypes in the next generation. Conceived towards advanced students, medical professionals and research scientists, this is the first comprehensive textbook on this topic that will serve as a valuable reference during the years to come.

'Reprogen-ethics and the future of gender' bring together three tightly related topics, which have so far been dealt separately in bioethics: assisted reproduction, enhancing and gender. Part one in this book targets presents policies and legislature of assisted reproduction. Part two focuses on current views of the ethics of PGD and enhancing. Part three tackles the future of gender. Part four deals with artificial wombs and ectogenesis. The aim of this book is to provide a joint perspective in order to get the big picture. Contributors include John Harris, Matti Hairy, Tuija Takala, Soren Holm, David Heyd, Daniel Callahan, James Hughes, Harriet Bradley, Ekaterina Balabanova, Roy Gilbar and others. Some chapters in this book will significantly contribute to the current discussion of the topics at stake; other chapters will start a discussion on issues that have not yet been discussed. 'Reprogen-ethics and the future of gender' will certainly appeal to readers who are interested in any of the intersecting topics of assisted reproduction, genetic enhancing and gender; bioethicists, sociologists, genetic counsellors, gynaecologists, legislators, and students of the relevant disciplines.

The advent of robotic surgery brought a rise in the proportion of minimally invasive surgery in gynecology. This book provides a practical guide to this innovative field. First it introduces the basics of robotic surgery and then focuses on specific gynecology-related surgeries. Gynecologists currently practicing robotic surgery as well as those who would like to include robotic surgery in their practice will benefit greatly from this book.

The continued debate regarding the stage at which the human embryo conceived in the laboratory should be placed in the mother, combined with recent developments in culture media formulations, have brought the role of the human blastocyst in ART back into the spotlight. ART and the Human Blastocyst presents the proceedings of the International Symposium on ART and the Human Blastocyst held from March 30- April 2, 2000 in Dana Point, California. This book brings to the forefront the main issues raised with the transfer of embryos at the blastocyst stage, including the reduction of high order multiple gestations and the role of the blastocyst culture and transfer in facilitating successful single embryo transfer. Sections include gamete quality and pregnancy outcome, physiology of the embryo, blastocyst development in culture, blastocyst transfer and fate, and implantation. More than 40 illustrations and 25 tables complement the text.

The over-arching goal of this volume is to help infertility practitioners evaluate and manage their patients with poor semen quality. The authors review the existing literature on the effects of medications on male fertility, and provide detailed information about what is known, giving the number of individuals and population characteristics for studies of medication effects on male fertility. Medications are designed to treat illness and reduce symptoms, but all have undesirable adverse effects such as headache or stomach upset. Some adverse reactions can even be life-threatening, so it is no surprise that some drugs have negative effects on male reproduction. Medical practitioners rarely consider a man's reproductive plans when prescribing medications. Men are routinely treated with drugs that can impair or abolish fertility. Although practitioners in the field of reproductive medicine generally realize that certain drugs impact negatively on reproductive health, there are limited resources providing evidence-based knowledge useful in counseling patients. Tables throughout this volume summarize the information for each drug, providing a handy reference for clinical use.

How and to what extent have Islamic legal scholars and Middle Eastern lawmakers, as well as Middle Eastern Muslim physicians and patients, grappled with the complex bioethical, legal, and social issues that are raised in the process of attempting to conceive life in the face of infertility? This path-breaking volume explores the influence of Islamic attitudes on Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) and reveals the variations in both the Islamic jurisprudence and the cultural responses to ARTs.

For counselor Nancy Wainer Cohen, this book is the sibling to "Silent Knife: Cesarean Prevention and Vaginal Birth after Cesarean "(Bergin & Garvey, 1983) her critically-acclaimed expose on America's growing reliance on cesarean sections. "Open Season "provides fresh insights and new information on the subject, offering guidance to childbearing couples, educators, health professionals, and scholars who value the natural path of childbirth.

Readers will find this book timely, informative, shocking, irreverent, and extremely readable. Cohen's intimate writing style presents a compendium of knowledge on childbirth in the fashion of a personal letter. Her aim is to lower America's alarming reliance on cesarean section, which is currently at 25 percent of all births, and to return the responsibility for childbirth to women by encouraging them to choose the kind of birthing experience they wish to have. In addition to cesarean section, Cohen discusses many other generally unnecessary interventions performed on women during pregnancy and childbirth--such as fetal monitoring and routinized hospital procedures.

The world's population is growing at an unsustainable rate. From a baseline ?gure of one billion in 1800, global population is predicted to exceed nine billion by 2050 and 87. 8% of this growth will be localized in less developed countries. Such uneven population growth will yield a harvest of poverty, malnutrition, disease and en- ronmental degradation that will affect us all. Amongst the complex mixture of political, social, cultural and technological changes needed to address this issue, the development of improved methods of fertility regulation will be critical. The inadequacy of current contraceptive technologies is indicated by recent data s- gesting that the contraceptive needs of over 120 million couples go unmet every year. As a direct consequence of this de?cit 38% of pregnancies are unplanned and more than 50% end in an abortion, generating a total of 46 million abortions per annum particularly among teenagers. If safe, effective contraceptives were ava- able to every couple experiencing an unmet family planning need, 1. 5 million lives would be saved each year (UNFPA 2003). Progress in contraceptive technology should not only generate more effective methods of regulating fertility, but should also provide a range of methods to meet the changing needs of the world's population. Contraceptive practice was revo- tionized in 1960 in the US and 1961 in Europe by the introduction of the oral contraceptive pill by Gregory Pincus, MC Chang and colleagues, based on fun- mental hormone research conducted in Germany.

In recent years, the advancing science and increasing availability of assisted reproduction have given new hope to infertile couples. However, the use of IVF and ART has also led to marked increases in the number of multiple-infant live births. This poses a public health concern, as these neonates have a higher rate of pre-term delivery, compromising their survival chances and increasing their risk of lifelong disability. By optimizing the selection of gametes and embryos with high probabilities of implantation, it is possible to reduce the number of embryos transferred and, by extension, the number of high-risk multiple gestations, while maintaining or increasing pregnancy rates. Human Gametes and Preimplantation Embryos: Assessment and Diagnosis provides a broad yet concise overview of established and developing methodologies for assessment of gamete and embryo viability in assisted reproduction. This book elucidates the best practices for precisely selecting viable specimens based on morphology and cleavage rate and covers the spectrum of emerging adjunctive technologies for predicting reproductive potential. The authors present their extensive knowledge of "omics" approaches (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics), with unbiased delineation of the associated advantages and potential pitfalls. This valuable clinical resource is well suited to infertility specialists, Ob/Gyn physicians, IVF laboratory technicians, and researchers in the fields of embryology and reproductive medicine.

Since the late 1960s, there has been an acceleration of research focused on understanding how the efferent ducts, the epididymis, and the vas deferens function with respect to the maturation and storage of spermatozoa and as hormone dependent tissues. Another major interest in the epididymis is that it is an attractive target for the development of male contraceptives. There are well over 16,000 peer reviewed articles in the literature on these tissues, their structure, gene expression, protein synthesis and function. Regular international meetings have been initiated that are dedicated to this field. Thus, there is an urgent need for a comprehensive reference volume that spans every facet of epididymal biology, from historical background to the most current results, from basic cell and molecular biology to clinical issues. Well-established experts from every part of the world have contributed to this volume. By necessity, each author was given page limitations so that many topics are not dealt with exhaustively. Whenever possible, references to more comprehensive discussion of specific topics are included.

An analysis of cell death in reproductive physiology. It examines topics such as the control of apoptosis in the uterus during decidualization and stern cell factor regulation of apoptosis in mouse primordial germ cells.

Drawing on a wide range of interviews and primary and secondary sources, this book investigates the dynamic interactions between national regulatory formation and the global biopolitics of regenerative medicine and human embryonic stem cell science.

Thanks to enormous scientific efforts of the last decades, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and in vitro production (IVP) have now been introduced successfully in the practice of human infertility treatment and cattle breeding programs. This comprehensive book allows us to bridge the knowledge from both biomedical and veterinary fields of research. For the first time, studies concerning the human embryo as well as embryos from domestic species are brought together. The central theme of the book is "the assessment of mammalian embryo quality." In 15 chapters, written by well-known scientists, different aspects of the assessment of mammalian embryo quality are summarized. Non-invasive and invasive techniques to evaluate embryo quality are separated in two parts. In addition the book is provided with appendices on practical aspects and, thus, the book should be present in each laboratory for IVF and IVP.