Reproductive Technology, A Advancement For Humanity:

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate November 2001

download word file, 7 pages 0.0

Reproductive technology, a advancement for humanity: Twenty five years ago infertile couples and single women had no hope of ever conceiving a child. Few researchers were looking seriously at those couples who tried for years to get pregnant without success. The first breakthrough in using reproductive technologies was in 1978, when Lesley Brown gave birth to the world's first test-tube baby (Snyder 53). In 1981, In-vitro fertilization was introduced to America. In 1986 the first baby from embryos that were frozen and thawed in the United States was born; in 1989 it was reported that a baby was born to a forty nine year old woman after menopause. Today reproductive technology is becoming more common and is a billion dollar industry and main contributor to the revolution in the control of fertility (Robertson 8). Reproductive technology is a positive advancement for humanity, despite how the practices of alternative reproduction are negitively regarded.

About twelve percent of couples in America are infertile. Medical infertility is defined when pregnancy has not occurred after one year of unprotected intercourse (Greenville Women). "Causes include higher instances of sexually infectious diseases, delayed childbearing and increased exposure to environmental toxins"� (Synder 55). This can be very tough on the relationship between partners. These couples that have to deal with this infertility problem, ride a monthly roller-coaster of waiting, hoping and disappointment. On the positive side, reproductive technology can make these people's dreams of conceiving true. Medical technologies allow these couples to choose a number of alternatives when deciding to have children. There are many new reproductive technologies that can help the pregnancy process, these include artificial insemination, In-vitro fertilization and implantation of a thawed frozen embryo. Because of the remarkable achievement in the field of reproductive medicine, more than half of all couples who are treated...