Alternative name for Puregon used in India.

Consider a hormone to be a key, then a receptor is the lock. One is useless without the other. A hormone cannot act on a cell (or a tissue) unless the cell displays a receptor, which is linked to the internal machinery of the cell.

A pattern of inheritance of a characteristic (such as blue eye color) or abnormality (such as congenital absence of the vas deferens) in which two abnormal genes or alleles are needed to confer the characteristic or abnormality, in contrast to dominant inheritance, which requires just one abnormal gene. In the case of alleles found on X-chromosomes but not on the smaller Y-chromosomes, a recessive gene will be unopposed (and so will act as a dominant gene) in males, whereas female carriers of the allele will be unaffected except in the extremely unlikely event that they inherit (or gain by mutation) a second abnormal allele; this mode of inheritance is called sex-linked recessive inheritance.

(rFSH) Follicle stimulating hormone derived from genetic engineering instead of being extracted from the urine of postmenopausal women (human menopausal gonadotropin, or hMG) or from the pituitary glands of cadavers (human pituitary gonadotropin, or hPG). Produced and marketed by the two pharmaceutical companies Organon (as Puregon), or Fertinex in the US and Serono (as Gonal-F) to replace their hMG preparations. Has the advantage over hMG (and its purified derivatives) of being standard in biological structure and activity, and of not being of a human source (hPG -- but not hMG -- having been implicated in transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease).

(rLH) luteinising hormone derived from genetic engineering technology instead of being extracted from the urine. Marketed by Serono as Luveris.

Connects the large bowel (the colon) to the anus; lies behind the vagina in women.

A series of three or more consecutive miscarriages.

(RTF) A protein produced by the trophoblast that reduces the tendency of the mother's immune system to reject the pregnancy, apparently by increasing levels of interleukin 10, and thus reducing the tendency for miscarriage.

Synonymous with subfertility.

The chance of having something or being affected by something compared with people in a comparable situation. Usually given as a ratio, a proportion or a percentage as in the chance of having endometriosis; if your sister has it, you have a relative risk of 7:1 -- or seven times the risk -- compared with the general population of women of the same age; your relative risk of developing cancer of the ovaries if you've accumulated 10 years on the oral contraceptive pill is 1:5, 0.2 or 20.

An insulin-like protein with quite different functions. As the name suggests, tissues soften, relax or give-way upon exposure to it. Produced, for example, in the wall of the preovulatory follicle before ovulation, by the decidua to calm the myometrium of the pregnant uterus, and by the corpus luteum and the placenta to soften the ligaments of the pelvis in preparation for labor and childbirth.

The use of somatic cell nuclear transfer or embryo splitting to secure pregnancy and a new individual intended to be virtually genetically identical to the person who donated the cell nucleus used or genetically identical to siblings resulting from embryo splitting (which in effect is the intentional creation of identical twins, or triplets etc.). Practiced in animals, especially farm animals. Considered ethically abhorrent because of strong ethical arguments within the fields of deontological ethics (including a duty not to intentionally violate the biological principle of sexual reproduction involving genetic reassortment and individual difference), teleological ethics (including the very high risk of severe birth defects with SCNT) and utilitarian ethics (where arguments are based on considerations by and for society generally).

Highly purified human menopausal gonadotropin made by Ferring. Called Menogon or Menopur outside the US.

Tiny ducts (about 20 in number) connecting the testicular tubules with the epididymis.

A backward angle of the fundus of the uterus in relation to the direction of the cervix. Usually only occurs when the uterus is retroverted. Opposite to anteflexed.

Ejaculation in which semen, instead of spurting out from the penis during male orgasm, spills upwards into the bladder. Usually has a medically important cause, which requires investigation. Treatment can be successful by isolating spermatozoa from the urine and carrying out some form of assisted conception, such as assisted insemination or in vitro fertilisation.

Refers to the position of the uterus when it is tilted backward in relation to the direction of the vagina. A retroverted uterus is not always abnormal. Sometimes, however, a uterus can be pulled into a retroverted position by endometriosis affecting the uterosacral ligaments. A sharply retroverted uterus can cause pain during and after sex (dyspareunia). Opposite to anteverted.

A uterus that lies more towards the back than the front. Retroversion of the uterus may be normal and, of itself, this is not a cause of infertility; rarely it can repeatedly get in the way during sex and cause pain, in which case there are operations available to bring it forward, out of the way. Retroversion can also develop from scarring caused by endometriosis, in which case there can be pain with sex (dyspareunia) and infertility (caused by the endometriosis).

The reciprocal, or other side, of a duty or obligation, often conferred by society on the basis of equity or consistency, and matched either by intuitive duties or by conferred obligations.

Chance -- expressed as a ratio, proportion or percentage. If the word is unqualified, it usually means absolute risk (the actual risk in a group of the population), in contrast to relative risk (which measures one person's risk compared with another person's).

round spermatid injection.

(ROSI) Experimental form of testicular sperm extraction (TESE) followed by intracytoplasmic sperm insertion (ICSI) in which a round (very immature) spermatid is isolated for injection into the egg (or oocyte). Seems to be less successful than a similar procedure in which the nucleus is isolated from the spermatid and used instead. Not recommended clinically.

(ROSNI) Experimental form of testicular sperm extraction (TESE) followed by intracytoplasmic sperm insertion (ICSI) in which the nucleus of a round (very immature) spermatid is isolated for injection into the egg (or secondary oocyte). Intended to be used in treating non-obstructive azoospermia with severe maturation arrest, when more spermatozoa are not obtainable. Animal studies show higher pregnancy rates than with round spermatid injection (ROSI), but limited studies in humans still indicate very high rates of embryopathy. Not recommended clinically.

A reproductive strategy where survival of a species is optimised by explosive increases in numbers of animals whenever environmental circumstances are favorable; typically seen with small animals that reach sexual maturity quickly, which reproduce just once but with many progeny, and which do not need to tend to their progeny for very long (if at all) after birth. In extreme cases (seen in many lower animals such as insects), death of the father follows impregnation and death of the mother follows parturition (or giving birth). The opposite reproductive strategy to K-selection.

The small part of a bicornuate uterus in which one side is very small; with regard to the side that is bigger, it can be called communicating or non-communicating depending on whether it has a cavity that joins with the main endometrial cavity.