Offers a comprehensive guide to assisted reproductive technology surveillance, describing its history, global variations, and best practices.

The ART report provides an in-depth picture of the type, number, and outcome of ART cycles performed in U.S. fertility clinics. It also includes individual clinic tables that provide ART success rates and other information from each clinic. The report includes submitted and verified 2006 data and appendixes containing the results of data validation visits, technical notes, a glossary, and contact information for reporting and non-reporting clinics in the United States. The data for this national report comes from the 483 fertility clinics in operation in 2006 that provided and verified data on the outcomes of all ART cycles started at their clinics. The 138,198 ART cycles performed at these reporting clinics in 2006 resulted in 41,343 live births (deliveries of one or more living infants) and 54,656 infants. Data provided by U.S. fertility clinics that use ART to treat infertility is a rich source of information about the factors that contribute to a successful ART treatment--the delivery of a live-born infant.

Human reproductive cloning is an assisted reproductive technology that would be carried out with the goal of creating a newborn genetically identical to another human being. It is currently the subject of much debate around the world, involving a variety of ethical, religious, societal, scientific, and medical issues. Scientific and Medical Aspects of Human Reproductive Cloning considers the scientific and medical sides of this issue, plus ethical issues that pertain to human-subjects research. Based on experience with reproductive cloning in animals, the report concludes that human reproductive cloning would be dangerous for the woman, fetus, and newborn, and is likely to fail. The study panel did not address the issue of whether human reproductive cloning, even if it were found to be medically safe, would beâ€"or would not beâ€"acceptable to individuals or society.