An indispensable practical tool for embryologists and reproductive medicine specialists seeking to offer their patients this revolutionary treatment option.

Human oocyte cryopreservation has undergone rapid growth, with technical improvement and increasing clinical application over the last ten years. Storing eggs is ethical and gives many young women their most realistic chance of conception. Cryopreservation, however, is still considered by many as an experimental technique and conflicting reports are published as to its efficacy. For these reasons, it is necessary to give reproductive researchers and practitioners comprehensive and systematic information about the field. This book describes and analyses the history of human oocyte freezing, the main steps of technical evolution, and the pros and cons of different techniques. In addition, the clinical applications, long-term outcome, efficiency and safety of oocyte cryopreservation are detailed. The Handbook of Human Oocyte Cryopreservation gives a complete picture of the field today and is a valuable text for embryologists, cryobiologists, reproductive medicine practitioners and anyone involved in researching and implementing the technique.

This volume describes culture media and solutions used in human ART; how they have been developed for in vitro human pre-implantation embryo development, the function and importance of the various components in media and solutions and how they interact, and how the systems in which these are used can influence outcomes. Chapters discuss inorganic solutes, energy substrates, amino acids, macromolecules, cytokines, growth factors, buffers, pH, osmolality, and the interaction of these parameters. The role of incubators and other physical factors are reviewed, along with the relevance and prospects of emerging technologies: morphokinetic analysis using time-lapse imaging and dynamic fluid incubation systems. Results of prospective randomized trials are emphasized to ascertain the added value of these techniques for selecting viable embryos. This comprehensive guide will be invaluable for embryologists, physicians and all personnel involved in the fluid products used in human ART seeking to optimize their successful use of these components.

Welcomed as liberation and dismissed as exploitation, egg freezing (oocyte cryopreservation) has rapidly become one of the most widely-discussed and influential new reproductive technologies of this century. In Freezing Fertility, Lucy van de Wiel takes us inside the world of fertility preservation—with its egg freezing parties, contested age limits, proactive anticipations and equity investments—and shows how the popularization of egg freezing has profound consequences for the way in which female fertility and reproductive aging are understood, commercialized and politicized. Beyond an individual reproductive choice for people who may want to have children later in life, Freezing Fertility explores how the rise of egg freezing also reveals broader cultural, political and economic negotiations about reproductive politics, gender inequities, age normativities and the financialization of healthcare. Van de Wiel investigates these issues by analyzing a wide range of sources—varying from sparkly online platforms to heart-breaking court cases and intimate autobiographical accounts—that are emblematic of each stage of the egg freezing procedure. By following the egg’s journey, Freezing Fertility examines how contemporary egg freezing practices both reflect broader social, regulatory and economic power asymmetries and repoliticize fertility and aging in ways that affect the public at large. In doing so, the book explores how the possibility of egg freezing shifts our relation to the beginning and end of life.

The new edition of this text admirably fills the need for a primer on the central topics involved in Human In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Supplying a comprehensive and hands-on approach to IVF, this source presents established state-of-the-art procedures and techniques, as well as the most current research in the field. Expert contributors also discuss the history of IVF and the potential of future research. Offering essential information for reproductive endocrinologists, IVF practitioners and embryologists, this book guides readers though every step of human assisted conception, from patient pre-treatment to monitoring of outcomes.

The specialty of fertility preservation offers patients with cancer, who are rendered infertile by chemo- and radiotherapy, the opportunity to realize their reproductive potential. This gold-standard publication defines the specialty. The full range of techniques and scientific concepts is covered in detail, and the author team includes many of the world's leading experts in the field. The book opens with introductions to fertility preservation in both cancer and non-cancer patients, followed by cancer biology, epidemiology and treatment, and reproductive biology and cryobiology. Subsequent sections cover fertility preservation strategies in males and females, including medical/surgical procedures, ART, cryopreservation and transplantation of both ovarian tissue and the whole ovary, and in-vitro follicle growth and maturation. Concluding chapters address future technologies, as well as ethical, legal and religious issues. Richly illustrated throughout, this is a key resource for all clinicians specializing in reproductive medicine, gynecology, oncology, hematology, endocrinology and infertility.

An essential, practical guide for clinicians treating patients with infertility.

The most profound dilemma in assisted reproduction to date is the inability to recognize potentially viable embryos before their replacement into the reproductive tract. Application of increasingly advanced new technology has allowed the field of embryo evaluation to evolve rapidly and dramatically over the past five years.Human Preimplantation Emb

Now in its revised and expanded second edition - including over 20 new chapters - this comprehensive textbook remains a unique and accessible description of the current and developing diagnostic and treatment techniques and technologies comprising in vitro fertilization (IVF). Arranged thematically in sections, each chapter covers a key topic in IVF in a sensible presentation. Parts one and two describe the planning, design and organization of an ART unit and IVF laboratory and equipment and systems, respectively. The sections that follow provide detailed descriptions of IVF techniques, embryo culture methods, sperm processing and selection, insemination procedures, micromanipulation, embryo evaluation, cryopreservation, and embryo transfer. Concluding sections address issues of management and regulation of ART labs across the globe, as well as special topics and emerging techniques and devices. Chapter authors, all experts in the field, contribute their expertise from around the world. With the addition of learning key points and review questions at the beginning and end of each chapter, this new edition of In Vitro Fertilization is a readily accessible, high quality instructional resource for reproductive medicine trainees at all levels. Practicing reproductive endocrinologists, urologists, and embryologists also will find value in the book, as will infertility researchers.

Advances in technology now offer promising solutions to deal with the chronological aging of the cell, tissue or organ to synchronize its existence and its use. This book covers the developments in and benefits of the latest vitrification technology and its extensive applications in reproductive medicine. Protocols of gametes (oocyte and sperm), embryos, blastocysts and ovarian tissue cryopreservation have been reviewed by leaders in the field. In order to address the escalation in cross-border reproductive tourism entailing the transfer of reproductive cells and tissues rather than the patient, the challenges, caution and emerging possibilities of nitrogen vapor shipment of vitrified cells have been discussed. Current perspectives on oocyte banking present the reader with options and solutions to effectively utilize these gametes despite the physiological deterrents.The versatile applications and potential of vitrification of human embryonic stem cells, discussed in the concluding chapter, is an exciting reality offered by vitrification to help overcome numerous stumbling blocks in the management of various disorders.