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Lauren and Warren Woodward had been married for less than four years when they learned that Warren had leukemia in January 1993. See Woodward v. Commissioner of Social Security, 760 N.E.2d 257, 260 (Mass. 2002). Childless at the time, the couple decided to clinically preserve Warren's sperm because of the possibility that the leukemia treatment could render him sterile. Warren did not survive the treatment and died in October 1993. Approximately two years after Warren's death, Lauren gave birth to twin girls -- conceived through artificial insemination using Warren's preserved semen. Several months later, Ms. Woodward applied for Social Security...

Mice have been used to produce viable monkey sperm using tissue transplanted from the testes of macaques. The US scientists involved say their work might one day help to conserve animals that are facing extinction. It might also be possible to grow human sperm in mice, although the team agree this would be a controversial move. The researchers, from the universities of Pennsylvania and California, report their studies in the latest issue of the journal Biology of Reproduction. In 2002, the same team produced goat and pig sperm from mice. It was the first time that sperm had been produced...

OF MICE AND MENMan not needed to make baby?Researchers grow sperm from stem cells, fertilize eggs Posted: December 10, 20033:42 p.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Scientists have moved a step closer to creating life in a petri dish – without the use of a man. Researchers at Harvard Medical School say they've succeeded in turning mouse embryonic stem cells into primitive sperm cells, and then used the sperm cells to fertilize eggs. According to the British journal Nature, George Daley and his colleagues took tail-less precursors of sperm cells, cultured them for a week in a dish of retinoic acid (which caused...

Scientists Create Sperm From Stem Cells By RICK CALLAHAN, Associated Press Writer Scientists say they have turned mouse embryonic stem cells into primitive sperm cells — and then used the sperm cells to fertilize eggs. The scientific team's work could offer insights into male infertility and boost human stem cell research. The sperm cells were not fully developed sperm, but rather their tail-less precursors. When they were injected into eggs, the eggs developed into embryos. Scientists are now studying whether such embryos can develop into live-born mice. The team was led by Dr. George Q. Daley of Harvard Medical School...

Determining at what point life begins in the womb. To resolve the issue, then, let us take a look at life as it is born into the world. The new baby, most of the time, is said to be "alive," depending upon various and sundry "vital- signs, "Vital" from "vivus" being LAtin for "life, living." Yet, we do not conclude that the baby "became" alive at the moment of birth, for then we must concern ourselves with the prebirth "kicking" of the babe in the womb. Is it alive? Or is it just "thinking about life to come? ("For lo,...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian researchers said on Sunday they had conducted a successful experiment using two hormones to suppress sperm production, which they said could lead to the first injectable male contraceptive. Men in the trial of 55 couples received hormone treatment over the course of a year using a combination of the male hormone testosterone and progestin, which is used in female contraceptive pills. Scientists from Sydney's ANZAC Research Institute and the Prince Henry Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne said the aim of the trial had been to "switch off" male sperm production. None of the men's partners...

Sperm Prevents Ovarian Cancer SEPTEMBER 14, 2003 22:57 by Jin-Han Lee (likeday@donga.com) A medical team in the nation has found for the first time that male sperm has ingredients to kill ovarian cancer cells. As a result, some point out that male sperm may be the reason why sexually inactive women, whether single or married, are more likely to have ovarian cancer than sexually active women. In addition, the finding sets the stage for ovarian cancer treatment. Bae Seok-nyon, a gynecology professor at the medical school of Catholic University, and Park Lae-ok, a researcher, removed spermatozoon from sperm, extracted three...

The birth of the first internet spermbank baby was announced yesterday - a healthy boy whose arrival exposes a hole in the regulations that govern fertility treatment. The 10lb 2oz boy was the result of a purchase of sperm by a couple in the south-east of England from a British-based website which claims to be the only one of its kind. ManNotIncluded.com is able to bypass all the rules and the scrutiny that fertility clinics have to endure because it does not offer treatment - it acts only as an introduction agency, to bring together men willing to sell their...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Men produce more mutant sperm as they get older, but U.S. researchers said on Tuesday they found to their surprise that some of these mutations give the sperm an edge. The deformed sperm increase the risk of disease in the men's offspring, but nonetheless are likely to beat out their healthy counterparts in the race to fertilize the egg, the researchers said. The team at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore was trying to explain why a rare genetic disease called Apert syndrome is more common in children born to older fathers. Apert syndrome is marked by webbed...

Men are today warned that smoking cannabis could affect their fertility. Scientists have uncovered new evidence that the drug upsets the male reproductive system. They fear it could reduce the amount of testosterone - which plays a key role in sperm production - produced by the body. It may have a serious impact on the body's natural hormones and they want more research to assess the risk. The warning comes in a study by scientists at Aberdeen University, who examined the impact of cannabis on male mice. The animals, whose reproductive systems are similar to those of humans, were injected...

ASSOCIATED PRESS MADRID, Spain, June 29 — New research suggests there is little value in couples abstaining from sex to improve their chances of conceiving by saving sperm for the woman's most fertile time of the month. In a study to be presented Monday at a European fertility conference, Israeli scientists provide the strongest evidence yet that men with low sperm counts can significantly reduce sperm quality by holding back for longer than a day or two. They found that the performance for men with normal fertility tests remained the same whether they abstained from sex for one, two or...

Couple to have first 'Internet baby' By Elaine Galloway, Evening Standard 27 June 2003 Britain's first known DIY internet baby will be born next month, it was revealed today. A married couple from the South-East conceived the child using sperm bought from a website. After paying a fee to browse the site, they were able to check criteria such as race, eye colour, height and weight of prospective donors, as well as details about their background, educational history and artistic ability. They were then sent a home ovulation kit. When the woman, who is in her twenties, was at her...

LONDON (Reuters) - Handsome men produce the best quality semen and beautiful women seem to have good voices, according to scientists. When researchers at the University of Valencia in Spain tested the quality of male sperm and then later asked women to rank the attractiveness of the donors it produced some interesting results. "They found that men with the most attractive faces also make the best quality sperm," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday. In another study, researchers at the University of Nottingham in England compared the quality of female voices and their facial features. After playing recordings of 30...

Lead Levels Linked to Male Infertility MANHASSET, New York, February 6, 2003 (ENS) - Fertility experts today published the first conclusive evidence that lead is linked to male infertility. A report a European medicine journal, "Human Reproduction," concludes that exposure to lead damages sperm function and may be one cause of unexplained male infertility cases. The findings have led principal investigator Dr. Susan Benoff to urge doctors to measure lead in semen samples when evaluating men from couples with unexplained fertility. She said she also believes there is a case for health and safety authorities to continue reevaluating environmental...

This is the third entry of my Left Wing College experience. This class session focused less on politics and more on the judical system, and knowing the difference between civil and common law. However there were many political comments thrown in, and I will mention those. He opened up by saying this was going to be a discussion on ideas. Then he said "that thank god Clinton only lied about something as small as sex, rather than selling arms to Iran and lying about it" I piped up by saying "or selling nuclear secrets to China" He then went on...

Put down the lipstick if you value his sperm December 10 2002 at 07:32AM By Laura MacInnis Washington - Everyday exposure to a chemical ingredient used to preserve many cosmetics and fragrances may contribute to sperm damage in adult men, according to a study published on Monday. In one of the first studies of the effects of substances known as phthalates on humans, Harvard University researchers found signs of correlation between exposure to a common type of the chemical and damage to the DNA of human sperm. The study, published in the government journal Environmental Health Perspectives, does not show...

Health Canada's mandatory new inspection program has detected widespread problems in sperm banks, including a failure to meet government testing requirements, and donor semen that was erroneously released from quarantine. Documents obtained under the Access to Information Act also found that one Toronto clinic allowed an overage donor -- likely exposed to Hepatitis B -- to provide semen to a same-sex couple. The Whitehorse Medical Clinic flunked its June 12 inspection and is the only clinic suspended from using its semen supply. With one exception, inspectors found the clinic kept no records detailing which semen was used in patients. "They...

Sperm donor shortage alarms 12 May 2002 By ROBYN MCLEAN An increasing number of lesbians want children, but sperm donors are unwilling to donate to same-sex couples. Apart from lengthy waits for couples wanting sperm, there are also fears New Zealand's small donor pool many have dangerous consequences. Many children of same-sex couples socialise with each other as they grow up, raising the possibility that as adults, some may enter relationships not realising they share the same father. Doctor Liz Harding admits the issue raises fears among lesbian mothers and hopes more sperm donors will come forward to reduce the...

Source: University Of Southern California (http://www.usc.edu/) Date: Posted 4/22/2002 USC Researchers Find Ozone Lowers Sperm Counts RANCHO MIRAGE, CA, April 19, 2002 -- Ozone appears to be harmful to male fertility, according to Keck School of Medicine of USC researcher Rebecca Z. Sokol, M.D., a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and medicine. The high ozone levels produced in the lower atmosphere—the result of the release of pollutants—seems to be linked to lower sperm counts and decreased sperm motility in otherwise healthy, fertile men. Sokol reported on this work at the annual meeting of the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society. She and...