While media portrayals of online sperm donation often portray “rogue breeders” or “super sperm,” research reveals that the real men who do this are motivated to help others.
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Nicole Bergen, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Sperm donation websites are the Ubers and Airbnbs of the fertility world. But why are they so popular? New research explains the reasons why some men donate.
New procedures are enabling men and women to preserve their fertility until they are ready or able to have children.
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For women and men not ready to have children, there are new ways to preserve fertility. And experimental techniques offer hope for sick children whose treatments jeopardize future childbearing.
It’s hard to plan for future fertility.
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Conversations about reproduction should be a routine part of medical care for transgender people – but assumptions and non-inclusive language can act as barriers to informed consent.
Acupuncture might alleviate stress for women undertaking IVF.
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A new study has countered old reports acupuncture can improve your chances of having a baby when going through IVF.
A Canadian politician has announced he plans to introduce a private member’s bill to remove the legal prohibitions on payments to surrogate mothers and to sperm and egg donors.
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There are sound ethical reasons behind Canada’s decision to ban payment to surrogate mothers and sperm and egg donors in 2004. A new push to remove the restrictions ignores the risks.
At least half of the donors who had donated anonymously were in favour of their offspring being able to know their identity.
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The news that Victorian sperm donor records from the 1970s and 1980s were preserved and are now accessible creates both challenges and opportunities for both donors and their offspring.
At the moment, Australia has a patchwork of processes and regulations relating to diblings.
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It is time for the states and territories to develop a uniform legal framework that enables donor-conceived people to connect with their genetic kin.
Egg donors, sperm donors and surrogates are critical participants and patients in the use of reproductive technologies - so why are their rights and heath repeatedly overlooked?
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Health Canada is drafting important regulations for assisted reproductive technologies. Initial documents treat egg donors and surrogates as little more than spare parts and walking wombs.
With all these ‘test-tube babies’ grown up, how have our reactions to the technology evolved?
AP Photo/Alastair Grant
Americans have moved on from worrying about ‘test-tube babies’ – but there are still ethical challenges to resolve as reproductive technologies continue to advance.
In an ideal world of gender equality and recognition for women’s work, surrogacy could perhaps be part of a paid, legitimate economy.
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As the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society urges the government to consider “compensation” for surrogacy, we need to talk about the implications of this rhetoric for women.
Many couples undergo multiple rounds of IVF. Our new stats on the chances of a successful pregnancy reflect that.
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In 1997, scientists announced they’d created a healthy sheep cloned from another ewe’s mammary gland cell. Two decades on, the technique is being refined and applied to new challenges.
Claims by IVF clinics can be misleading making it difficult to interpret success rates.
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Our recent audit of success rates provided on the websites of IVF clinics’ in Australia and New Zealand identified some common traps in the way these figures are presented.
The frustration of failed IVF cycles leads many women to seek explanations and investigate alternative options.
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In pregnancy, immune cells help the uterus tolerate and nurture the embryo despite it carrying foreign genes from the father. In most women, suppressing immunity will likely cause more harm than good.
Today many donor-conceived children are adults and the impacts on their sense of identity have become clear, so Victoria is set to open the records of formerly anonymous donors.
Reuters/Kacper Pempel
In a world first, Victoria plans to retrospectively open the records of formerly anonymous sperm donors to all donor-conceived people. A system of contact vetoes aims to manage the privacy concerns.
Decision-making about access is about ensuring a minimally acceptable environment for any child to be raised in.
Hernán Piñera/Flickr
Should people who need subsidised medical assistance to conceive have to show the state they will be good parents? These ethicists think they do.
Since fertility isn’t linked to one’s calibre as a parent, the state can only be justified in placing conditions on all prospective parents, regardless of fertility status.
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Should people who need subsidised medical assistance to conceive have to show the state they will be good parents? This ethicist argues such checks are discriminatory.
Should parents be allowed to select the sex of their child through IVF when there’s no compelling medical reason to do so?
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The National Health and Medical Research Council call for public submissions on whether sex selection should be allowed without a medical reason recognises changing social attitudes.
The highest IVF success rates are reported in women under 30 who have an around a 26% chance of having a baby.
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Thanks to IVF and donor conception, infertile couples, single women and lesbian couples now have a better chance of starting families. But while common, it’s rarely openly discussed.
Thanks to IVF and donor conception, infertile couples, single women and lesbian couples now have a better chance at starting families. But how does it all work? Ask the experts here.