The big news item yesterday was the announcement that Shoukhrat Mitalipov, a reproductive biology specialist at the Oregon Health and Science University and his colleagues produced embryonic stem cells from a human clone they produced. Their study, Human Embryonic Stem Cells Derived by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer, was published in Cell. How they made a [...]

So today (May 3, 2013) marks 3 years since my first post  and the beginning of Fertility Lab Insider- my 3 year Blogaversary if you will   My blog started out slowly–I didn’t advertise or promote it– and for the longest time, I was sure that I was blogging only for myself. But at the [...]

One of the biggest, if not the biggest, pioneer in IVF died today. Sir Robert Edwards died in his sleep today after a long illness. He was 87 years old. Here is a BBC article announcing his death.  This article about his early academic life which led, ultimately, to the clinical offering of IVF and [...]

Hello Dear Readers, Hundreds of you have emailed me privately or via a comment box over the past year with embryology lab questions regarding your IVF cycles. Many of you have expressed your appreciation for my answers which means a lot to me. I especially enjoy hearing from those of you who have been able [...]

From time to time, I am contacted by scientists –usually biologists- who want to know how they can become working embryologists or lab directors. Most of my professional life has been a crazy zig-zag of changes in direction, not because I am particularly adventuresome or easily bored, but due to changes and events beyond my [...]

POST UPDATE: Due to the overwhelming influx of survey respondents, GenePeeks has suspended the $10 gift card incentive for participation at this time. You can still use the link to contribute your feedback so that GenePeeks can create a better sperm bank, but respondents will not receive gift cards. GenePeeks is especially looking for feedback [...]

I get lots of questions from my readers, either in the comment box beneath the posts or via my contact email. I thought it might be helpful to  cross reference the most common questions with posts that address these topics. I do have a search box to find specific posts and posts are broadly arranged [...]

Andrologists performing semen analysis sometimes encounter  patients with no sperm in their ejaculate. There can be many reasons for “shooting blanks” ; the sperm factory could be closed (spermatogenesis failure) or the plumbing could be blocked (previous scarring from infection or a vasectomy) or the plumbing could actually be missing. The tubing that connects each [...]

It’s always nice to get a thumbs-up for your work. I got this email today from Lilly McCann, journalist, copywriter and representative from on-line pharmacy KwikMed. “Hi Carole, I am pleased to inform you that Fertility Lab Insider has been recognized for excellence due to the contribution its top quality editorial offers the infertility advice world. KwikMed [...]

Now for something a little different. Usually, I talk about the “how-to” of donor conception but the real heavy-lifting comes after the fact. Most IVF programs who offer third-party conception options (donor sperm, donor egg or embryo) typically encourage or require their patients to consider psychological counseling so that they have an opportunity to consider [...]