ART in the News: IVF is not so easy, fertility coaching, and more

Stanford researchers try to improve IVF odds.  This weekend, the first baby in the U.K. guaranteed not to have the breast cancer gene was born. So where will genetic screening lead? Slashdot debates.  California wants to pay women for eggs for stem cell research.  A Minnesota woman tries to conceive her husband’s...

Two Bits of Good News

Here’s a welcome development: India is working on legislation to address the recent boom in surrogate motherhood there: Concerned with an increasing number of foreigners coming to India to rent a womb, the government is planning to come out with regulations to ensure legal and medical rights to surrogate mothers and children born...

More Controversy Over Britain’s Donor Anonymity Law

The number of treatments with donor sperm has dropped to record lows since Britain banned donor anonymity in 2005, reports the London Daily Mail: The first official figures since the Government removed anonymity from donors in 2005 show that the number of women treated with donated sperm fell by about 20 per cent from 2,727 in 2005 to...

More on the Canadian Registry

Today in the Globe & Mail, three professors are protesting a decision by the Quebec Court of Appeal to nullify parts of the federal Assisted Human Reproduction Act: The children of assisted reproduction must be the clear priority because they are the most affected for the longest time. The wishes of many are clear: to know their...

A Human Right to Know Your Father?

Canada is working to create a national sperm donor registry, according to the London Free Press. For now, donors will be allowed to remain anonymous: Sweden was the first country in 1986 to pass a law requiring donor information be collected and the identity provided to children. The U.K. passed a similar law in 2005. Canada is now...

ART in the News: Solo “daddies,” too posh to adopt?, and more

CDC: One in every 100 U.S. babies is a test-tube baby.  Solo “daddies”: More men are going it alone.  52-year-old woman gives birth to her own grandchildren.  “Children–It’s now or never.”  Too posh to adopt?  “More little Quebecers, more little taxpayers?” But if...

The “Wrong” Sexual Orientation?

A terrific article by Will Saletan on the coming “chemical wars” over sexual orientation: Last year, Rev. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote: “If a biological basis is found, and if a prenatal test is then developed, and if a successful treatment to reverse the sexual...

ART in the News: Million-dollar babies, embryo adoption, and more

Will same-sex marriage lead to a “brave new world?” Doug Kmiec says yes.  Million-dollar babies: When is early intervention too early?  Don’t cry for my fertility.  Cancer patients opt to preserve sperm and eggs.  The British Fertility Society questions the efficacy of embryo screening. ...