The Reproductive Revolution

Culture Wars ◽

Distinguishing Characteristic ◽

Contemporary Culture ◽

The World

This chapter discusses how the world of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) offers those who cannot reproduce the old-fashioned way various medical techniques aimed at achieving pregnancy by means other than sexual intercourse. By disaggregating sex from reproduction, ART is the story of both technical sophistication and social liberation. The shakeup of long-established medical, social, and familial norms has been one of ART's hallmarks, a distinguishing characteristic that often places it in the crossfire of contemporary culture wars. Though designed as mere medical techniques to overcome infertility, ART's increasing invocation by those historically deprived of reproductive opportunities invites scrutiny into its every use and its very existence.

Assisted Reproductive Technology in Spain: Considering Women's Interests

Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics ◽

10.1017/s0963180109090379 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 228-235 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

INMACULADA DE MELO-MARTÍN

Keyword(s):

Assisted Reproductive Technology ◽

Reproductive Technology ◽

Assisted Conception ◽

National Healthcare ◽

The World ◽

National Healthcare System ◽

The Subject ◽

Catholic Tradition

It might come as a surprise to many that Spain, a country with a strong Catholic tradition that officially banned contraceptive technologies until 1978, has some of the most liberal regulations in assisted reproduction in the world. Law No. 35/1988 was one of the first and most detailed acts of legislation undertaken on the subject of assisted-conception procedures. Indeed, not only did the law permit research on nonviable embryos, it made assisted reproductive technologies available to any woman, whether married or not, through the national healthcare system.

Gender Differences in the Experience of Infertility Concerning Polish Couples: Preliminary Research

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16132337 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (13) ◽

pp. 2337 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Małgorzata Nagórska ◽

Anna Bartosiewicz ◽

Bogdan Obrzut ◽

Dorota Darmochwał-Kolarz

Keyword(s):

Clinical Pregnancy ◽

World Health ◽

Independence Test ◽

Chi Square ◽

Unprotected Sexual Intercourse ◽

The World ◽

Preliminary Research ◽

Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) determines infertility as a disease of the reproductive system defined clinically by the failure to achieve a clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse. Estimates indicate that the problem of infertility in the world is continuing to grow. The aim of the study was to compare approaches to disease in partners of both sexes diagnosed with infertility. The study was conducted among 61 couples treated for infertility using an original questionnaire developed by the authors. The Chi square independence test was used for statistical analysis. Both men and women responded to the diagnosis of infertility with negative emotions. Regardless of sex, sadness and anxiety were the dominant feelings associated with the diagnosis of infertility. Women believed in the success of the treatment to a greater extent than men. Mainly women attempted to talk openly about the problem of infertility, while men were more restrained in this respect. Women accepted the assisted reproductive technologies (ART) to a greater extent than men, but men would accept childlessness more often than women.

Features of seminal plasma cytokine profile and an occurrence of pregnancy when carrying out a program of assisted reproductive technologies

GYNECOLOGY ◽

10.26442/20795696.2019.1.190233 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 21 (4) ◽

pp. 9-13

Author(s):

Tatiana V Dontsova ◽

Alina A Babayan ◽

Marina A Nikolaeva ◽

Alla S Arefieva ◽

Elena A Kalinina ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sexual Intercourse ◽

Seminal Plasma ◽

Transforming Growth Factor ◽

Female Reproductive Tract ◽

Cytokine Profile ◽

Sexual Life ◽

Operating Characteristics ◽

Diagnostic Significance

Aim. To asses an effectiveness of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) program given characteristics of the cytokine profile of seminal plasma (SP) entering the female reproductive tract during sexual intercourse. Outcomes and methods. 33 married couples who applied for a treatment of infertility by means of in vitro fertilization /ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection) were included in the prospective study. Patients were recommended to have sexual intercourse with no restrictions during treatment and to have the last sexual intercourse 3 days before an intended transvaginal puncture (ITP). Testing of cytokines (transforming growth factor (TGF)-b1, interferon (IFN)-g, interleukin (IL)-33, IL-6, IL-8, IL-23, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a, IL-18, IL- 17A, IFN-a, IL-12, monocyte chemotactic protein-1) levels in samples of partners’ SP obtained on the day having ITP were carried out using multiplex analysis with LegendPlex kits (BioLegend, USA). Results. When comparing a cytokine profile of SP in couples who did not become pregnant (n=25) and couples who become pregnant (n=8) increased IL-18 and reduced IL-10 levels (p=0,017 and p=0, 01 respectively) were revealed in the group which got pregnant. To assess a clinical relevance of cytokine content in SP ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristics) curve was used. It was established that determining of IL-18 concentration in SP has the greatest diagnostic significance (the area under a curve was 0.792±0.107, test sensitivity - 62.5%, test specificity - 95.24% at threshold concentration>210.43 pg/ml). Incidence of pregnancy at IL-18 concentration above threshold levels was 83,3% while at lower concentrations of IL-18 pregnancy occurred only in 13.0% of women. Conclusions. Elevated IL-18 levels and decreased IL-10 levels in SP of female patients’ partners who don’t have restriction of sexual life when treating infertility with ART are favorable factors for a pregnancy to occur.

‘Male and Female He Created Them’: Procreative liberty, its conceptual deficiencies and the legal right to access fertility care of males

International Journal of Law in Context ◽

10.1017/s174455231100019x ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. 375-400

Author(s):

Daniel Sperling

Keyword(s):

Sense Of Belonging ◽

Social Institutions ◽

Male And Female ◽

Self Identity ◽

Procreative Liberty ◽

The World ◽

Unequal Access ◽

The Right

AbstractIn recent years, assisted reproductive technologies have played an important role in shaping the lives of many individuals throughout the world. Their promise to make people become parents is believed to fulfil the most elementary interests a person may have. It is argued and legally acknowledged that such interests constitute with much significance a person's self-identity and sense of belonging to the living society, also constituting her reproductive liberty or the right to procreate. Despite their significance and importance, access to these technologies and to fertility care specifically may not always accord with the principle of equality and justice. It will be argued that, in some cases, such unequal access reflects various forms of discrimination between different groups in society. It is the purpose of this article to show that such a phenomenon is the result of an underdeveloped and unregulated area of law, characterising many Western countries. Specifically, it demonstrates conceptual deficiencies in so-called ‘procreative liberty’ with regard to the content and scope of the right to procreate, the values underlying such a right, and the legal and social institutions supporting and securing it. The article highlights these deficiencies, making them more evident when the notion of ‘reproductive liberty’ applies to positive and modern attempts to become parents, especially but not exclusively those brought by men.

Spinoza Redivivus in the Twenty-First Century

The First Modern Jew ◽

10.23943/princeton/9780691142913.003.0008 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel B. Schwartz

Keyword(s):

Recent Literature ◽

Culture Wars ◽

First Century ◽

Contemporary Culture ◽

Jewish Culture ◽

The World ◽

Twenty First Century

This concluding chapter considers the current vogue in appropriations of Spinoza. Broadly speaking, the chapter finds in the recent literature two basic positions on Spinoza's place in the world of Jewish secularism: the “presentists,” who seek to vouch for Spinoza's anticipation of the modern, secular Jew and drive home his relevance to the contemporary culture wars; and the “contextualists,” who look askance at interpretations of Spinoza as a Jewish precursor, judging such readings guilty of everything from historical anachronism at the very least to a groundless “Judaizing” of the Amsterdam philosopher more problematically. This chapter, as with the rest of this volume, maintains a contextualist stance, and discusses this position in more depth in the larger context of the contemporary revival of Spinoza in modern Jewish culture.

Frozen Embryo Disputes Revisited: A Trilogy of Procreation-Avoidance Approaches

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1111/j.1748-720x.2001.tb00340.x ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 197-202 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Judith F. Daar

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Frozen Storage ◽

Divorce Rate ◽

The United States ◽

The World

In recent years, courts have increasingly found them-selves arbiters of disputes in the emotionally charged area of assisted reproductive technologies. Legal disputes are hardly surprising in the world of infertility medicine, where millions of patients spend billions of dollars in efforts to have a child. Increasingly, these efforts produce embryos that are frozen for later use, at once maximizing a couple's chances for success and minimizing the medical intrusiveness that necessarily accompanies most forms of assisted reproductive technologies. But with over 100,000 embryos in frozen storage in the United States and a divorce rate of 40 to 50 percent, it is not surprising that disputes over the disposition of these embryos are arising, causing the legal landscape surrounding these technologies to continue to expand.

Assisted Reproductive Technologies and the Pregnancy Process: Developing an Equality Model to Protect Reproductive Liberties

American Journal of Law & Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0098858800007255 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 455-477

Author(s):

Judith F. Daar

Keyword(s):

Human Reproduction ◽

Parental Status ◽

Quarter Century ◽

Vitro Fertilization ◽

First Child ◽

Frozen Embryos ◽

The World

The world of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) has forced our society to confront scenarios that were unimaginable a mere quarter century ago. The birth of Louise Brown in 1978, the first child conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF), introduced to the world the notion of asexual reproduction. The bitter battle over the parental status of Baby M., a baby born by a surrogate mother in the early 1980s, engendered a public debate over the interaction between contract law, family law and reproductive liberties that still rages today. In 1992, the highly publicized divorce of Junior and Mary Sue Davis focused national attention on the issue of proper disposition of frozen embryos. This case highlighted the fact that conception and pregnancy could be separated by a significant amount of time as a result of cryopreservation. While each of these events marked a step forward in the march toward total technological mastery of human reproduction, they also suggest that future struggles involving ART will grow increasingly fierce and complicated as our fund of knowledge increased. This Article suggests that current disputes over the disposition of frozen embryos are emblematic of that struggle.

Analysis of costs and results of assisted reproductive technologies in the world and Ukraine

Farmatsevtychnyi zhurnal ◽

10.32352/0367-3057.1-2.18.04 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 32-40

Author(s):

Kh.-O. J. Stasiv ◽

O. M. Zaliska

Keyword(s):

State Funding ◽

Art Programs ◽

Demographic Situation ◽

Urgent Task ◽

The World ◽

The Usa ◽

Number Of Cycles ◽

The Cost

Taking into account the demographic situation in Ukraine, the use of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) is an urgent task for increasing access to modern, expensive methods of infertility treatment. The aim of this study was to summarize the legislative requirements for the implementation of ART, the number of cycles, depending on the type, and the costs for ART in the leading countries of the world and in Ukraine. We showed, that most countries in Europe have budgetary financing for a certain number of cycles, while the medical restrictions and age requirements for parents are included. It was revealed that the highest costs for ART are in the USA, the lowest in Japan and Scandinavian countries. We calculated the rate of provision for IVF and ICSI cycles per 1 million population (Kart) and the countries were ranked into 3 groups. It was shown that Ukraine belongs to countries with a low indicator ‒ less than 500 cycles. Leading countries of Europe, which have government funding for ART (France, Germany, Sweden), are characterized by a high Kart. The need to increase budgetary financing for ART in Ukraine is shown. The cost analysis for ART according to official websites of private clinics was conducted in Ukraine. We established that the average cost per 1 cycle of IVF was 52 584 UAH, for 1 cycle of ICSI was 6 694 UAH. The calculated solvency adequacy ratio for IVF was 703, it indicates a low availability for the population, and for ICSI is 89, which in 7.9 more affordable for families. It was found that in 7 clinics there are no Internet pages, and on the websites of 12 clinics information on the cost of services is shown, without taking into account the use of drugs in the protocols of ART. According to the different approaches to informing on websites of the ART clinics, it is advisable to unify the information providing on the sites about the availability of cycles and the total costs for them to improve provision and access for patients. Therefore, it is important to increase the state funding for ART programs.

Institute of surrogacy in modern society. Part 1

Health and Ecology Issues ◽

10.51523/2708-6011.2020-17-3-1 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 5-11

Author(s):

E. V. Chechenkova ◽

A. I. Zaryankina

Keyword(s):

Modern Society ◽

Single Women ◽

Single Woman ◽

Literary Sources ◽

The World ◽

History Of ◽

Ancient Times ◽

Medical University

Objective: to define the concept and essence of surrogacy, to study the history of its origin and approaches to solution of fertility problems with its help in different countries of the world, to analyze the attitude of modern generation to surrogacy. Material and methods. To achieve the above objective, various literary sources were analyzed. Also, a sociological survey of 60 students of Gomel State Medical University was conducted. Results. The performed analysis has found historical regularities of the use of surrogacy aimed at procreation since ancient times up till now. The retrospective statistical data of primary and secondary infertility in the world have been given. The modern possibilities of assisted reproductive technologies making it possible for childless families to have their own children have been described. The sociological survey has revealed that most boys and girls - 90 % are «for» using assisted reproductive technologies, and also the majority of the respondents think that it is acceptable to bring up a surrogate child by a single woman (85 %) or man (73 %). However, only 47 % of the respondents agree with the fact that a surrogate child may be raised by homosexual parents. Conclusion. Female and male infertility is a problem that is topical worldwide. Surrogacy is an assisted reproductive technology which in many cases is the only option for people to have their genetic children. In modern society, surrogacy is used by single women and men, including homosexuals. The attitude of modern generation to this fact is positive in most cases.

Expectant Fathers, Abortion, and Embryos

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1111/jlme.12249 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 43 (2) ◽

pp. 330-340 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Dara E. Purvis

Keyword(s):

Egg Donor ◽

The World ◽

Expectant Fathers ◽

Adults And Children ◽

Single Child

Today, multiple legal theories of parenthood interact to encompass all sorts of families. Adults and children bound through adoption, step-parenting, and assisted reproductive technologies (ART) demand familial recognition through some combination of biology, functionality, technology, and intent.In the context of children born through ART, many scholars have proposed a more robust use of intent as a rule for identifying legal parents. When used to identify parents, intent asks who planned to become the parent of a child, and is often helpful when multiple adults simultaneously agreed to bring a child into the world. For example, in the case of surrogacy, as many as five adults — two intended parents, a gestational surrogate, and both a sperm and egg donor — could all contribute to bringing a single child into the world. Not only does intent provide a practical answer to such modern parentage dilemmas, but it recognizes the often-minimized emotional investment of men who wish to be fathers.