High-Tech Conception: A Comprehensive Handbook For Consumers - Softcover

Kearney, Brian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553378996 ISBN 13: 9780553378993

Publisher: Bantam, 1998

Synopsis

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.

About this title

From the 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.

From Booklist

Five million couples in the U.S. are said to want a baby but can't conceive one without help. An increasing number of specialists are responding to their predicaments through techniques of high-tech conception--that is, a procedure requiring removal of eggs from the ovaries. Kearney's handbook provides potential high-tech customers with information for critically assessing the potentials and risks of the various techniques. He outlines the limits of present knowledge and explains how to evaluate claims made in ads, the media, and scientific reports. Since the high-tech conception field is highly competitive, making evaluations is vital to achieving the desired outcome. Kearney navigates an alphabet soup that includes hCG and FSH (both drugs) and ROSI and SUZI (treatments for male-factor infertility) as he imparts useful information on techniques and the drugs that can be used at different stages of them. He also advises on choosing a physician and a clinic, and he points out that any long-term effects of high-tech conception are not yet known. William Beatty

Edition details

• Publisher: Bantam
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0553378996
• ISBN 13: 9780553378993
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384