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Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a lifelong reproductive endocrine disease, which is the most common cause of anovular infertility. Modern medicine mainly treats infertile patients with PCOS by improving living habits, ovulation induction therapy, and assisted reproductive technology (ART), but the effect is not satisfied. Complementary alternative medicine (CAM) has conspicuous advantages in the treatment of PCOS infertility due to its good clinical efficacy, wide mechanism of action, and no obvious adverse reactions, but its safety and effectiveness in the treatment of PCOS infertility have not been proved. Based on the existing clinical and experimental studies, this paper looks for the therapeutic effect and the mechanism behind it, and explores the safety and effectiveness of its treatment in PCOS infertility, in order to provide reference for future clinical treatment and experimental research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The aim of this paper was to investigate whether two freeze-thaw cycles before embryo transfer may affect perinatal and neonatal outcomes. Materials and Methods. A total of 8,028 frozen-thawed embryo transfer patients who became pregnant between March 2013 and September 2019 were included. The patients were divided into two groups: the oocyte cryopreservation (OC) group (N = 96) and the control group (N = 7932). Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to adjust the baseline characteristics of the two groups at a proportion of 1 : 4. There were 96 patients in the OC group and 369 patients in the control group after PSM. The pregnancy-related complications and neonatal conditions after delivery of the two groups were compared. Results. The OC group had a higher stillbirth rate (3.1% vs. 0.3%, P = 0.029) than the control group after PSM. Moreover, a slightly higher pregnancy defect rate was found in the OC group. There was no significant difference in the rates of diabetes mellitus, hypertension during pregnancy, cesarean section, multiple births, low birth weight (LBW), or premature birth defects between the two groups. Conclusions. Our findings demonstrate that performing frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) with cryopreserved oocytes was associated with a higher rate of stillbirth than FET with fresh oocytes. The incidences of diabetes, gestational hypertension, cesarean section, multiple births, LBW, premature birth, and birth defects of the two groups were not significantly different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Recent reproductive technology for cancer patients has provided multiple options to preserve their fertility. Preserving fertility can increase quality of life of cancer patients. However, medical service providers and patients face difficulties in the decision‐making process for the fertility preserving treatment because studies focusing on the concept of decision‐making and various intervention materials are lack. This review aims to identify the attributes of interventions of studies on decision‐making support interventions in cancer patients considering fertility preservation and provide best evidence for health professionals. Methods: PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane CENTRAL and DBpia databases were searched. An integrated review of the literature was conducted using Whittemore and Knafl's methodology. Results: The search identified 1008 articles, of which 11 studies met eligible criteria. The attributes of the interventions were (1) provision of detailed and practical information of fertility preservation, (2) nondirective approaches to help patients to value their judgements, (3) emphasis on interactions through individualised consultations, (4) establishing connections with available resources and (5) reinforcement of decision‐making support resources. Conclusion: Health professionals must acquire current knowledge and ethical and legal standards of fertility preservation and pass this information on to patients before the formation of fertility preservation decision‐making support networks within the hospital and health systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A higher incidence of female infertility has been reported with an unexpectedly early appearance in recent years. The female infertility treatment and application of assisted reproductive technology have recently gained immense interest from scientists. Many studies have discussed the beneficial effects of acupuncture on female infertility. With advancements in science and medical technology, acupuncture-related research has increased in investigating its effectiveness in treating female infertility. This review focuses on a compilation of research in recent years on acupuncture for female infertility treatment and the exploration of the underlying mechanism. For this purpose, literature was searched using various search engines like PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The search was refined by only focusing on recent studies on acupuncture effectiveness and mechanism in female infertility and evaluating pregnancy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six percent of cisgender (i.e. not transgender) women aged 15–44 are considered infertile in the United States, and 12% are unable to carry a pregnancy to term. For those who yearn to create a family despite these circumstances, assisted reproductive technology (ART) is an often‐utilised resource. Though faith‐based institutions have been referenced as a source of support for involuntarily childless adults, it is unclear how religious doctrine, especially that which prizes 'traditional' gender roles and genetic parenthood, may be a catalyst for distress. More research is needed to understand how the socio‐cultural environment affects those who are unable to conceive without assistance. Therefore, the purpose of this research study was to understand the lived experiences of women who have utilised assisted reproduction in a particularly pronatalist, religious cultural context in the United States. From March to September 2017, in‐depth interviews were conducted with 10 cisgender women who had utilised ART. Data analysis was conducted in NVivo 10 and consisted of line‐by‐line analysis, identifying themes, coding categories and developing matrices to uncover relationships between themes and categories. The quest for motherhood was truly a journey for the study participants who experienced rumination and self‐blame due to their inability to become pregnant. This was rooted in their socio‐cultural context. Thus, the study findings suggest that culture and stigma are linked with women's distress regarding their inability to become pregnant and results in distancing from other women. Genetic parenthood was prized initially, but this desire decreased over time. While past research suggests that infertility strains relationships, our study found that the turmoil of infertility and assisted reproduction actually strengthened couple relationships. Counselling was described as particularly helpful, but it is needed throughout the assisted reproduction process. The inclusion of religion and spirituality, for those who identify as such, in counselling would be beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]