Teratogens
Any agent that causes a birth defect

• Alcohol : Causes facial deformalities, defective limbs, face, and heart
• Nicotine: Leads to low birth weight, poor cognitive development, preterm birth, respirtory problems and is related to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
• Marijuana: Causes tremors, poor verbal and memory development.
• Heroin: Fetus is addicted, shows withrawl such as tremors, irritability, abnormal crying, disturbed sleep, imaired motor control.
• Cocaine: Shows withdrawl symptoms, such as hypertension, heart problems, developmental retardation, and learning difficulties.
• Diseases: Such as AIDS, Herpes, and HIV can contracted from mother to infant.

Research suggests that the primary cause of infertility today is the wide range of chemical exposures present in the home, on the job, in your diet, and in the environment. Infertility treatments are a $ 1 billion a year industry, although expensive treatments prove not very effective. There is only a 6% improvement in achieving pregnancy using treatment over couples who just "keep trying."

Some common contributers to infertility include smoking, which causes abnormal sperm and low sperm count; common pesticides, such as chlordane and chlorpyrifos; car exhaust, which reduces ovarian weight and follicles; coffee, and MSG. Many other factors such as chemicals in drinking water, malfunctioning immune system, alcohol, and drugs can highly contribute to infertility.

Percentage of women with infertility also differs with age.

Below are figures representing the infertitlity rate in various age groups.

15-24 years old = 4.1%

25-34 years old = 13.1%

35-44 years old = 21.4%

Miscarriage and Abortion

Ending a pregnancy before the fetus is developed sufficiently enough to survive outside the uterus is considered abortion. Abortion can be spontaneous (miscarriage) or a deliberate termination of the pregnancy. Deliberate termination in the first nine weeks of pregnancy can medically be carried out in a number of ways. One approach is to use the "abortion pill" (mifepristone) in conjuction with a prostagladin. An estimated 150,000 unwanted pregnancies are terminated each day. Unfortunately, aobut one-third are performed illegally and unsafely.

Arizona Satistics

Below are recent figures repesenting the number of abortions performed in Arizona.

Under 15 years old - 91 cases of abortion (.7%)

15-19 years old - 2,671 cases of abortion (19.2%)

20-24 years old - 4,410 cases of abortion (31.7%)

Miscarriage risk increases after exposure to chemical solvents. For example:

• perchlorethylene (used in dry cleaning)-- 4.7 times greater risk
• trichloroethylene (used in dry cleaning)-- 3.1 times greater risk
• paint thinners-- 2.1 times greater risk
• paint strippers--2.1 times greater risk
• glycol ethers ( found in paints)-- 2.9 times greater risk

The risk of miscarriage, like infertility, increases with age. Women who are 20-29 years old have a10% risk, whereas woment who are 45 years old or older have a50% risk of being infertile.

Assisted Reproduction

In Vitro Fertilization occurs when an egg and sperm are combined in a laboratory dish. When and if the egg is fertilezed, the embryo is transferred to the woman's uterus (BocaFertility).

In vitro fertilization success rates depending on age are:

less than 35-45 years old-- 50% success

35-40 years old-- 28-35% success

41 years old-- 20% success

42+ years old-- 3% success

Gamete Intrafollopian Transfer (GIFT) occurs when a dooctor inserts eggs and sperm directly into a woman's fallopian tube. The success rate is 30%

Intrauterine Insemination occurs when frozen sperm (of husband or unknown donor) is placed directly into the uterus. The success rateis 10%

Zygote Intrafallopian Transfer (ZIFT) is a two step rprocess. First, eggs are fertilized in the laboratory. Then, any resulting zygotes are transferred to a fallopian tube. The success rate is 25%

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection occurs when a doctor uses a microscopic pipette to inject a single sperm into an egg. The zygote is returned to the womans body. Success rate is25%

*Statistics from New York Hospital and Cornell Medical Center.

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