Image credit: sscreations at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Long time ago when I was still a biology student, no one was interested in mitochondria, or thought they had anything to do with creating healthy eggs and babies. Twenty years fast forward and I have to explain mitochondria in every second blog post. What mitochondria have to do with three-parent babies The [...]
Image courtesy: adamr at FreeDigitalPhotos.net I was 35, when I first tried to get pregnant. I felt awesome at the time, my career was blossoming, my partner was the right one. For the first time in my life, nothing serious stood in the way of me finally becoming a mother. Periods continued coming as usual; not only that [...]
Image credit: sakhorn38 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net The Damaging Effects of UV Light on Fertility? I've seen the title last week and instincivelly did not like it at all. After having spent over a decade in vitamin D research, I became convinced that the root of many health problems derive from the fact that people are getting too little sunshine and not too [...]
Photo credit: David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART), better known as in-vitro-fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), involve manipulation of several steps of conception, from the stimulation of gamete production to the culture of embryos in the laboratory. A whole lot of manipulation as the matter of fact. These manipulations include: the use [...]
Image credit: apolonia at FreeDigitalPhotos.net There are some pretty crazy ideas out there in the world, such as if you sleep with a knife under your mattress you’ll have a boy child. Utterly ridiculous but people in some cultures do it. Also the doggy style position is recommended to couples who wish to conceive a boy (which is [...]
Image credit: digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Starting a family is one of the most common dreams of women all around the world. Modern medicine has not only extended our lifespan as human beings, but has allowed women to wait a little longer before jumping right into the bandwagon of partnership and baby-making. Women are now able to finish [...]
Photo credit: imagerymajestic at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is the collection of strategies to conceive a child, and includes a batery of actions available to those suffering from infertility. Fertility treatmens which occur entirely outside of the body are in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). IVF is the fertilization of an egg by a [...]
Image courtesy: jomphong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Are antidepressants safe to take during pregnancy? When women hear that I am a cell biologist and have worked in the field of psychiatry for several years, this sort of question often comes up: Are antidepressants safe for women who are trying to conceive? Should I take SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) [...]
