background: in vitro fertilization (ivf) and intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (icsi) are recognized as established and increasingly successful forms of treatment for infertility, yet significant numbers of couples discontinue treatment without achieving a live birth. this study aims to identify major factors that influence the decision to discontinue ivf/icsi treatments. materials and methods:...

Heterotopic pregnancy occurs when intrauterine and ectopic pregnancy are concomitant; overall rate rises from 1/30.000 to 1.5/1000 in assisted reproductive technology pregnancies. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) patients are at increased risk of heterotopic pregnancies due to the greater frequency of assisted reproductive technology and pelvic inflammatory disease. We report the first case o...

Scholars of differing political affiliation and the President's Council on Bioethics have called for regulation of assisted reproductive technology (ART) that would emulate many aspects of the regulatory system of the United Kingdom, in particular that of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. Specifically, scholars and the Council have argued that research in the U.S. involving game...

OBJECTIVE To characterize the prevalence of objections to assisted reproductive technologies among obstetrician-gynecologists. METHODS We conducted a national probability sample mail survey of 1,800 practicing U.S. ob-gyns. Criterion variables were whether physicians object to artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization. We also presented seven patient scenarios and asked respondents if...

Background: Understanding the physiological and psycho-social effects of pregnancy through Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) will enable health care providers to identify and treat any adverse outcomes, and provide support to women seeking fertility treatments. The aim of this paper was to review studies describing prenatal care in pregnancy through ARTs. Methods: A systematic search o...

Twins and higher–order multiple pregnancies account for approximately 3% of all gestations in the United States (Ananth et al, 2004) and seem to be stabilized since 2006 after a dramatically increase since the beginning of the 1970s (Vayssière et al, 2011). There are two main causes for the change in the rate of multiple pregnancies: advanced maternal age and use of assisted reproductive techni...

Supplementation of wild populations with captive-bred organisms is a common practice for conservation of threatened wild populations. Yet it is largely unknown whether such programmes actually help population size recovery. While a negative genetic effect of captive breeding that decreases fitness of captive-bred organisms has been detected, there is no direct evidence for a carry-over effect o...

Longitudinal studies of senescence accumulate rapidly from natural populations. However, it is largely unknown whether different fitness components senesce in parallel, how reproductive and survival senescence contribute to declines in reproductive value, and how large the fitness cost of senescence is (the difference between the observed reproductive value and the hypothetical reproductive val...

Beyond the scientific progress in assisted reproductive technologies (ART), it is necessary to discuss the ethical considerations behind these advances. Ethical issues concerning sperm donation have been considered and discussed by government and non-governmental agencies, the public, media and academic institutions in many countries. Recommendations and guidelines concerning sperm donation iss...