In Vitro Fertilization
The past three decades have witnessed significant advances in the field
of assisted human conception. Following the remarkable perseverance and
triumph of Robert Edwards, Patrick Steptoe, and Jean Purdy, numerous
scientists and physicians from around the world have worked to develop
more effective and safer procedures to treat infertile couples. Along with
improvements in the areas of ovarian stimulation, embryo culture, and
cryobiology, we have seen the introduction of assisted fertilization through
intracytoplasmic sperm injection, the development of techniques to remove
and perform genetic analysis on polar bodies or blastomeres, and the
enhancement of methods for assessing the viability of the developing
conceptus....
