The ovary is an organ found in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary found on each side of the body. The ovaries also secrete hormones that play a role in the menstrual cycle and fertility. The ovary progresses through many stages beginning in the prenatal period through menopause. It is also an endocrine gland because of the various hormones that it secretes.
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro. The process involves monitoring and stimulating a person's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova from their ovaries and letting sperm fertilise them in a culture medium in a laboratory. After the fertilised egg (zygote) undergoes embryo culture for 2–6 days, it is implanted in the same or another person's uterus, with the intention of establishing a successful pregnancy.
Assisted reproductive technology (ART) includes medical procedures used primarily to address infertility. This subject involves procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), cryopreservation of gametes or embryos, and/or the use of fertility medication. When used to address infertility, ART may also be referred to as fertility treatment. ART mainly belongs to the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility. Some forms of ART may be used with regard to fertile couples for genetic purpose. ART may also be used in surrogacy arrangements, although not all surrogacy arrangements involve ART.
Georgeanna Seegar Jones was an American reproductive endocrinologist who with her husband, Howard W. Jones, pioneered in vitro fertilization in the United States.
Egg donation is the process by which a woman donates eggs to enable another woman to conceive as part of an assisted reproduction treatment or for biomedical research. For assisted reproduction purposes, egg donation typically involves in vitro fertilization technology, with the eggs being fertilized in the laboratory; more rarely, unfertilized eggs may be frozen and stored for later use. Egg donation is a third party reproduction as part of assisted reproductive technology.
Reproductive medicine is a branch of medicine concerning the male and female reproductive systems. It encompasses a variety of reproductive conditions, their prevention and assessment, as well as their subsequent treatment and prognosis.
Human oocyte cryopreservation is a procedure to preserve a woman's eggs (oocytes). This technique has been used to enable women to postpone pregnancy to a later date – whether for medical reasons such as cancer treatment or for social reasons such as employment or studying. Several studies have proven that most infertility problems are due to germ cell deterioration related to aging. The uterus remains completely functional in most elderly women, which implies that the factor which needs to be preserved is the woman's eggs. The eggs are extracted, frozen and stored. The intention of the procedure is that the woman may choose to have the eggs thawed, fertilized, and transferred to the uterus as embryos to facilitate a pregnancy in the future. The procedure's success rate varies depending on the age of the woman, and ranges from 14.8 percent to 31.5 percent.
Fertility preservation is the effort to help cancer patients retain their fertility, or ability to procreate. Research into how cancer affects reproductive health and preservation options are growing, sparked in part by the increase in the survival rate of cancer patients.
Carlos Sueldo is a physician and professor of obstetrics and gynaecology (OB/GYN) for the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Sueldo is also the founder (1984) and present Director of the in vitro fertilization IVF Fertility Center. Dr. Sueldo concurrently serves as the Scientific Director at the Center for Gynecology and Reproduction (CEGYR) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is a founding board member of the World Endometriosis Research Foundation.
John Edmond Buster is an American physician who, while working at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine, directed the research team that performed the first embryo transfer from one woman to another resulting in a live birth. It was performed at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, reported in July 1983, and culminated in the announcement of the birth on February 3, 1984. In the procedure, an embryo that was just beginning to develop was transferred from the woman in whom it had been conceived by artificial insemination to another woman who gave birth to the infant 38 weeks later. The sperm used in the artificial insemination came from the husband of the woman who bore the baby.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to obstetrics:
Inna Berin is a Russian-American obstetrician and gynecologist, specializing in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the Fertility Institute of New Jersey and New York. Dr. Berin has authored several scientific publications in the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility.
Sandra Ann Carson, M.D., is the principal innovator of the first artificial human ovary. This innovation was reported in the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, and recognized by Time magazine as one of the top 10 medical breakthroughs in 2010.
Abraham Albert "Al" Yuzpe is a Canadian obstetrician-gynecologist known for his work on human fertility and emergency contraception. The Yuzpe regimen, named after him, is a method of reducing potential unwanted pregnancies, including pregnancy from rape. He published the first studies demonstrating the method's safety and efficacy in 1974.
The history of in vitro fertilisation goes back more than half a century. In 1959 the first birth in a nonhuman mammal resulting from IVF occurred, and in 1978 the world's first baby conceived by IVF was born. As medicine advanced IVF was transformed from natural research to a stimulated clinical treatment. There has been many refinements in the IVF process, and today millions of births have occurred with the help of IVF all over the world.
Peter C. Klatsky is a Doctor of Medicine specialized in reproductive endocrinology and infertility and an Assistant Professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Klatsky who is board certified in his specialty as well as in obstetrics and gynaecology, is also the Founder and CEO of Spring Fertility Management Llc, a San Francisco Bay Area fertility company. Klatsky is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs.
John Jin Zhang is a medical scientist who has made important contributions in fertility research, and particularly in in vitro fertilization. He made headlines in September 2016 for successfully producing the world's first three-parent baby using the spindle transfer technique of mitochondrial replacement. Having obtained an M.D. from Zhejiang University School of Medicine, an M.Sc. from University of Birmingham, and a Ph.D. from University of Cambridge, he became the founder-director of New Hope Fertility Center in New York, USA.
Norbert Gleicher, is an American obstetrician-gynecologist active in obstetrical practice, in vitro fertilization, reproductive endocrinology and reproductive immunology. He is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (FACOG) and the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and currently serves as President, Medical Director and Chief Scientist of the Center for Human Reproduction (CHR) in New York City, a clinical fertility center that he founded in 1981. Simultaneously, he is President of the Foundation for Reproductive Medicine, a not-for-profit research foundation. Gleicher maintains additional academic appointments at Rockefeller University, and Medical University of Vienna.
Alexander M. Feskov is a Ukrainian physician, reproductive scientist, and ultrasonographer who specialises in reproductive technology and fertility treatment.
The Center for Human Reproduction (CHR) is a fertility center located in New York City and founded by the obstetrician-gynecologist Norbert Gleicher in 1981.
