Fernández Pelegrina R, Kessler A G, Rawlins R G
Centro de Fertilidad del Caribe, Santurce, PR 00909.
P R Health Sci J. 1991 Aug;10(2):75-81.
Medical statistics from the United States show approximately 15 percent of all couples of reproductive age are unable to conceive naturally. In recent years, the numbers of couples with reproductive problems has increased, principally due to changes in life style and delayed childbearing. Only 13 years after the birth of the first "test tube baby", advances in the field of human reproduction have created a wide range of alternatives to help infertile couples conceive a healthy infant. Together, these techniques are called Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and include: in vitro fertilization (IVF), intratubal transfer of gametes (GIFT), intratubal transfer of zygotes (ZIFT), tubal transfer of preimplantation embryos (TET), gamete or embryo donation, cryopreservtion, and micromanipulation. The application of these techniques is presented here. While much remains to be learned, the ability to fertilize ova in vitro and sustain early embryonic life outside the body is now a reality. Contrary to the idea that these techniques create life in vitro, they simply remove barriers caused by different forms of infertility which impede the creation of life. More than 30,000 infants have now been produced world-wide through ART. In the future, new developments in the field of assisted reproduction promise to bring new hope to the growing numbers of infertile couples around the world.
美国的医学统计数据显示，所有育龄夫妇中约有15%无法自然受孕。近年来，有生殖问题的夫妇数量有所增加，主要是由于生活方式的改变和生育延迟。在首例“试管婴儿”诞生仅13年后，人类生殖领域的进展已创造出多种替代方法，以帮助不孕夫妇孕育健康婴儿。这些技术统称为辅助生殖技术（ART），包括：体外受精（IVF）、配子输卵管内移植（GIFT）、合子输卵管内移植（ZIFT）、植入前胚胎输卵管内移植（TET）、配子或胚胎捐赠、冷冻保存以及显微操作。本文介绍了这些技术的应用。尽管仍有许多有待了解之处，但现在体外使卵子受精并在体外维持早期胚胎生命的能力已成为现实。与这些技术在体外创造生命的观点相反，它们只是消除了由不同形式的不孕症所造成的阻碍生命孕育的障碍。目前，全球通过辅助生殖技术已诞生了3万多名婴儿。未来，辅助生殖领域的新发展有望给全球越来越多的不孕夫妇带来新的希望。
