Understanding gestational surrogacy in the United States: a primer for obstetricians and gynecologists.

As gestational surrogacy (a process by which intended parents contract with a woman to carry a fetus that the intended parents will raise) increases across the United States, it is imperative that obstetrician/gynecologists understand the unique nuances of caring for patients who are gestational surrogates. Gestational surrogacy offers a route to parenthood for individuals and families who may otherwise have limited options. Understanding surrogacy requires multiple ethical considerations about the potential medical and psychosocial effects on gestational surrogates as well as the families built through surrogacy.

Embryo transfer by reproductive endocrinology fellows vs attending physicians: are live birth rates comparable?

Objective: To compare live birth rates following ultrasound-guided embryo transfer (ET) by reproductive endocrinology and infertility fellows versus attending physicians.

Study Design: Women who underwent their first day-3, fresh, nondonor ET between Oct. 1, 2005, and April 1, 2011, at our academic center were included in this retrospective cohort study.

Infertility patients' knowledge of the effects of obesity on reproductive health outcomes.

Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the infertility patient knowledge of reproductive outcomes affected by obesity.

Study Design: This was a prospective survey study of 150 female infertility patients in an academic medical center. Subjects were administered the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine-Short Form and a questionnaire on the health risks of obesity, and investigators obtained height and weight measurements.

Knowledge of obesity and its impact on reproductive health outcomes among urban women.

This prospective survey study assessed the knowledge of reproductive outcomes that are affected by obesity among women in an urban community. A total of 207 women attending a community fair on the south side of Chicago participated in the study. A survey assessing knowledge of BMI and of the effects of obesity on general, cardiometabolic and reproductive health outcomes was administered.

Characterization of functionally typical and atypical types of polycystic ovary syndrome.

Context: The typical polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) phenotype includes 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) hyperresponsiveness to GnRH agonist (GnRHag) testing. Functionally atypical PCOS lacks this feature.

Objective: The hypothesis was tested that the typical PCOS ovarian dysfunction results from intrinsically increased sensitivity to LH/human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) due to a flaw in FSH action.

Disclosure decisions among pregnant women who received donor oocytes: a phenomenological study.

Objective: To investigate the controversy surrounding disclosure among donor oocyte recipients. This controversy is escalating worldwide, yet little research has sought to understand the disclosure experience of pregnant, donor oocyte recipient women. This study aims to provide an in-depth description of the disclosure experience, and identify factors that were significant to recipient women which influenced their reasoning as they formulated disclosure decisions.

Studies of gene expression in human cumulus cells indicate pentraxin 3 as a possible marker for oocyte quality.

Objective: To search for differentially expressed genes in cumulus cells from two groups of oocytes with different developmental outcome in vitro.

Design: Analyses of gene expression in human cumulus cells from oocytes that failed to fertilize in vitro (group A) and those that developed into normal-appearing embryos on day 3 (group B).

Setting: University-based facilities for clinical service and research.

The diagnosis and management of hirsutism.

Approximately 10% of women of childbearing age are hirsute, which is defined as the presence of coarse terminal hairs in androgen-dependent areas on the face and body. It not only is a source of psychological discomfort but also may be a sign of an underlying medical condition. This article reviews the pathophysiology, diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of hirsutism.

The role of LH and FSH in ovarian androgen secretion and ovarian follicular development: clinical studies in a patient with isolated FSH deficiency and multicystic ovaries.

Inactivating mutations have proven to be instructive in elucidating the role of FSH in human ovarian function. We performed a detailed reproductive endocrine evaluation of a patient with inactivating mutations in the FSH beta-subunit gene who was hypo-estrogenic and had LH excess. The patient underwent a pelvic ultrasound and overnight frequent blood sampling followed by a human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) stimulation test.