A new evolutionary perspective on what’s been a medical paradox: Why does the body use inflammation to regulate aspects of pregnancy when inflammation is also a big threat to pregnancy?
Women have been getting their fallopian tubes flushed for 100 years to help them conceive. Studies show it works, all the better if you use an oil-based liquid.
From today, more people conceived with donor sperm or eggs in Victoria will have the legal right to know details about their donor – even if the donation was made anonymously.
Stem-cell scientists have to work within many limitations placed on their research. One of these is the 14-day rule that outlaws research on pure human embryos over two weeks old.
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.
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.
Early studies suggest a process called advanced in-vitro maturation may be able to treat infertility without women needing to inject themselves with high doses of hormones for several weeks.
Assisted reproductive technology is a highly profitable global industry, with fertility clinics increasingly being regarded as an attractive investment option.
Most women will have been made aware they have a ticking biological clock. But most probably don’t know it’s because women are born with a limited supply of eggs, and eventually they will run out.
Confronted with skyrocketing IVF costs at home, North American couples are packing their bags, making an overseas trip and returning home with a special souvenir.
Professor - Emerging Technologies (Stem Cells) at The University of Melbourne and Group Leader - Stem Cell Ethics & Policy at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The University of Melbourne
Visiting Professor in Biomedical Ethics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, University of Melbourne; Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford