High-Tech Conception: A Comprehensive Handbook for Consumers by Brian Kearney (Preface) Purchase at:  Amazon.com  Format: Paperback, 1st ed., 384pp.  ISBN: 0553378996 Publisher: Bantam Books, Incorporated  Pub. Date: April 1998

Description from Amazon.com

Book Description

Five million Americans want children but cannot conceive. One million couples seek infertility treatment every year, almost always without prior knowledge of the physical, emotional, and financial costs of high-tech conception (as a rule it is not covered by insurance), and without any way to judge the hard-sell come-ons of what is now a $2-billion, for-profit, unregulated industry that preys on their desperate hopes by promising outcomes that are all too rarely successful. This authoritative, lucid, balanced, and forthright book describes the very latest information on high-tech conception, with information on techniques of fertilization, the latest research, and the nature and risks of the potent drugs used to assist in fertilization and implantation. Its goal is to help infertile individuals become informed consumers by describing the different procedures, and showing them how to interpret and compare clinics' claimed success rates; examine the factors that affect success; critically assess the safety of the different techniques both for the mothers and the babies born through such procedures; and understand the importance of genetic screening in in vitro fertilization.

Back Cover

If you are among the millions of Americans who want children but have been unable to conceive, this book is for you. If none of the low-tech approaches have worked and you are considering in-vitro fertilization or one of the newer techniques, this is the book you need before beginning your quest for treatment. Providing lucid, balanced, forthright, and thorough information about high-tech conception, it includes guidelines for choosing the right approach for your type of infertility, help in making a realistic appraisal of your chance of success, critical assessments of both the benefits and risks of the newer technologies, detailed step-by-step explanations of the procedures themselves, full-scale profiles of the highly potent drugs used to stimulate ovulation, groundbreaking information on the critically important process of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, and much more.

Description from BarnesandNoble.com

Annotation

"...discusses techniques appropriate for each type of fertility, step-by-step procedures, the nature & risks of drugs used, the process of prenatal genetic diagnosis, & how to assess the safety & claimed success rates of clinics"

From the Publisher

Five million Americans want children but cannot conceive. One million couples seek infertility treatment every year, almost always without prior knowledge of the physical, emotional, and financial costs of high-tech conception (as a rule it is not covered by insurance), and without any way to judge the hard-sell come-ons of what is now a $2-billion, for-profit, unregulated industry that preys on their desperate hopes by promising outcomes that are all too rarely successful. This authoritative, lucid, balanced, and forthright book describes the very latest information on high-tech conception, with information on techniques of fertilization, the latest research, and the nature and risks of the potent drugs used to assist in fertilization and implantation. Its goal is to help infertile individuals become informed consumers by describing the different procedures, and showing them how to interpret and compare clinics' claimed success rates; examine the factors that affect success; critically assess the safety of the different techniques both for the mothers and the babies born through such procedures; and understand the importance of genetic screening in in vitro fertilization.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

I Reproduction and Infertility   1

1 Normal Reproduction   3

2 Infertility and Reproductive Disorders   10

3 Diagnosing Infertility   16

II Issues in High-Tech Conception   19

4 Deciding When High-Tech Conception Is Appropriate   21

5 Interpreting and Comparing Success Rates   30

6 Choosing a Clinic   46

7 Evaluating the Quality of Fertility Information   57

III Techniques Used in High-Tech Conception   71

8 Ovulation Induction   73

9 In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)   90

10 Tubal Transfer Techniques   101

Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer (GIFT)   101

Zygote Intrafallopian Transfer (ZIFT)   109

11 Treatments for Male-Factor Infertility   112

Partial Zona Dissection (PZD)   113

Subzonal Insemination (SUZI)   114

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)   115

Surgical Retrieval of Sperm for Microinjection   128

Spermatid Injection   133

12 Luteal Phase Support   136

13 Assisted Hatching   140

14 Co-culture of Embryos   143

15 Cryopreservation   147

16 Oocyte Donation/Donor Egg IVF   157

17 Immunotherapy   164

18 Immature Oocyte Retrieval/Maturation   178

19 Multifetal Pregnancy Reduction   181

IV Drugs Used in High-Tech Conception  187

20 Aspirin   191

21 Bromocriptine   195

22 Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG)   200

23 Clomiphene   204

24 Danazol   209

25 Doxycycline   212

26 Follitropin (rFSH)   215

27 Gonadorelin (GnRH)   220

28 Heparin   223

29 Immune Globulin (IVIg)   227

30 Leuprolide   231

31 Menotropins (hMG)   235

32 Methotrexate   242

33 Nafarelin   246

34 Progesterone 250

35 Urofollitropin (FSH)   253

V The Safety of High-Tech Conception  259

36 Risks of Ovulation Drugs   264

37 Risks of Surgical Procedures in Assisted Reproduction   274

38 Risks of High-Tech Pregnancies   276

39 Risks of Genetic Defects in IVF Children   286

VI Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis   291

40 Genetics Review   294

41 Genetic Diseases   299

42 Prenatal Genetic Testing   305

43 Current Use of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis   308

44 Preconception Diagnosis   315

Resources   319

Notes   323

Glossary   327

Index   349