Assisted fertility technology is evolving rapidly – the world’s first three-parent baby was born this month and doctors gave the go-ahead for a new genetic screening method in May this year. We look at two advances in fertility which are proving to be game changers for people who need a little extra help to start a family. Mitochondrial transfer […]
In some quarters, fertility continues to be seen as a contentious medical issue, which in turn leads some patients to approach treatment with trepidation. Whilst it remains true that fertility treatment can be a complex process, as a scientist in the field, I feel that as a medical speciality huge strides have been made in […]
Women who give birth to a healthy baby in the UK are routinely offered a routine six-week follow-up appointment. This allows medics to screen for post-natal depression, which can then be treated. It’s a sad fact but your mental health only seems to matter if you have a successful pregnancy. For women who suffer a […]
Snowflakes have been described as ‘tiny miracles of beauty’. Wilson Alwyn “Snowflake” Bentley photographed more than 5000 in his lifetime, showing their intricate, individual form. Inspired by their uniqueness and fragility, “Snowflake Embryo Adoption” was established in America in 1997. To date, 479 babies from frozen embryos have been born to adoptive families through this […]
Fertility treatments that are available today would have seemed like science fiction a few years ago. ‘Think how far we have come since IVF was developed 30 years ago. Back then, people said doctors were playing God. Today, 60,000 babies are born using IVF techniques every year in the UK,’ says Susan Seenam, chief executive […]
It doesn’t really surprise me that the UK is facing a major donated sperm shortage and many clinics are relying in imported sperm to keep up with demand. I was a prolific sperm donor when I was a young medical student, keen to help couples who couldn’t conceive and happy to receive the beer money […]
Sperm counts in men worldwide have declined by half over the past 50 years and are continuing to fall. ‘It does seem that sperm counts are falling, but it is hard to say exactly why that is happening,’ says Dr Jane Stewart, a consultant in reproductive medicine at Newcastle Fertility Centre. ‘The studies are conflicting. […]
Last week David Cahill, Professor in Reproductive Medicine and Medical Education at the University of Bristol’s School of Clinical Sciences and gynaecologist in St Michael’s Hospital, was called upon to perform an emergency caesarean section on Kera, a Western Lowland Gorilla at Bristol Zoo Gardens. Despite having delivered hundreds of babies by caesarean in his career, […]
Read More… from Gorilla baby born at Bristol Zoo in ‘rare’ C-section
Baroness Mary Warnock has contributed to public thinking and policy in many ways, most notably the moral implications of the reproductive technology, In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). In recent years she has regularly lectured on the Society of Apothecaries’ course in philosophy and ethics applied to medicine and healthcare. Here, she talks to Andrew Papanikitas MRCGP […]
Read More… from Regulating In Vitro Fertilisation – A personal perspective