title: Recent advances in infertility treatment.
abstract: Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after one year of regular coitus without contraception. Approximately 10% to 20% of childbearing-age couples are infertile in the United States. The demand for infertility investigations has increased dramatically in recent decades. The number of women using infertility services rose from 600,000 in 1968 to 1.35 million in 1988, an increase due, in part, to improved technology and increased publicity that began in the early 1980s. By 1995, the numbers were about 2.7 million. Recent advances in assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have provided greater possibilities for successful infertility treatment. Examples of new technologies include intracytoplasmic sperm injection, oocyte donation, and embryo cryopreservation.
authors.affiliation: Division of Reproductive Endocrinology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Session
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Hammitt
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Damario
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Dumesic
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007246:Infertility / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012099:Reproductive Techniques / Q000639:trends*; D016896:Treatment Outcome