The ASRM Patient Fact Sheet is a series produced under the direction of the ASRM Patient Education Committee and the Publications Committee.
These fact sheets may be printed and distributed to patients to enhance patient education as long as the text is not altered and proper credit must be attributed to ASRM. Additional copies of booklets can be purchased in the ASRM Store.
Some Patient Education Fact Sheets are available en Español and 中文版本.
Posted Feb 28, 2017
Sometimes the uterus and fallopian tubes may not form like they should. These malformations are called müllerian anomalies or defects. Müllerian anomalies may make it difficult or impossible to become pregnant.
Posted Feb 28, 2017
While the embryo develops, it is surrounded by cells that make up a protective shell (zona pellucida). The embryo naturally breaks out of this shell as it grows. Occasionally, the doctor may ask the laboratory to make a small “crack” in the outer shell of the embryo right before it is placed into the woman’s body (assisted hatching).
Posted Feb 28, 2017
This booklet will help you understand in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) that have become accepted medical treatments for infertility.
Posted Feb 28, 2017
Third-party reproduction is an arrangement where a person or couple receives help from other(s) to have a child. This help can be in the form of donated eggs, sperm, or embryos; carrying the pregnancy; or a combination of these types of reproductive assistance.
Posted Mar 09, 2017
As women get older, they may encounter difficulty getting pregnant (conceiving) with a healthy baby. Women are born with about 1-2 million eggs. Most of the eggs die off naturally (just like the way we lose skin and hair cells every day).
Posted Mar 09, 2017
There are many psychological, social, and economic issues associated with multiple pregnancies.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
More lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals and couples are deciding to have children. Many of these individuals and couples choosing to build a family through assisted reproductive technology (ART) have concerns about how to best nurture and protect their children.
Posted Mar 09, 2017
CBRC is traveling from where you live to another country to obtain reproductive services and treatment.
Posted Mar 09, 2017
Infertility is “the inability to conceive after 12 months of unprotected intercourse.”
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Egg donation is when a woman (donor) gives her eggs to another woman (recipient) to allow the recipient to have a baby. To donate eggs, the donor must be given medications that will cause her to develop multiple eggs over a single cycle.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Yes! New technology lets your doctor remove and freeze eggs, fertilized eggs (embryos), or ovarian tissue before treating your cancer. This way, you may be able to have children after your treatment.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Infertility treatments that cause multiple eggs to develop make it more likely that you will become pregnant with twins, triplets, or more. This is called multiple gestation.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Gamete and embryo donation is using eggs, sperm, or embryos from someone else in order to help an intended parent(s) have a child. Intended parent is the term used for the person(s) who will raise the child(ren).
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Birth defects, which occur in nearly one in 20 pregnancies, range in severity from minor anatomic abnormalities to extensive genetic disorders or mental retardation. Some couples have a greater than average risk of having a child with a birth defect.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
A gestational carrier (GC), also called a gestational surrogate, is an arrangement where a woman carries and delivers a child for another couple or person (intended parent[s]). When using a GC, the eggs used to make the embryos do not come from the carrier.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Infertility is typically defined as the inability to achieve pregnancy after one year of unprotected intercourse.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Posted Mar 10, 2017
This can be confusing since the terms are often used interchangeably in the media and casual conversation. However, they are very different.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Multiple births are much more common today than they were in the past. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the twin birth rate has increased by over 75% since 1980, and triplet, quadruplet, and high-order multiple births have increased at an even higher rate.
Posted Mar 13, 2017
Posted Mar 14, 2017
Posted Mar 13, 2017
When a woman undergoes in vitro fertilization (IVF), she is usually given medicines to stimulate her ovaries to develop more than one egg at a time. Typically, all the eggs that are collected are fertilized with sperm.