Reproductive Technologies

BC Science Probe 9Section 4.7

Pages 134-136

Reproductive Technologies

• Reproductive technologies are changing the ways that babies are being conceived and born.

Reproductive Technologies• There are many reasons why couples are

infertile (unable to have babies):– The man may not be able to produce enough

healthy sperm.– The oviducts of the woman may be blocked.– There may not be enough of the right hormones at the right time.

Reproductive Technologies

• Most of these technologies were originally developed for agriculture (in the dairy industry).

Fertility Drugs

• Normally one egg is released at a time in females.

• Fertility drugs increase the number of eggs released.– They work by making the body produce hormones

that make more follicles ripen.– Because more eggs are released, they often cause

multiple births (twins, triplets…)

Fertility Drugs

• There are some side effects to be aware of:– Greater mood swings– Depression– Fatigue– Weight gain– Nausea– Vomiting

• And even with fertility drugs there is no guarantee of success.

Artificial Insemination

• Artificial insemination is when sperm is put into the reproductive tract of the female by some other means than sexual intercourse.

Artificial Insemination

• Several million sperm are needed to make sure fertilization happens.

• Males with a low sperm count may have to have their sperm collected over time and inserted into the female by a doctor.

Artificial Insemination

• If the male produces no sperm at all, women/couples can get sperm from a sperm bank for artificial insemination.

Artificial Insemination

• Intrauterine Insemination:– In this type of artificial insemination, sperm is

collected and placed directly into the female’s uterus instead of the vagina.

– This is done because many sperm cells die as they travel from the vagina to the oviducts so this increases the number of sperm available.

Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer

• This may be used when the female has a blocked oviduct.– Eggs are removed from the ovary and reinserted

into the oviduct on the other side of the blockage along with the male’s sperm.

In Vitro Fertilization

• Fertilization takes place outside the female’s body in a Petri dish in a lab.– Eggs are removed from the mother and allowed to

mature.– Sperm cells are added.– Embryos are inserted into the uterus.

In Vitro Fertilization

• Usually several embryos are implanted which can result in multiple births.

In Vitro Fertilization

• The embryos created from IVF can also be implanted into a female who is not the biological mother if the mother’s uterus cannot accept the embryos.– The female who carries the embryos is called the

surrogate mother.

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection

• This technique can be used when normal IVF is unsuccessful.– A single sperm is injected into the cytoplasm of a

healthy egg.• Sometimes this is needed due to low sperm count, sometimes it is because the sperm are structurally unable to swim to the egg and/or penetrate it.