Assisting in the creation of life is not without its risks
Whether it were possible for Nature, or Art to beget a Man out[side] of the body of a Woman, and naturall matrix? To this I answer, that it is in no way repugnant to the Art of Alchymie, and Nature, yea it is very possible . . . — Paracelsus1
The full article is accessible to AMA members and paid subscribers. Login to read more or purchase a subscription now.
Please note: institutional and Research4Life access to the MJA is now provided through Wiley Online Library.
- 1. Paracelsus. Of the nature of things. Printed and bound with a new light of alchymie: taken out of the fountaine of nature, and manuall experience. To which is added a treatise on sulphur. Written by Michael Sandivogus; translated by J French MD. London: Richard Cotes for Thomas Williams, 1650: 8.
- 2. European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. ART (assisted reproductive technology) fact sheet, 2011. http://www.eshre.eu/annual_meeting/page.aspx/1367 (accessed Jun 2012).
- 3. Davies MJ, Moore VM, Willson KJ, et al. Reproductive technologies and the risk of birth defects. N Engl J Med 2012; 366: 1803-1813.
- 4. Hansen M, Bower C, Milne E, et al. Assisted reproductive technologies and the risk of birth defects — a systematic review. Hum Reprod 2005; 20: 328-338.
- 5. Zhu JL, Basso O, Obel C, et al. Infertility, infertility treatment, and congenital malformations: Danish national birth cohort. BMJ 2006; 333: 679.
- 6. El-Chaar D, Yang Q, Gao J, et al. Risk of birth defects increased in pregnancies conceived by assisted human reproduction. Fertil Steril 2009; 92: 1557-1561.
- 7. Halliday JL, Ukoumunne OC, Baker HW, et al. Increased risk of blastogenesis birth defects, arising in the first 4 weeks of pregnancy, after assisted reproductive technologies. Hum Reprod 2010; 25: 59-65.
- 8. Kurinczuk JJ, Bower C. Birth defects in infants conceived by intracytoplasmic sperm injection: an alternative interpretation. BMJ 1997; 315: 1260-1265; discussion 1265-1266.
- 9. Lie RT, Lyngstadaas A, Orstavik KH, et al. Birth defects in children conceived by ICSI compared with children conceived by other IVF-methods; a metaanalysis. Int J Epidemiol 2005; 34: 696-701.
- 10. Young LG, Sinclair KD, Wilmut I. Large offspring syndrome in cattle and sheep. Rev Reprod 1998; 3: 155-163.
- 11. Reefhuis J, Honein MA, Schieve LA, Rasmussen SA, Study tNBDP. Use of clomiphene citrate and birth defects, National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997–2005. Hum Reprod 2011; 26: 451-457.
Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.
No relevant disclosures.