GETTING PREGNANT IN THE 80s: New Advances in Infertility Treatment and Sex Preselection

A solid, business-like update--in an area where changes in research and treatment are happening fast. As obstetrician/gynecologist Glass and research biologist Ericsson remark, no medical treatment of infertility is accepted as dogma; an educated guess is more like it. So the information here is presented as an aid to making choices. Discussing the hazy definition of infertility, the authors feel that any couple should seek help after trying for a year to conceive; they then describe diagnostic tests (simple for men, more involved and more numerous for women) and the possible causes, anatomical to endocrine, in both sexes. Also covered are miscarriage, pregnancy after 35, ectopic pregnancy, the expanding possibilities of surrogate mothers, artificial insemination, and embryo transfer. Drugs in pregnancy receive special attention: though much is now known about harmful drug effects on the fetus, and most new mothers are warned against using any drugs at all, some questionable prescribing by physicians continues (most recently in question--the anti-nausea medication Bendectin). Finally, Glass and Ericsson give the last word on sex preselection: diet, timing of conception, douching, and several other factors can be manipulated to increase the chance of having a child of the desired sex. Brisk and impersonal (for more solicitude, see Sherman J. Silber's 1980 How To Get Pregnant)--but thorough overall and unsurpassed on sex preselection.