The 18 Ways (And Then Some)

Baby "Eighteen ways to make me? I'm speechless."
The 18 Ways (And Then Some)
by Sarah Holt

When I first heard there were 18 ways to make a baby, I was flabbergasted. Dr. Jamie Grifo, a specialist in reproductive endocrinology at New York University Medical Center, casually mentioned the fact in an interview that I taped with him for this NOVA program.

Imagine my amazement when I learned that there were actually many more than 18.

Before producing the film, I probably would have been surprised to hear there were more than three or four. Like most people, I was familiar with artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization and frozen embryos, but not much more. While working on the program, I had come to have a layperson's understanding of some of the latest techniques, which have futuristic names like Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection and Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis. Nevertheless, I was initially hard-pressed to come up with 18 ways.

Eventually I did, and I ran the list past Dr. Grifo to ensure it was accurate. It was, and here it is.
Note: Click on highlighted terms for a definition.

1. Natural sex
2. Artificial insemination -- of mother with father's sperm
3. Artificial insemination -- of mother with donor sperm
4. Artificial insemination -- with egg and sperm donors, using surrogate mother
5. In vitro fertilization (IVF) -- using egg and sperm of parents
6. IVF -- with Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)
7. IVF -- with frozen embryos
8. IVF -- with Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD)
9. IVF -- with egg donor
10. IVF -- with sperm donor
11. IVF -- with egg and sperm donor
12. IVF -- with surrogate using parents' egg and sperm
13. IVF -- with surrogate and egg donor
14. IVF -- with surrogate and sperm donor
15. IVF -- with surrogate using her egg, sperm from baby's father
16. IVF -- with surrogate using egg and sperm donors*
17. Cytoplasmic transfer**
18. Nuclear transfer and cloning

*In this case, the newborn essentially has five parents: the birth parents who provided the egg and sperm, the surrogate mother who carried the baby, and the parents who will raise the baby.

**The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recently asked the specialists that perform this experimental procedure to submit it for FDA approval, so it is currently not available.

#17 on Jamie Grifo's list.
Now, since we had decided to use "18 Ways" in the title, I wanted to make absolutely sure this was an accepted list. Could PGD be considered a way to make a baby or merely a test performed before choosing a way? Should nuclear transfer and cloning be on the list? After all, they had produced animal babies but as yet no human babies. Another call to Dr. Grifo revealed that he stood by his list.

To be safe, I emailed the list to other specialists, and they came up with yet more ways to make a baby. Dr. Douglas Powers, scientific and laboratory director at Boston IVF, a fertility and IVF center, said that if you paired ICSI with numbers 12 through 16 on Grifo's list, you'd have five more ways. That brought us to 23.

Dr. Jacques Cohen, scientific director of the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey, fired back an email in which he said "There are many more ways of making babies than 18. Can I add some more?" He listed several techniques that add to those mentioned by Grifo and Powers, and here they are, edited for clarity and numbered appropriately:

24. Assisted hatching: IVF or ICSI and opening the zona pellucida (embryo shell) to help the embryo hatch and increase its chances of successful implantation into the lining of the uterus.


Fragment Removal #25 on Jacques Cohen's list.
25. Fragment removal: In addition to the procedure described in #24, removing from around the embryo's cells adverse fragments of cell debris, which are thought to possibly impair the development of the embryo.

26. Co-culture: Culturing the embryos on cells from the woman's reproductive tract (fallopian tubes and uterus). Helps reduce cytoplasmic fragments (see #25) and improve embryo quality.

27. Testicular Sperm Aspiration (TESA): Obtaining sperm for fertilization from men who previously were thought to have no sperm (azoospermic men) by extracting the cells from the testicle.

28. Single sperm freezing: By freezing one sperm cell in an empty shell of an animal egg so it can be retrieved after thaw. This is done for TESA (see #27) when there are only a few detectable spermatozoa, and the TESA was exploratory, so the egg collection can be dealt with later.

29. After maturing unripe eggs in vitro.

30. After freezing the unfertilized eggs.

At the end of his list, Cohen added "etc., etc."

Clearly, 18 is an arbitrary figure. Suffice it to say that couples who cannot conceive naturally have a doctor's bag full of potential options to choose from. Though they should choose carefully, specialists in the field stress. "While there are many ways one can produce a baby, one should always consider them in the context of their safety and efficacy," says Dr. Zev Rosenwaks of Cornell University. "This implies not only safeguarding against medical risks but also paying great attention to the emotional and social manifestations of the procedures involved." (For more information on assisted reproduction, see Resources.)

"Baby Girl or Baby Boy"

"Baby Girl or Baby Boy" is written by a Doctor and a Nurse and contains the medical knowledge couples want to know on natural gender selection techniques--a "how-to" manual on how to make a baby girl or baby boy. We encourage and support couples to have children no matter which sex or gender. We understand that people have preferences and desire to learn more on the subject of gender selection.

Much of the medical research on gender selection surrounds the difference between the x and y sperm and how they are influenced by variations in timing of ovulation date, positioning and vaginal Ph, as well as dietary factors. This how-to manual walks couples step-by-step to directly apply this medical information on how to conceive the gender of your choice.

It is the opinion of the authors that the internet and the technology age has made more information available to the world, but it has become more confusing. There are websites selling Chinese calendars, strange potions and other questionable methods. Some sites charge you the cost of a book, then send you an email or a one-page flyer instead.

One of the reasons we wrote "Baby Girl or Baby Boy--Choose the Sex of Your Child" was to help couples find the information they want and be able to trust its source--that is, a doctor and a pediatric nurse. Then couples can easily apply these methods because it is written in plain and simple language.

As medical staff for over ten years, Dr. Mark and Lisa Moore have helped thousands of couples learn the ways and methods needed to make a baby girl or baby boy. Now their best-selling book can show you how to do it, too. Washington Publishers receives thousands of visitors every week who desire to learn more about the fascinating topic of gender selection. Our international visitors site accommodates over 50 different countries per month. Because of this, "Baby Girl or Baby Boy--Choose the sex of Your Child" has sold tens of thousands of copies in the United States, Canada and in dozens of countries worldwide on all seven continents.

Omega-3 Essential for Baby's Brain

Research has suggested that increasing intake of dietary omega-3 fatty acids may have a number of health benefits. And babies whose diets include an abundance of essential fats seem to have an edge in terms of early development. Now new research shows that the same is true for infants born to mothers whose diets contain plenty of this essential fatty acid.

Researchers found that infants born to mothers with higher blood levels of the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) at delivery had advanced levels of attention spans well into their second year of life. During the first six months of life, these infants were two months ahead of those babies whose mothers had lower DHA levels.

Attention is considered an important, but not the only, component of intelligence early in life, lead researcher John Colombo, PhD, tells WebMD.

"This adds to the mounting evidence that DHA plays an important part in brain development," he says.

DHA is important for the developing brain, which accumulates large amounts of it during the first two years of life. Compared to the rest of the body, the brain and nervous system contains very high levels of DHA but its exact role in the brain is not fully known.

Advantages Lasted

DHA is found naturally in breast milk and is now available in infant formulas and some baby foods. Atlantic salmon, Pacific cod fish, and tuna are some of the best food sources of the omega- 3 fatty acid, but algae-derived DHA supplements are also now available.

The study involved some 70 mothers and infants. At the ages of 4-, 6-, and 8-months of age, the babies were tested for visual learning ability. The testing involved showing them pictures and recording their reactions.

"We know from past research that when we show babies pictures during the first year of life, as they get older they look less and less," Colombo says. "The reason is that they are taking in the information faster as they develop."

Babies born to mothers who had higher blood levels of DHA scored better on the attention tests until 6 months of age, and they scored better on different tests designed to measure visual learning in older babies at 1 year and 18 months. The findings are reported in the July/August issue of the journal Child Development.

Not So Fishy Food Sources

While Colombo says he encourages his pregnant friends to add salmon to their diets, he adds that it is not yet clear how much DHA a woman needs during pregnancy. He hopes to answer this question in future studies with nutritionist and co-author Susan Carlson, PhD.

"What we can say right now is that authorities are concerned that pregnant women are not getting enough omega-3 in their diets," Carlson tells WebMD. "A number of observational studies suggests a link between DHA levels during pregnancy and a baby's behavioral performance."

CLASSIC MUSIC FOR BABY

These Mozart favorites have been developed and arranged by Dr. Norman M. Weinberger, a renowned neurobiologist, and Jimmie Haskell, a 3-time GRAMMY® award winner.

Introduction by Dr. Weinberger
Music provides a powerful means of mental and physical development. Research has revealed that babies are born with the abilities to hear, organize and understand many aspects of music. Babies' capacity to recognize, invent and play with music increases as they develop through childhood. Music is natural to children and should be used as an important part of their experiences during development.

Musical Soup™ - Mozart Wombsong Collection - 1 Album
Download Full Album
http://www.munchkin.com/information_station/
get_download.php?file=../userfiles/MozartWombsongCollection.zip

Parents can best promote children's natural interest in music by playing music that is developmentally appropriate for various stages of childhood. To encourage more attention to the music, play together with music. It not only provides beneficial stimulation, but also important bonding time for you and your child.

Dr. Weinberger is the father of seven children and an authority on music's role in child development. He is a Professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California Irvine and founding member of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. Dr. Weinberger received his B.A., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in psychology from Western Reserve University and postdoctoral training at the Brain Research Institute at UCLA. He is a pioneer in the field of how sounds are learned and remembered in the auditory system of the brain.