Charles Thibault was liked by French gynaecologists. There was not a year that Charles Thibault did not attend clinician gynaecology conferences. He made great strides in research on in vitro fertilisation, being the first to perform in vitro fertilised (IVF) oocyte transfers in rabbits. Later, in 1978 the first human pregnancy following IVF was achieved in the UK when Louise Brown was born. In...

Assisted reproduction techniques (ART), in particular in-vitro fertilization and intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection, are the most advanced forms of infertility treatment. They involve numerous counseling, medical, surgical and laboratory-based steps. At each step various problems and complications could be encountered that challenge even the most experienced ART practitioners. Moreover, patients...

The first report of the combined use of pituitary suppression and ovarian hyperstimulation in invitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer programmes was published in 1984 (1). Since then, the advantages of gonadotrophin hormonereleasing hormone analogues (GnRHa) have been well documented; the cancellation rate has been decreased through the prevention of premature luteinizing hormone (LH) s...

M.V. Sauer (ed.), Principles of Oocyte and Embryo Donation, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4471-2392-7_22, © Springer-Verlag London 2013 In recent years a growing recognition of same sex unions as culturally and socially acceptable has led inevitably to a parallel acceptance of such unions as a foundation for family. Advances in gay rights, the liberalization of legal restraints, and the increasing availabi...

BACKGROUND The subject of epigenetic risk of assisted reproduction treatment (ART), initiated by reports on an increase of children with the Beckwith-Wiedemann imprinting disorder, is very topical. Hence, there is a growing literature, including mouse studies. METHODS In order to gain information on transgenerational epigenetic inheritance and epigenetic effects induced by ART, literature dat...

Assisted reproduction techniques (ART), in particular in-vitro fertilization and intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection, are the most advanced forms of infertility treatment. They involve numerous counseling, medical, surgical and laboratory-based steps. At each step various problems and complications could be encountered that challenge even the most experienced ART practitioners. Moreover, patients...

Some researchers have suggested that fetuses eventually might be used as a source for oocytes in oocyte donation programs (1, 2). One variant is to remove oocytes from the ovaries of aborted fetuses, mature them in vitro, and use them as donor oocytes for couples who need eggs as part of their IVF effort. A second variant is to remove ovaries from aborted fetuses and transplant them in women wh...

Young children, adolescents, and men and women in their prime reproductive years may now survive for decades after cancer. They and their families celebrate these medical advances and hope that after cancer treatment ends, they can resume what Kathlyn Conway described as “ordinary life” [1]. When patients and their families learn that the treatments for some cancers can impair their fertility, ...

Background Leptin, as a key hormone in energy homeostasis, plays an important role in reproduction and male fertility. However, its negative or positive effect on sperm quality and assisted reproduction technique is still controversial. The aim of this study was the comparison of seminal leptin concentration in selected couples with male and female factor for intracytoplasmic microinjection (IC...