(http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/a/artificial_insemination.asp )

Infertility & Reproductive Technologies Rels 300 / Nurs 33029 October 2015

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Affects approximately 1 out of every 8 (some say 6) couples in Canada

Medically defined as inability to conceive after one year of unprotected intercourse

Incidence is lower for women between the ages of 18 and 29, and greater for women between 30 and 44

May be broadened to include people who desire to have children, but who are not in stable heterosexual relationships – e.g., single persons, lesbian women or couples, gay males or couples

Infertility

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Sexually transmitted infections Smoking (both women and men) Delayed childbearing Exposure to harmful agents

Workplace and environmental toxic substances Alcohol and substance use Weight (obesity and malnourishment), eating

disorders, exercise, stress Medical interventions (e.g., cancer treatment) Endometriosis

Medical causes of infertility

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FEMALE FACTORS: Blocked fallopian tubes Irregular or absent ovulation Endometriosis Cervical irregularities, e.g., hostile

cervical mucus Uterine fibroids or polyps Hormonal imbalances Early menopause Age (+ 35) STI history Cancer treatments (chemo,

radiation, surgery)

Specific Reproductive Causes of Infertility

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Low sperm counts, or no sperm

Low motility rates / low rate of movement

Abnormal morphology of sperm / physical abnormalities

STI history Hormonal imbalances Cancer treatments:

chemo, radiation or surgery

Male factors in infertility

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30% of infertile couples are infertile due to male causes

40% are infertile due to female causes 20% are infertile due to a mix of male

and female factors 10% - no specific cause of infertility

can be found

Male or female factors?

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Adoption Do you have an adopted child in your family? What was the process for adopting this child? How is this child treated in your family? How does this child feel about being

adopted? What are the best things about adoption? Are there any down-sides to adoption?

Responding to Infertility

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What reasons do individuals or couples have for rejecting adoption as a solution to their infertility?

Personal reasons? Social reasons? Biological reasons? Genetic reasons? Additional considerations?

Why not adoption?

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There are medical conditions that contribute to infertility

There are reproductive technologies that correct, overcome or circumvent the medical condition

However, many reproductive technologies result in babies for infertile persons or couples without addressing the cause of infertility

Is infertility a medical condition?

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Success in overcoming the medical condition of infertility is measured by the provision of a child

With a series of interventions that become increasingly technological, male and female infertility factors are largely circumvented, rather than corrected

Reproductive services arose within and are aligned with research agenda designed to ultimately create human life outside of the human body

Minimal primary research is being done on the medical condition of infertility

How is success measured?

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Why do individuals and couples desire to have children?

Divine commandment to “be fruitful and multiply”To provide a future for a religious, racial or cultural

communityTo ensure a genetic heritage for future generationsAs evidence of mature and responsible adult statusTo demonstrate or strengthen a couple’s loveTo satisfy a deep hunger or longing for a baby

Social dimensions of infertility

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(5:23) https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/on-infertile-ground--5

1 in 6 couples face infertility.Most suffer in silence,

too ashamed to tell friends and family.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JfK_4u80nY

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“Reasons for wanting children included motherhood as ‘natural instinct’, as ‘a stage in the development of a relationship’ and as ‘social expectation’. These were used to construct motherhood as physical, psychological and social completeness and fulfilment for women. Consequently, infertility was experienced as guilt, inadequacy and failure, reinforced by the language used to describe infertility.”

“Motherhood and Infertility: Viewing Motherhood through the Lens of Infertility” by Miriam Ulrich & Ann Weatherall (Feminism Psychology August 2000 [10:3] 323-336)

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Rainy with a chance of baby Kara DeFrias TEDxCoMo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_stv_YOJ5Y [14:39]

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oDo individuals/ couples have a right to reproduce?

oIs this a universal human right, like the right to life?

Reproductive rights

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A person’s or couple’s inability to become pregnant should be understood as:

Reproductive rights

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Yes, the right to reproduce is a universal human right, because…

No, the right to reproduce is not a universal human right, because…

“A woman in Sweden has given birth to a baby boy using a transplanted womb, in a medical first.” IVF to produce 11 embryos, which

were frozen Uterus donated by a friend in her 60s Drugs used to suppress the immune

system 1 year after transplant, doctors

transferred one of the frozen embryos to the woman’s womb

Due to toxicity of immunosuppressant drugs, uterus will later be removed

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29485996; 4 October 2014 First womb-transplant baby bornBy James Gallagher Health editor, BBC News

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The baby will "give hope" to those wanting children,say the transplant team

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141007092110.htm World's first child born after uterus transplantationOctober 7, 2014; University of Gothenburg

“The uterus transplantation research project at the University of Gothenburg [in Sweden] started in 1999.” 9 women have received uterine transplants from live

donors – mostly family members, some friends 7 successful, 2 not successful Other women still trying for successful pregnancy and

birth

What would cause a woman not to have a uterus?Why would some women choose this experimental treatment instead of adopting or using a surrogate mother?

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A journey through infertility -- over terror's edge Camille Preston

TEDxBeaconStreet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BBmMtVfZ4Y

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http://www.cbc.ca/keepingcanadaalive/

http://www.cbc.ca/keepingcanadaalive?timecode=060440