#fictional fertility and infertility

[ladykailitha]

Hey! Feel free to ignore this, but I did notice a typo in the first couple of parts saying Lonnie instead of Lenny. Just an FYI for when you put on ao3

(like what you're doing for Hopper, personally I vote the star court person is replaced by Bob)

Also I have a question, I was wondering if you could explain how exactly Steve being fertile vs him not getting pregnant at work? I assume you'll explain at some point when Eddie realizes, but I'm curious and impatient lol

Yeah, I had the two characters with very similar names and I will need to go back and hardline fix them so they don't anymore. Bob is a good idea for a Starcourt omega, actually. Thanks!

Also I need to change the name of the comedian full stop because Lenny Goodman is too close to real person's name and I try to avoid that if I can.

Regarding fertility in this verse *cracks knuckles* (some of this has been revealed and some will be revealed later)

Let's go.

When omegas present they are tested for fertility because that's all an omega is good for. How fertile they are. It's a simple blood test.

However there are a couple of others things that can cause the test to be negative for fertility. One is that they are just intersex betas that "presented" as omegas, but that aren't omegas. Their uterus is functioning as their prostate. But since it tests for "omega" fertility it comes out negative.

These people don't go into heats or are extra fertile the way omegas are.

The other is what is called a golden omega. Golden omegas are considered super fertile even among omegas. The trick is is that only during their heats. So say a regular omega has a 1 in 5 chance of getting pregnant in heat, a golden omega has a 4 in 5 chance of getting pregnant during their heats.

They are so rare 1% of the population of omegas is a golden omega. They are so sought after that the power and privilege is even greater than escorts. They have powerful alphas tripping over themselves to offer them anything in the world because just one is enough to secure a bloodline for seven generations.

Escorts can only be infertile because as Steve states early on it's for the protection of the omegas and their clients. They can't have blackmail going either direction.

But because golden omega testing is optional and can only be performed soon after a teen's first heat (and highly expensive), the agency makes sure that their omegas are whisked away if the rut sends them into mini heats (not the full on five to seven day, sweats, need to fuck, and pain) where hot alpha rut makes the omega all hot and bothered, resembling an actual heat. And aren't allowed to share their heats with alphas on the off chance they might be one.

Infertile omegas' scent is overly sweet. Like Carol complains about to Billy at the event Steve and Nancy go to. It's often described as rotting fruit.

Does that answer your question, because I'm not sure I understood quite what you were asking.

[wizardpartier]

I really really hope that Lumon didn't just outright kidnap Gemma and fake her death, because I think that would be too over the top for Lumon and would make the show lose some of its subtlety. I think what the show has done really well so far is satirize the evil pharmaceutical companies that exist in the real world by just enough to be impactful. If severance was possible today, I think it really would appeal to enough people that the debates about it we see in the show would be happening, and corporations would be lobbying to be able to use it. Lumon is raised to a level of absurdity by their cult-worship as well as the science fiction to the entire severance procedure, but the underlying themes about worker exploitation are very true to life.

And while real life corporations are absolutely capable of doing this kind of heinous shit - see Coca Cola's murdering of union leaders in Columbia or the Boeing whistleblower who was likely assassinated with no recourse - the idea that Gemma - a random person who posed no threat to Lumon - was just randomly kidnapped (out of all the people who passed through Lumon's system struggling with infertility, why her?) - to me just seems like a reveal to make Lumon seem scarier and eviler.

A lot of people are resistant to the theory that Gemma ended up with Lumon because she volunteered for some experimental fertility treatment, and I understand that urge - it feels almost victim-blamey to imply that she volunteered for the torture she underwent! But a theme that I see the show playing with a lot is consent. Can you meaningfully consent to be severed and work for 8 hours a day as a completely different version of yourself, when the person who experiences the work is not the one doing the consenting, and the person consenting has no idea what they are consenting to? If Gemma volunteered in some capacity for whatever she thought she was going to undergo, was she able to meaningfully consent to that without full knowledge of what it would entail? I see this also reflected in the hurt and betrayed Helly feels when she learns that Helena stole her identity and had sex with Mark. She feels ownership over her body, even though it's a body she shares with Helena. Similarly, Helena is afraid to allow Helly back onto the severed floor, I think in part because she's afraid of not having control over herself, and Helly doing something that she doesn't consent to.

Alternatively, I'm also partial to the theory that Gemma really did die on accident in a crash, and Lumon cloned/revived her. I think taking things in that direction could open up an interesting discussion about corporate ownership of personal data and lifesaving technology. If Lumon cloned Gemma and instilled in her all her previous memories, because she had already signed away the rights to her genetic information or whatever during her fertility struggle, she may be functionally the same person, but Lumon may 'own' this new version of her. Maybe in Season 3, Gemma goes the the media to expose Lumon, only for the courts to determine that actually Lumon has the right to do whatever the hell they want because they created her?

All this to say, I think it would be more interesting if the show goes in a different direction from where I see most fans assuming it will :) I think it's already pretty clear that Lumon is evil, and I'd like to see an explanation for how she came to be in their torture basement that builds on existing or creates new interesting ethical questions.

[thistlepilled]

this may come off as kinda random but marcille's infertility is so important to me

usually in fiction when a woman is infertile, either she sees herself as broken, a monster, a horrible person etc, or she is actually portrayed as all these things, and her existence as a character revolves around it. that's why the way dungeon meshi portrayed marcille is so refreshing

she's not broken or a monster because she can't bear children, and she doesn't see herself that way either. in fact she has zero interest in becoming a full elf so she can be fertile. sometimes other characters around her assume she does, but she just dgaf. it's a barely relevant detail that doesn't really afect anything and i love it

[blueberrisdove-sideblog]

I just want to share my thoughts on the Alpha Mydei x Alpha (fem) reader. The battle of dominance will be legendary as both would try to subdue the others. But in the end Mydei won and reader has to be the one receiving his seed🤭 And since reader is an alpha too, that would mean she has a dick (though smaller than Mydei, much to her dismay) so imagine him playing with both of her cunt and dick, sometimes shaming her on the small size.

"you really think you can satisfy me with this small dick? Hah!, that would be a pinnacle of comedy"

Even better if there's 'bitching', where another alpha turns another alpha into an omega through insemination of the seed. Reader's dick is getting infertile day by day while her womb is more fertile than ever. Also the biting game between these two would be crazy.

This is so unique WHAT?? I’ve never seen anything like this before! Submissive and bratty Mydei? Hell yeah, I’m all for it. But I’m not sure about the reader having a dick, I’m not into women with dicks unless they’re trans.

Also Alpha x Alpha mentioned! My favourite trope in fiction! I absolutely love this!

Kinda was thinking Mydei would bully reader if she turned into an Omega. But thank you Nonnie for sending me this! 🙇🏻‍♀️

[minetteskvareninova]

Currently the most pressing question on my mind about this show is whether the fictionalized version of Ottoman culture in this show can be considered misogynist enough for anyone, and I truly mean anyone to give a shit whether a 40+ mother of five, with three living adult sons, of whom one has already produced male offspring of his own and another one can be expected to do the same any day now... If THIS woman is still fertile. Because I am pretty sure real Ottomans wouldn't - for all their misogyny, they were also quite pragmatic about reproduction.

Also the fact that Fatma, who as far as we know is also middle-aged and childless, is bullying Hürrem about not being able to have children anymore is the height of irony. Sure, she hates her husband NOW, but methinks they had more than enough time to produce a kid before their relationship fell apart, so. What's wrong with YOUR reproductive system, lady?!

In all seriousness, I do in fact headcanon Fatma as just plain infertile for biological reasons. I don't know whether it used to bother her once, but it doesn't seem to now? It certainly doesn't come up, and honestly it's a bit weird that Hürrem doesn't even try to use it as a gotcha. Basic decency or writers just not thinking about it? Riddle for the ages, I tell ya!

[totally-not-here-for-the-smut]

Hello- just finished reading your main 6 with baby fever post- wanna know ho you think they’d react if MC has fertility issues or are just infertile

AT LAST I'm back. And I'm down

For

Some

Angst

I'd consider natural concieving, since implying some magical methods would make the whole fertility issue... well, not an issue at all. Still, will try to write it as gn as I can :)

Disclaimer: this is a serious matter for lots of people. It's not something I faced myself, so it may be widely inaccurate. Some of them will be dark and sad, so beware. Please remember that this is purely fictional and written for fun. A distorted disgraced twisted form of fun.

••○ That Empty Crib ○••

Nadia

Even though everybody agrees she'd make a great mother, having kids is not her nr.1 desire. She would consider the idea, but motherhood wasn't a part of her life plan she would actively put an effort in. Yet, as the time passes month by month and nothing happens even though you're -well, not exactly careful by now-, you start to see a shadow in her eyes. She seems bothered by something she wouldn't tell -until one night, after a party. She's taking off her headpieces and earrings and out of the blue she says: "I think I might be infertile". You freeze. What...? Oh. Oh. "And... well, you never told me you wanted wanted kids. So... is this a problem?". She collects herself an instant. "No. Of course not", she says, but her voice is strangely hard. That night, she slips away from your arms. By the morning, she's on the other side of the bed. You didn't talk again about it, but you find out she's seeing Juian. Well, she always used to see Julian, but from that night you noticed the lack of the doctor's laugh when they meet. One day, he awkwardly mentions a fertility screening program, "To check any long term plague effects, you know. For science". He's a bad liar, but you comply. And it turns out, you're the sterile one... and considering where your body comes from, maybe is not that strange. When you talk about it with Nadia, she seems... relieved? And you can't help but notice how comforting she is toward you... even though you weren't planning any kids. So much more comforting than you had been with her, actually. And so, you apologize. Istantly, Nadia smiles. "You know, what bothered me was the fact that the choice wasn't up to me. Being robbed of the right to choose... that hurt. It doesn't matter whether I wanted it or not". Now you understand. And apologize, again. She has never slipped away from your embrace since.

[omegaverse-guide]

Omegaverse 101

So you've encountered the term for the first time - maybe you're 12 or very offline, or you've heard it before but heeded someone's advice to not look it up - either way, you're here, wondering. What is omegaverse, or alpha/beta/omega dynamics, as AO3 puts it? Here's a brief overview for you!

What is the omegaverse?

It's a trope mostly used in fanfiction, that has been spreading into published fiction, manga, and recently even into anime and tv shows. It can appear confusing to outsiders, since there is no unifying canon a/b/o authors draw from, and the details vary wildly between each story. The core is simple: On top of your gender, which is still identified at birth and works the same as it does in real life, you're also assigned to be an alpha, beta, or omega, though this tends to happen later in life, usually around when puberty happens. Whether you're male, female, intersex, non-binary, or any other sex/gender does not determine what you present as.

Alphas can sire children, even if they're afab. They tend to be seen as aggressive, competitive, and natural leaders. Whatever you associate with stereotypical, hypermasculine behaviour in the real world, that's now associated with alphas. They can go into ruts, a period of time where they get extremely horny and often aggressive/protective, and they may or may not be able to control themselves during that time. They generally have big dicks, though exact measurements are rarely given. Those dicks can swell at the base during sex, to lock them and their partner together for a while, which is called knotting.

Betas are essentially just baseline humans. They can have sex and feel horny, but only in the same way a real human can. Sometimes they're infertile, but other times they reproduce the same way actual humans do. Storys are rarely about betas, but they tend to be seen as rational and calm, good to have around to diffuse whatever the alphas and omegas have going on.

Omegas can bear children, even if they're amab. They're generally seen as submissive, caring, and weak. Women, basically, just more exaggerated. They periodically go into heat, which makes them horny and extremely appealing/irresistable to alphas in their vicinity. This is also the time period where they're fertile. Male omegas tend to have small dicks. Sometimes they have a pussy on top of that, other times their asshole self-lubricates and is connected to their uterus, whichever the author prefers.

How did we get here?

The terms originate from behavioural studies of wolves, and so does some of the biology (yes, wolves do have knots. in real life. if you didn't heed the warning to not look up omegaverse, at least heed mine not to look up wolf dicks. or any other animal dicks). Parts of the trope are pretty old - what's a heat if not a Pon Farr (Star Trek) for werewolves? Then, in 2010, a request was posted to the supernatural kink meme, requesting J2 smut with what became the basic tenets of the trope. It fit the already popular werewolf fic in the massive spn fandom, and spread like wildfire in just a few years far beyond spn or werewolves, and here we are.

Notes

Almost all omegaverse is m/m. Het omegaverse has found success (and a lawsuit) in original books, though I can say I haven't read any. The only het omegaverse I've ever read was fic with a female alpha and male omega, so don't ask me about this. Rare brave fans do write f/f omegaverse, and they have all my respect and gratitude. However, they're the exception, so for the purpose of this and any further discussion on this blog, please assume all parties are male unless specified otherwise.

Omegaverse can be abbreviated as A/B/O, or A/O if you don't have/don't care about betas. Some people simply use abo without the slashes, but abo is also a slur for aboriginal people in australia, so proceed with caution if you insist on using it.

There is NO one true way to write an omegaverse story. Nobody has the copyright to it. People will expect some of the above framework if you classify your fic as omegaverse, but you can do whatever you want forever. If you've read published manga, many of them share an explanation graphic that gives some base rules, but you don't need to stick to those, nor should you expect others to. It's a wild west out here. Write and read stories that do the trope how you like it, and don't read the rest. It's that easy.

[shinyruby]

“What’s the point in keeping Francesca’s storyline with infertility if she’s queer.”

Idk to give infertile women who don’t get miracle babies in the end a HEA? Because nearly every infertility story in fiction ends with a miracle baby of some sort, and there isn’t enough with infertile women not becoming fertile and just being happy with it?

I’m sorry, but you guys are riding so hard for “infertility representation” while not under standing Julia Quinn didn’t really do anything groundbreaking with it, nor was it representative of every infertile person’s journey, so it might be nice for some infertile people to get a version of the story that doesn’t end with a child? Idk.

[austin-friars]

Your Mary AU sounds so interesting, but how would you combat her documented infertility? Love the idea of her being able to experience motherhood, but historically she was infertile.

Honestly, because it's a historical fiction, I just...ignore that. but tbh, my personal personal opinion is that she wasn't always infertile. The abuse and stress she went through added to her fertility issues. And her husband, Philip was a very terrible man to her. Because of anti mary propaganda, we'll probably never know just how awfully she was treated by him. But a lot of my personal opinions about Mary's infertility come from her mistreatment.

I think that if she were at a place where she could be rested, cared for, and with people who didn't mistreat her, she would be able to have children. She wouldn't be dealing with a fight or flight response, her menstrual issues could be looked into, and she'd be healthier.

[tinnictheguardian]

So I just caught-up to the latest chapter of The Remarried Empress on Webtoon and I have to say, I am really impressed.

Given that majority of people reading the comic (and the original novel) are not rich and powerful, it's would have been really easy for a story like this to not resonate with the reader. Because Lady Rashta, the one who drives the protagonist Empress Navier to divorce and later remarriage, is the natural recipient of the readers sympathy.

However, while Rashta had a hard life and her background as a runaway slave made her charmingly different to the rest of the noble ladies of the court, for the Emperor at the beginning. It soon becomes clear that she's just not a nice person.

At some level you understand, because she is nothing outside of her relationship to the emperor so you understand her doing whatever she needs to, to try and secure a level of comfort for herself. But around the time she starts turning her new found powers to hurt innocent powerless people at the slightest perceived insult, you lose all sympathy for her.

Of course, its not hard lose sympathy for Rashta and especially the protagonists first husband, who is one of the stupidest characters I have ever encountered in fiction, when Empress Navier is such an impressive person.

She takes her job as Empress seriously. She's isn't delusional about her place in her husband's heart and would have allowed him to have a mistress without too much fuss if he just wouldn't humiliate her. But her incredibly selfish and self-centred first husband failed basically to show her the basic level of decency and decorum.

Of course the background inciting incident in the story was the fact that Emperor believed the Empress was infertile, when all signs point to the Emperor being the one with the fertility problem. So at the end of the day, I think what sold the story to the majority of the readers was that outside of the Imperial Fantasy setting. The core is a very relatable, everyday story of a man who didn't appreciate what he had, refused to contemplate that he might be the problem in their fertility woes, took up with the first young hot thing that flattered his ego, and was shocked, shocked when his young hot thing turned out to be a cruel pile of hot drama!

[intersex-questions]

That story sounds absolutely incredible and interesting and I'd love to read it. It's a much neglected fact that one, intersex people can be transgender and two, someone might realize they are transgender because they are intersex or their transgenderness and intersexuality are uniquely or inherently connected.

Thanks for the compliment

My only or main feedback would mostly be how you are conceptualizing their intersex variation, specifically on how you say their female parts are fertile but their male parts aren't (which is realistic, people are rarely if ever fertile with "both" if they have "both"), so how exactly are you visualizing this? Do they have those parts internally without being able to access them and are fertile with them, etc... I recommend researching or choosing a real intersex variation and sticking to it (Müllerian duct syndrome sounds like what you're describing, or closest to it). I don't see anything wrong with varying from it a bit because not everyone IRL nearly fits a variation's "criteria", but I would make sure you don't like, over-fantasize it and make it realistic (which it sounds like you're doing)! It seems though like you're probably already aware of this, but I just wanted to make sure.

It is Müllerian duct syndrome basically. In the story this condition is sex-linked (like hemophilia), where the female is a carrier (Xx), and the carrier's sons have a 50% chance of being affected by it (xy) whilst daughters have a 50% chance of being a carrier (Xx). Affected females are the same as carriers except there's a 100% chance (xx) their daughters will be carriers and their sons will be affected (xy). Affected males have those parts (uterus, ovaries and part of the upper vagina) internally without being able to access them and are fertile with them. Much like real-life Müllerian duct syndrome, most of their male parts are infertile.

The only other personal tidbit I can think of is, if being trans+ is incredibly widely accepted, I find it super interesting that being intersex is maybe less accepted, because concepts like AGAB and a gender binary still exist in this world. You could either consider that and how to address that or use it to your advantage to make a stronger point on intersexism or intersex experiencs—just something to consider. I am a purveyor of fantasy-based homophobia, transphobia, etc, and really enjoy considering how sexuality and gender exist in a certain fictional world based on the pre-existing worldbuilding of their gender and sexuality roles, if that makes sense.

I will say this, given how commonplace gender reassignment is (1 in 10 of the galaxy's population had a gender reassignment operation), LGBTQI+ stuff (yes I include intersex people as part of it) would be normalized. Ofc there are a number of people who are homophobic and/or heteronormative but such people are usually seen as backwards and behind the times. That being said, this normalization is not uniform. Some parts of the galaxy are more accepting, others less so.

Maybe some people might feel that it could be saying intersex people must be trans or can't be binary or cis, but that is definitely not what you're saying, so maybe be aware of how some people think that and make it clear your character is going on their own personal journey. Especially since because trans intersex people do exist and we deserve to have our stories told and shown!

It is definitely their own personal journey. As I said earlier, the doctor was stunned that the main character chose to get the gender reassignment operation to become a woman over getting a hysterectomy and testicular transplant, implying that the doctor has dealt with such patients and they all went for the hysterectomy and testicular transplant so they can continue living as guys.

That being said, later on in the story (when the main character has her first menstrual cycle), the main character confides to the therapist some more reasons why she went through the gender reassignment oepration upon finding out she has female reproductive organs and that her male parts are infertile but her female parts are fertile. If you wanna hear those more reasons why be my guest.

Thinking more on it, the only other thing I would be careful on prior to the new info you gave me is making sure it's clear that she is getting SRS because she WANTS it and NOT as an intersex correction, because it could easily accidentally draw parallels to that (and I know that's not what you're doing, but someone could interpret it that way).

I'd also be very careful in how you portray her "girly girl" side. It is absolutely okay for people to be like that, whether they are cis women or trans women, but it could be very easy to either take away the message that she must be that way for her to correctly transition or that she is doing that out of societal pressure rather than her own wants. I would make sure to balance portraying her femininity realistically and genuinely. That they are things that she likes because she just likes them, and not because they are necessarily female-associated. Some ways to maybe balance this out would either be through her own internal narrative exploring why she likes these things or if it's forced, other characters being concerned, or addressing the fact that she so suddenly jumps into the realm of things that are "female" after having not for so long (which is actually a very common thing for some trans+ people, which is something that often does bring up that concern of friends or family after the person having had no signs before). (Also, genuine question, what is girly running?) But yeah, it's absolutely okay to have someone be a feminine or incredibly feminine or "girly" character, whether or not they're cis or trans, but it can be important to take care in portraying it realistically and considering why a character likes those things and why you, the author, have come to the decision to write the character with those things.

[roosterforme]

okay, so... Emily... i don't interact with you as much as i'd like bc you intimidate me (in the best way. you're like, too cool), and sometimes i do it on anon, but today is the last straw. you get familiar-me because i like you a lot, and i'm fucking finished with these anons.

this last chapter of AEOY (is that it? i'm terrible with acronyms, i'm so sorry)... Roo and Baby Girl... Chapter 9. you know what i mean... THAT chapter was a lot on my heart. but it's autobiographically-tinged fiction (i know that, and i love you) and these little BITCHES need to take SEVERAL seats and calm THE FUCK down. i'm single as hell, but i can't tell you what i'd give to be in a relationship where we loved each other so much that we just wanted to show each other how much we love each other. SEX IS OKAY. SEX IS GOOD. AND IT'S PART OF (most) RELATIONSHIPS (i'm trying to be aro/ace inclusive, i swear). so if you don't like Roo and Baby Girl fucking... FUCK OFF. and when things don't go as planned, the blame game is easy to slip into, regardless of communication, regardless of how well-adjusted (or not) we are as adults. we, as human beings, are DEEPLY flawed creatures. that is going to be reflected in EVERY relationship, platonic or romantic or any other kind. it's not toxic. fertility struggles and infertility are WILDLY common, but there is a MASSIVE stigma around it, so it's not talked about NEARLY as much as it should be. it makes people feel alone. feel like shit. feel unloved, unworthy, and plenty of other crappy ass feelings. shit, i might have endometriosis, which can affect fertility, and even though i'm not 100% i want kids, that shit still has me fucked up. so if ANYONE has ANYTHING negative to say to or about you or your writing, they are cordially invited to get fucking wrecked. i haven't addressed my anger issues with my therapist yet, and i've been looking for an outlet. (ง'̀-'́)ง there is no reason to inundate Em's inbox with negativity. you don't like her stuff? KEEP SCROLLING. it costs NOTHING to move on. you're literally WASTING energy shitting on her FOR NO REASON. so leave her the fuck alone and get a fucking grip.

love, a fucking cunt

Anya! Next thing I know, you'll be in my DMs. Thanks for this message. I'm pretty sure the anon just couldn't handle the subject matter and warnings listed on my fic masterlist. Which is fine, but I don't need to hear about it. Just excuse yourself quietly.

Having (consensual) sex is healthy. Not having sex at all is healthy. Being in an established, long-term relationship and having frequent sex is sometimes necessary. Also, this is a FANFIC and those parts are fun to read and write.

I'll send you a little smooch, because even if you don't like kids and don't intend to have them, any sort of fertility struggle can really mess with your head, babe. I'm trying to write this from experience. The feelings of isolation and blame are so strong, and not just for BG but also for Roo. You want to feel helpless? Realize that there is nothing else you can really do to help the one person you love most when they start shutting down.

I don't know why there is SO MUCH nasty anon hate in this fandom. And truly, the anon I got was nothing compared to what I have seen before in my inbox and on some other blogs. But it's really uncalled for. And Anya will kick your ass.

[runningblog88]

Male infertility: how lab-produced sperm could transform fertility treatment in the future

ROMUSA4D Imagine a day in the future when science has discovered a method to create human sperm from lab-engineered testicular tissue, so that a diagnosis of untreatable male infertility is no longer the end of the road.

Although it may sound like science fiction, I am in charge of a group of researchers at the University of Limerick (UL) who are working to make it possible to produce human sperm from testicular tissue that has been lab-engineered. If this works, it could revolutionize fertility treatment and give hope to the millions of people who suffer from male infertility worldwide.

Why now? Because the statistics are too clear to ignore: male reproductive health is declining.

ROMUSA4D Sperm counts have significantly declined over the last 70 years, yet sperm-related disorders such as testicular cancer, hormone abnormalities, and genital deformities are increasing.

There is ongoing discussion over the specific reasons behind the decline in male reproductive health. Although genetics might be involved, no single genetic factor has been demonstrated to have a population-level impact on male fertility. Rather, a lot of attention has shifted to the environment, especially pollutants that affect hormones.

ROMUSA4D Common products like plastics, insecticides, cosmetics, and even pain relievers contain these compounds, which can disrupt hormone function. There is mounting evidence that exposure to these drugs during pregnancy might lower sperm quality, raise the risk of testicular cancer, and cause male infertility in later life.

Recognize the ways AI is transforming society. Some men can have their infertility problems resolved with hormone medication, lifestyle modifications, or surgery to remove reproductive system obstructions. However, there is no known cause for a significant percentage.

Surgical sperm retrieval (SSR) is now the only treatment available to patients with idiopathic infertility, a form of infertility that cannot be explained.

In order to find viable sperm for use in assisted reproductive technologies such as IVF, SSR entails surgically accessing the testicles. But success is by no means assured. The likelihood of discovering even one viable sperm cell can be as low as 40% in some situations.

In addition to the psychological and physical toll, SSR puts the onus of fertility therapy on the female partner's reproductive system, which means that fertility drugs and surgeries frequently target women's bodies. The underlying health risks—such as increased rates of disease and early mortality—that are linked to male infertility are not adequately addressed.

Additionally, using donor sperm is the only choice left if SSR is unsuccessful; this is a tough and emotional choice for many.

The source of the issue Scientists must identify the underlying causes of male infertility and create remedies that restore natural fertility.

Therefore, in order to investigate the human testes, researchers have resorted to preclinical models due to the ethical and biological constraints on direct human experimentation. These consist of in vitro cell cultures (human testicular cells cultured on laboratory plates), ex vivo tissue (human or animal tissue examined outside the body), and animal models (usually rodents or primates).

Animal models are unreliable because human sperm production differs greatly from that of other animals and is also far less efficient. Preclinical models that closely resemble human testes and their capacity to produce sperm are necessary for researchers to proceed. One of the largest scientific obstacles in the subject is still this. Although scientists have successfully created sperm in the lab using mouse testicular tissue, human sperm production has never been accomplished.

By fusing materials science, mechanical engineering, and biology, our research is trying to address this issue. To gain a thorough grasp of the tissue's functioning, we began by analyzing human testicular tissue samples from various donors.

This information was used to create model systems that physically and structurally mimic human testicular tissue in addition to replicating it biologically. The ultimate objective is to develop a model that can generate viable human sperm in addition to simulating testicular activity.

Fertility care could be revolutionized by lab-produced sperm. Male patients with severe, inexplicable infertility who now have no therapeutic choices, childhood cancer survivors whose fertility was harmed by chemotherapy or radiation, and guys who have had unsuccessful SSR operations may one day find a solution in it.

[12sknnews]

Male infertility: How lab-produced sperm could transform fertility treatment in future

Imagine a future where a diagnosis of untreatable male infertility is no longer the end of the road – because science has found a way to produce human sperm from lab-engineered testicular tissue.This might sound like science fiction, but I’m leading a team of researchers at the University of Limerick (UL) to work on making the production of human sperm from lab-engineered testicular tissue a…

[mrorel]

Biologists now think there is a larger spectrum than just binary female and male By Claire Ainsworth & Nature magazine

A 46-year-old pregnant woman had visited his clinic at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Australia to hear the results of an amniocentesis test to screen her baby's chromosomes for abnormalities. The baby was fine—but follow-up tests had revealed something astonishing about the mother. Her body was built of cells from two individuals, probably from twin embryos that had merged in her own mother's womb. And there was more. One set of cells carried two X chromosomes, the complement that typically makes a person female; the other had an X and a Y. Halfway through her fifth decade and pregnant with her third child, the woman learned for the first time that a large part of her body was chromosomally male. “That's kind of science-fiction material for someone who just came in for an amniocentesis,” says James.

Sex can be much more complicated than it at first seems. According to the simple scenario, the presence or absence of a Y chromosome is what counts: with it, you are male, and without it, you are female. But doctors have long known that some people straddle the boundary—their sex chromosomes say one thing, but their gonads (ovaries or testes) or sexual anatomy say another. Parents of children with these kinds of conditions—known as intersex conditions, or differences or disorders of sex development (DSDs)—often face difficult decisions about whether to bring up their child as a boy or a girl. Some researchers now say that as many as 1 person in 100 has some form of DSD.

Conditions such as these meet the medical definition of DSDs, in which an individual's anatomical sex seems to be at odds with their chromosomal or gonadal sex. But they are rare—affecting about 1 in 4,500 people. Some researchers now say that the definition should be widened to include subtle variations of anatomy such as mild hypospadias, in which a man's urethral opening is on the underside of his penis rather than at the tip. The most inclusive definitions point to the figure of 1 in 100 people having some form of DSD, says Vilain

Many people never discover their condition unless they seek help for infertility, or discover it through some other brush with medicine. Last year, for example, surgeons reported that they had been operating on a hernia in a man, when they discovered that he had a womb. The man was 70, and had fathered four children.

Cellular sexStudies of DSDs have shown that sex is no simple dichotomy. But things become even more complex when scientists zoom in to look at individual cells. The common assumption that every cell contains the same set of genes is untrue. Some people have mosaicism: they develop from a single fertilized egg but become a patchwork of cells with different genetic make-ups. 

This pressure has meant that people born with clear DSDs often undergo surgery to 'normalize' their genitals. Such surgery is controversial because it is usually performed on babies, who are too young to consent, and risks assigning a sex at odds with the child's ultimate gender identity—their sense of their own gender. Intersex advocacy groups have therefore argued that doctors and parents should at least wait until a child is old enough to communicate their gender identity, which typically manifests around the age of three, or old enough to decide whether they want surgery at all.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sex-redefined-the-idea-of-2-sexes-is-overly-simplistic1/

[10bmnews]

Male infertility: How lab-produced sperm could transform fertility treatment in future - The Times of India

Imagine a future where a diagnosis of untreatable male infertility is no longer the end of the road – because science has found a way to produce human sperm from lab-engineered testicular tissue.This might sound like science fiction, but I’m leading a team of researchers at the University of Limerick (UL) to work on making the production of human sperm from lab-engineered testicular tissue a…