International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

A shortage of sperm donations is having an impact on fertility treatment in the UK, it has been reported.

Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at Sheffield University Medical School, UK, reported that 85 per cent of applicants for sperm donation are rejected because of poor semen quality.

A blood test that can be carried out in early pregnancy is "highly accurate" at determining the sex of the foetus, a study has found.

The findings are of importance because the test allows the sex to be determined earlier and without invasive tests that carry a risk of miscarriage, Reuters reports.

Action is being taken to improve family planning options available to women in Ethiopia, it has been reported.

According to the United Nations Population Fund, the national government has embarked on a comprehensive plan to make Implanon, an effective, long-acting and reversible contraceptive, widely available throughout the country.

Women who are trying to conceive should try and eat a "rainbow" of foods and avoid processed fats, it has been suggested.

Yvonne Bishop-Weston, nutritionist for UK-based First Response and Foods for Life, said women should steer clear of foods with lots of empty calories and few useful nutrients.

UK couples must be given greater access to IVF, according to one UK health body.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has called for the fertility treatment to become more widely available on the UK's National Health Service (NHS).

Women must be able to make their own decisions on family planning issues if they are to live safer and healthier lives, it has been claimed.

According to Bunmi Makinwa, Africa regional director at the United Nations Population Fund, family planning, reproductive rights and gender equality are all intricately linked.

There are simple aspects of infertility which are not being addressed, according to Comment on Reproductive Ethics (Core).

The comments were made after US scientists discovered a technique which could convert human stem cells into eggs and sperm.

The first successful human womb transplant could happen within the next two years, it has been claimed.

British scientists say they have developed a way of transplanting a womb with a regular blood supply, allowing it to last long enough to carry out a pregnancy.

Using rabbits, researchers at the Royal Veterinary College managed to attach wombs using major blood vessels.

IVF success rates have been improved by a new egg screening test, it has been reported.

The treatment received after an early miscarriage does not affect a woman's long-term fertility, it has been reported.