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Reproductive and Developmental Medicine Mar 2024The uterus is transiently receptive for embryo implantation. It remains to be understood why the uterus does not reject a semi-allogeneic embryo (to the biological...
The uterus is transiently receptive for embryo implantation. It remains to be understood why the uterus does not reject a semi-allogeneic embryo (to the biological mother) or an allogeneic embryo (to a surrogate) for implantation. To gain insights, we examined uterine early response genes approaching embryo attachment on day 3 post coitum (D3) at 22 hours when blue dye reaction, an indication of embryo attachment, had not manifested in mice. C57BL/6 pseudo-pregnant (control) and pregnant mouse uteri were collected on D3 at 22 hours for microarray analysis. The self-assembling-manifold () algorithm identified 21,858 unique probesets. Principal component analysis indicated a clear separation between the pseudo-pregnant and pregnant groups. There were 106 upregulated and five downregulated protein-coding genes in the pregnant uterus with fold change (fc) >1.5 and value <5%. Gene ontology (GO) analysis of the 106 upregulated genes revealed 38 significant GO biological process (GOBP) terms ( <0.05), and 32 (84%) of them were associated with immune responses, with a dominant natural killer (NK) cell activation signature. Among the top eight upregulated protein-coding genes, inactivates retinoic acid (RA) while promotes vitamin A storage, both of which are expected to attenuate RA bioavailability; and play roles in ion transport and transmembrane transport; , , and are involved in immune responses; and is important for kynurenine pathway. Most of these genes or their related pathways have functions in immune regulations. RA signaling has been implicated in immune tolerance and immune homeostasis, and uterine NK cells have been implicated in immunotolerance at the maternal-fetal interface in the placenta. The mechanisms of immune responses approaching embryo attachment remain to be elucidated. The coordinated effects of the early response genes may hold the keys to the question of why the uterus does not reject an implanting embryo.
PubMed: 38404366
DOI: 10.1097/RD9.0000000000000090 -
Scientific Reports Feb 2024Texting has become one of the most prevalent ways to interact socially, particularly among youth; however, the effects of text messaging on social brain functioning are...
Texting has become one of the most prevalent ways to interact socially, particularly among youth; however, the effects of text messaging on social brain functioning are unknown. Guided by the biobehavioral synchrony frame, this pre-registered study utilized hyperscanning EEG to evaluate interbrain synchrony during face-to-face versus texting interactions. Participants included 65 mother-adolescent dyads observed during face-to-face conversation compared to texting from different rooms. Results indicate that both face-to-face and texting communication elicit significant neural synchrony compared to surrogate data, demonstrating for the first time brain-to-brain synchrony during texting. Direct comparison between the two interactions highlighted 8 fronto-temporal interbrain links that were significantly stronger in the face-to-face interaction compared to texting. Our findings suggest that partners co-create a fronto-temporal network of inter-brain connections during live social exchanges. The degree of improvement in the partners' right-frontal-right-frontal connectivity from texting to the live social interaction correlated with greater behavioral synchrony, suggesting that this well-researched neural connection may be specific to face-to-face communication. Our findings suggest that while technology-based communication allows humans to synchronize from afar, face-to-face interactions remain the superior mode of communication for interpersonal connection. We conclude by discussing the potential benefits and drawbacks of the pervasive use of texting, particularly among youth.
Topics: Female; Adolescent; Humans; Text Messaging; Brain; Communication; Mothers; Thalamus
PubMed: 38302582
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-52587-2 -
Journal of Developmental and Behavioral...Motor planning is the cognitive process of planning necessary steps for achieving a purposeful movement and is specifically reflected through object manipulation. This...
OBJECTIVES
Motor planning is the cognitive process of planning necessary steps for achieving a purposeful movement and is specifically reflected through object manipulation. This study aimed to investigate whether fine motor skills, a surrogate of the motor planning ability of object manipulation, in early childhood are associated with later social skills, in a general-population birth cohort.
METHODS
A total of 913 children, participating in the Hamamatsu Birth Cohort for Mothers and Children, were enrolled. Social skills were measured using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-II, Socialization domain, at age 6 years. Fine motor skills were measured using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning at 14, 24, and 32 months. The associations between fine motor skills at ages 14, 24, and 32 months and social skills at age 6 years were tested separately through multivariable linear regression after adjusting for covariates, including gross motor and language skills at the contemporaneous age, autistic symptoms at age 6 years, and demographic factors.
RESULTS
Fine motor skills at 24 and 32 months were significantly associated with social skills at age 6 years (at 24 months: nonstandardized regression coefficient = 1.38 [95% CI, 0.50-2.26], p = 0.002; at 32 months: 1.47 [0.56-2.38], p = 0.001).
CONCLUSION
Fine motor skills in early childhood predicted social skills at age 6 years, indicating an association between the complex motor planning ability of object manipulation and later social skills. Children who demonstrate fine motor delay at as early an age as 2 years should be closely monitored by child professionals.
Topics: Child, Preschool; Child; Female; Humans; Motor Skills; Social Skills; Cognition; Learning; Mothers
PubMed: 38619153
DOI: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000001258 -
Fertility and Sterility Jun 2024The use of adult intrafamilial gamete donors and gestational surrogates is generally ethically acceptable when all participants are fully informed and counseled, but...
The use of adult intrafamilial gamete donors and gestational surrogates is generally ethically acceptable when all participants are fully informed and counseled, but consanguineous arrangements or ones that simulate incestuous unions should be prohibited. Adult child-to-parent arrangements require caution to avoid coercion, and parent-to-adult child arrangements are acceptable in limited situations. Programs that choose to participate in intrafamilial arrangements should be prepared to spend additional time counseling participants and ensuring that they have made free, informed decisions. This document replaces the document of the same name, last published in 2017.
Topics: Humans; Female; Surrogate Mothers; Male; Ethics Committees; Tissue Donors; Pregnancy; Family; Reproductive Techniques, Assisted; Oocyte Donation
PubMed: 38323956
DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2024.01.007 -
Annals of Emergency Medicine Jun 2024The emergency department clinical environment is unique, and guidelines for promoting supportive and equitable workplace cultures ensure success and longevity for...
The emergency department clinical environment is unique, and guidelines for promoting supportive and equitable workplace cultures ensure success and longevity for pregnant persons and parents in emergency medicine. There is paucity, variability, and dissatisfaction with current parental (historically referred to as maternity and paternity) leave policies. This paper describes the development of consensus-derived recommendations to serve as a framework for emergency departments across the country for incorporating family-friendly policies. Policies that foster a family-inclusive workplace by allowing for professional advancement without sacrificing personal values regardless of sex, gender, and gender identity are critical for emergency medicine recruitment and retention.
Topics: Humans; Parental Leave; Female; Emergency Medicine; Pregnancy; Adoption; Lactation; Consensus; Surrogate Mothers; Emergency Service, Hospital; Physicians; Organizational Policy; Male
PubMed: 38639673
DOI: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2024.03.005 -
Journal of Health Psychology Mar 2024Concerning Europe, the lay public, mainly in Central regions, still lacks information about what surrogacy is and how the process works in practice. It is one of the...
Concerning Europe, the lay public, mainly in Central regions, still lacks information about what surrogacy is and how the process works in practice. It is one of the most controversial methods of assisted reproduction precisely because it goes against traditional social norms and ideas about the conception of life. The main aim of our study was to map the social representations of lay people that are formed in internet discussions. We focused on discussion forums over a time span of the last 10 years, from 2013 to 2022. We were also interested in whether perceived risks or benefits formed the core of social representations. Through a reflexive thematic analysis, we identified two distinct constructions of social representations of surrogacy, finding that value settings in terms of liberalism and conservatism appear to have the greatest influence on the anchoring and objectification of surrogacy.
Topics: Pregnancy; Female; Humans; Surrogate Mothers; Europe; Social Norms
PubMed: 37534593
DOI: 10.1177/13591053231189411 -
BMJ Open Dec 2023The study summarises the selection prescreen criteria currently used in the UK for a uterus transplant and highlights the number of women who are suitable to proceed. (Clinical Trial)
Clinical Trial
INvestigational Study Into Transplantation of the Uterus (INSITU): a cross-sectional survey among women with uterine factor infertility in the UK assessing background, motivations and suitability.
IMPORTANCE
The study summarises the selection prescreen criteria currently used in the UK for a uterus transplant and highlights the number of women who are suitable to proceed.
OBJECTIVES
To assess the demographics, motivations, reasons and suitability among women with absolute uterine factor infertility (AUFI) to undergo uterine transplantation (UTx).
DESIGN
A cross-sectional survey.
SETTING
An electronic questionnaire was sent via email to women with AUFI who had previously been referred to the UTx research team or approached the Womb Transplant UK Charity. The questions assessed suitability to undergo UTx based on demographic information, perceptions to adoption and surrogacy and reasons why UTx was preferable. Responses were assessed against the study selection criteria.
PARTICIPANTS
Women with AUFI.
RESULTS
210 women completed the questionnaire. The most common aetiology of AUFI in our cohort was Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (68%; n=143) whereas 29% (n=62) had previously undergone hysterectomy. 63% (n=132) of the cohort had previously considered adoption, 5% (n=11) had attempted it and 2 (1%) had successfully adopted. The most common reason cited to undergo UTx over adoption was to experience gestation (n=63; 53%), while 37% (n=44) wanted a biologically related child. 76% (n=160) of participants had previously considered surrogacy, 22 (10%) had attempted it and 2 (1%) had successfully become mothers using a surrogate. The most common reason to undergo UTx over surrogacy was to experience gestation (n=77; 54%). 15% (n=21) were concerned about the legal implications, 14% (n=20) identified the financial cost as a barrier and 8% (n=12) could not consider it due to religious reasons. On adhering to the selection criteria, 65 (31%) women were suitable to proceed with the trial.
CONCLUSION
The study demonstrates that implementing commonly used selection criteria for a UTx led to an attrition rate of more than two-thirds of women who requested to initially undergo the process. As more studies present outcomes following UTx, critical assessment of the selection criteria currently used is warranted to ensure potential recipients are not being unnecessarily excluded.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
NCT02388802.
Topics: Female; Humans; Cross-Sectional Studies; Infertility, Female; Motivation; United Kingdom; Uterus
PubMed: 38070921
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-073517 -
Medical Law Review May 2024The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case law on cross-border surrogacy establishes that a 'general and absolute impossibility' of obtaining recognition of the...
Accommodations of private and family life and non-traditional families: the limits of deference in cases of cross-border surrogacy before the European Court of Human Rights.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case law on cross-border surrogacy establishes that a 'general and absolute impossibility' of obtaining recognition of the relationship, legally established in another country, between a surrogate-born child and their intended parents will violate the child's right to respect for private life. This approach requires States to accommodate familial bonds created through cross-border surrogacy and limits the margin of appreciation available to States to determine their national response. In recent case law, the ECtHR has adopted an interventionist approach in respect of national decision-making and has gone further than might be expected under the principle of subsidiarity. Examination of the emerging body of jurisprudence on cross-border surrogacy, however, reveals a preference for 'traditional' family formations, with the ECtHR tending to adopt a less interventionist and more deferential approach to national decision-making where the family at the centre of the case deviates from the structure of the family reflected in the seminal cross-border surrogacy case of Mennesson v France App no 65192/11 (ECtHR, 26 June 2014). This approach leads to inconsistency in the cross-border surrogacy case law as it creates something of a moving target for the vindication of children's rights in 'less traditional' family forms.
Topics: Surrogate Mothers; Humans; Human Rights; Female; Europe; Family; Pregnancy
PubMed: 37950829
DOI: 10.1093/medlaw/fwad038 -
Ciencia & Saude Coletiva Apr 2024Considered until recently unfit to rear children, non-heterosexual people have been excluded from forming families in most countries. Many, worldwide, demand access to...
Considered until recently unfit to rear children, non-heterosexual people have been excluded from forming families in most countries. Many, worldwide, demand access to family formation, claiming the same aptitudes as heterosexual people for raising children. However, when non-heterosexual singles and couples want to become parents in Spain, they must consider transnational contexts, resorting to inter-country adoption or surrogacy abroad, processes that contribute to delay their family formation. They must consider not only Spanish sociocultural conditions, but other countries' legal restrictions regarding parents' gender, social status, and sexual identity. These families experience great difficulty in gaining access to reproductive health services. Based on multi-site ethnographic fieldwork, this text addresses how, despite legislative changes allowing homoparental family formation in Spain, these parents must overcome complex bureaucratic processes when they decide to have children, while facing homophobic attitudes and policies in their quests to become parents.
Topics: Spain; Humans; Female; Male; Parents; Adoption; Surrogate Mothers; Health Services Accessibility; Parenting; Homosexuality
PubMed: 38655961
DOI: 10.1590/1413-81232024294.18662023 -
Ciencia & Saude Coletiva Apr 2024Surrogacy (GS) has been established as a means of access to male homoparenting and, despite not being regulated in Argentina, it is negotiated in a "paralegal" scenario....
Surrogacy (GS) has been established as a means of access to male homoparenting and, despite not being regulated in Argentina, it is negotiated in a "paralegal" scenario. For some time now, LGBT organizations have proposed regulation based on the argument that GS represents the only option available for a male homosexual couple to have a child with a genetic link, albeit with only one of them, and consecutively acknowledge the family ties of both. By means of ethnographic work carried out within the scope of a postgraduate research project, our objective is to ascertain the experiences of male homosexual couples who seek the legitimacy of GS processes and equal access to the healthcare system. With this in mind, we seek a reflection that articulates the construction of public health policies and the claims of sectors of the LGBT movement, focusing on the meanings of the collective experience, on the ways in which these actors organize their family demands, and on the conceptions and practices that articulate these claims with the production of public policies.
Topics: Argentina; Humans; Male; Sexual and Gender Minorities; Surrogate Mothers; Health Services Accessibility; Female; Homosexuality, Male; Public Policy; Health Policy; Pregnancy
PubMed: 38655953
DOI: 10.1590/1413-81232024294.15192023