Assisted Reproductive Technology in the United States

Of the 60.2 million women in the United States who were of reproductive age in 1995, about 1.2 million, or 2 percent, had had an infertility-related medical appointment within the previous year, and about 15 percent had received infertility services at some time in their lives. 1 Major causes of infertility in women include obstruction of the fallopian tubes, pelvic adhesions, endometriosis, and anovulation; the primary cause in men is poor semen quality. Two important developments in the past 50 years now provide hope for infertile couples. First, drugs have been developed that can induce ovulation in almost all anovulatory women . . .