The Reproductive Industry


Book Description

Starting in 1978, when the first babies conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF) were born in the UK and India, assisted reproduction has become a global industry. Contributors to this edited collection reflect on the global dimensions of IVF and assisted reproductive technologies, examining how people have used these technologies to create diverse family forms, including gay, lesbian, and transgender parenthood, as well as complex configurations of genetic, gestational, and social parenthood. The authors examine how IVF and other reproductive technologies have and have not circulated around the globe; how reproductive technologies can be situated historically, nationally, locally, and culturally; and the ways in which culture, practices, regulations, norms, families, and kinship ties may be reinforced or challenged through the use of assisted reproduction.







The Era of Assisted Reproductive Technologies Tailored to the Specific Necessities of Species, Industry and Case Reports


Book Description

Nowadays, assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) have a pivotal role not only in achieving fertilization in subfertile animals, but they are also involved in the management of the herd, decreasing disease spread and even allowing offspring sex selection. Nonetheless, there are differences between species or even within species that have led researchers worldwide to focus on those differences in order to bypass these specific difficulties. This Special Issue, titled “The Era of Assisted Reproductive Technologies Tailored to the Specific Necessities of Species, Industry and Case Reports” and published in Animals, is composed of 12 original manuscripts and three reviews that offer an overview of current and future ARTs used to improve reproductive outcomes, mainly focused on farm animals, such as horse, pig, bovine, rabbit and ovine species. Thus, the Special Issue covers information from the classical point of view, including comparative studies of different semen extenders, to the most advanced technologies of sperm selection by thermotaxis or chemoattractants, as well as the improvement of sperm features by red light irradiation. The female and embryo contributions to ART outcomes are also covered, for instance, with a study that improves our knowledge by the metabolomic description of follicular fluid composition or the description of better culture conditions of oocytes. In brief, this Special Issue provides a balanced overview of emerging techniques and technologies used to preserve, improve, rescue or even create fertility for domestic farm animals with high economic impact.




Reproductive Technologies in Animals


Book Description

Reproductive Technologies in Animals provides the most updated and comprehensive knowledge on the various aspects and applications of reproductive technologies in production animals as well as companion, wild, exotic, and laboratory animals and birds. The text synthesizes historical information and recent discoveries, while dealing with economical and geographical issues related to the implementation of the same technologies. It also presents the effects of reproductive technology implementation on animal welfare and the possible threat of pathogen transmission.Reproductive Technologies in Animals is an important resource for academics, researchers, professionals in public and private animal business, and students at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as it gives a full and detailed first-hand analysis of all species subjected to the use of reproductive technologies. - Provides research from a team of scientists and researchers whose expertise spans all aspects of animal reproductive technologies - Addresses the use of reproductive technologies in a wide range of animal species - Offers a complete description and historical background for each species described - Discusses successes and failure as well as future challenges in reproductive technologies




Infertility Around the Globe


Book Description

These essays examine the global impact of infertility as a major reproductive health issue, one that has profoundly affected the lives of countless women and men. The contributors address a range of topics including how the deeply gendered nature of infertility sets the blame on women's shoulders.




Current and Future Reproductive Technologies and World Food Production


Book Description

​​​​​​​​​​​This book addresses the impacts of current and future reproductive technologies on our world food production and provides a significant contribution to the importance of research in the area of reproductive physiology that has never been compiled before. It would provide a unique opportunity to separate the impacts of how reproductive technologies have affected different species and their contributions to food production. Lastly, no publication has been compiled that demonstrates the relationship between developments in reproductive management tools and food production that may be used a reference for scientists in addressing future research areas. ​During the past 50 years assisted reproductive technologies have been developed and refined to increase the number and quality of offspring from genetically superior farm animal livestock species. Artificial insemination (AI), estrous synchronization and fixed-time AI, semen and embryo cryopreservation, multiple ovulation and embryo transfer (MOET), in vitro fertilization, sex determination of sperm or embryos, and nuclear transfer are technologies that are used to enhance the production efficiency of livestock species.




Science and Babies


Book Description

By all indicators, the reproductive health of Americans has been deteriorating since 1980. Our nation is troubled by rates of teen pregnancies and newborn deaths that are worse than almost all others in the Western world. Science and Babies is a straightforward presentation of the major reproductive issues we face that suggests answers for the public. The book discusses how the clash of opinions on sex and family planning prevents us from making a national commitment to reproductive health; why people in the United States have fewer contraceptive choices than those in many other countries; what we need to do to improve social and medical services for teens and people living in poverty; how couples should "shop" for a fertility service and make consumer-wise decisions; and what we can expect in the futureâ€"featuring interesting accounts of potential scientific advances.




Freezing Fertility


Book Description

Welcomed as liberation and dismissed as exploitation, egg freezing (oocyte cryopreservation) has rapidly become one of the most widely-discussed and influential new reproductive technologies of this century. In Freezing Fertility, Lucy van de Wiel takes us inside the world of fertility preservation—with its egg freezing parties, contested age limits, proactive anticipations and equity investments—and shows how the popularization of egg freezing has profound consequences for the way in which female fertility and reproductive aging are understood, commercialized and politicized. Beyond an individual reproductive choice for people who may want to have children later in life, Freezing Fertility explores how the rise of egg freezing also reveals broader cultural, political and economic negotiations about reproductive politics, gender inequities, age normativities and the financialization of healthcare. Van de Wiel investigates these issues by analyzing a wide range of sources—varying from sparkly online platforms to heart-breaking court cases and intimate autobiographical accounts—that are emblematic of each stage of the egg freezing procedure. By following the egg’s journey, Freezing Fertility examines how contemporary egg freezing practices both reflect broader social, regulatory and economic power asymmetries and repoliticize fertility and aging in ways that affect the public at large. In doing so, the book explores how the possibility of egg freezing shifts our relation to the beginning and end of life.




Assisted Reproductive Technology Surveillance


Book Description

Offers a comprehensive guide to assisted reproductive technology surveillance, describing its history, global variations, and best practices.




Everything Conceivable


Book Description

Award-winning journalist Liza Mundy captures the human narratives, as well as the science, behind the controversial, multibillion-dollar fertility industry, and examines how this huge social experiment is transforming our most basic relationships and even our destiny as a species.Skyrocketing infertility rates and dizzying technological advances are revolutionizing American families and changing the way we think about parenthood, childbirth, and life itself. Using in-depth reporting and riveting anecdotal material from doctors, families, surrogates, sperm and egg donors, infertile men and women, single and gay and lesbian parents, and children conceived through technology, Mundy explores the impact of assisted reproduction on individuals as well as the ethical issues raised and the potentially vast social consequences. The unforgettable personal stories in Everything Conceivable run the gamut from joyous to tragic; all of them raise questions we dare not ignore.