Fertilizer

Dr. Ernest Zeringue was looking for a niche in the cutthroat industry of fertility treatments. He seized on price, a huge obstacle for many patients, and in late 2010 began advertising a deal at his Davis, Calif., clinic unheard of anywhere else: Pregnancy for $9,800 or your money back. That's about half the price for in vitro fertilization at many other clinics, which do not include money-back guarantees. Typically, insurance coverage is limited and patients pay again and again until they give birth - or give up. Those patients use their own eggs and sperm - or carefully select donors when necessary - and the two are combined in a petri dish to create a batch of embryos.

College football players don't get many days off, whether they're in season or not. But when Washington's football team gets a break, the JetBlue gate at Long Beach Airport is jammed with Huskies returning home from Seattle. "We're about 30 deep on that plane," starting quarterback Keith Price says, laughing. "Whenever they say 'free weekend,' those flights are booked. " Washington Coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff have carved a niche that draws heavily from Compton, Long Beach and other cities in the corridor near the 91, 105, 710 and 605 freeways, as well as Los Angeles.

Reaching a long-sought milestone, Japanese researchers have demonstrated in mice that eggs and sperm can be grown from stem cells and combined to produce healthy offspring, pointing to new treatments for infertility. If the achievement can be repeated in humans - and experts said they are optimistic that such efforts will ultimately succeed - the technique could make it easier for women in their 30s or 40s to become mothers. It could also help men and women whose reproductive organs have been damaged by cancer treatments or other causes.

In a long-sought achievement, Japanese researchers have demonstrated in mice that both eggs and sperm can be grown from stem cells and combined to produce healthy offspring, pointing the way to a new avenue for fertility treatments. If the milestone accomplishment can be repeated in humans -- and experts said they are optimistic that such efforts will ultimately succeed -- the technique could make it easier for women in their 30s or 40s to become mothers. It could also help men and women whose reproductive organs have been damaged by cancer treatments or other causes.

The tough economy and high unemployment have young people hesitant to reproduce, with the U.S. fertility rate expected to fall to a quarter-century low this year even though the number of women in prime childbearing age is swelling. The average woman will have 1.87 children in 2012, according to the U.S. Fertility Forecast from Demographic Intelligence. That's 12% below the 2007 high of 2.12 children per woman. By next year, the rate will hit 1.86. Fertility has declined most among Latinas and those with less education; births have risen for Asians and college-educated parents.

When Lesley Brown's first child was born, there was no need to send out announcements. The news was blared on front pages around the world: "OUR MIRACLE," "BABY OF THE CENTURY," "IT'S A GIRL. " On July 25, 1978, Brown, a young woman from a working-class English town, gave birth to the first baby conceived outside the womb. Baby Louise Joy became a focus of international fascination as the first so-called test-tube baby, produced through in-vitro fertilization, a technique that raised moral and medical alarms 34 years ago but is commonplace today because of the more than 4 million women who have followed in Brown's steps.

For couples seeking to overcome infertility by turning to assisted reproductive technology - which can be invasive and expensive - an increased risk of birth defects probably won't stand in their way. Still, a study released Saturday by the New England Journal of Medicine may give some prospective parents a little something to think about as they mull their options for fertility treatment. The study is based on data from more than 300,000 births in the state of South Australia (population 1.6 million)

For those who think spring is all about robins arriving, or window cleaning or crocuses budding, I have two words for you: ant sex. Now, I know what you're thinking: Those tiny black creatures marching relentlessly toward the sugar bowl or streaming across the driveway are all infertile females who have no interest in sex at all. This is true. But when the days lengthen and the earth warms, the thoughts of a select class of ants turn to passion. An ant queen produces all of the other ants in the colony.

Last fall, before he became a front-runner in the Republican presidential race, Rick Santorum told a conservative Christian blogger in Iowa that he would use the White House bully pulpit to promote his concerns about something most people considered settled: birth control. "One of the things I will talk about that no president has talked about is, I think, the dangers of contraceptives in this country," the former senator from Pennsylvania told Shane Vander Hart of the blog Caffeinated Thoughts.

The Supreme Court justices voiced doubt over whether children who are born of in vitro fertilization more than a year after the death of their father are entitled to his survivor's benefits under the Social Security Act. The dispute involves a clash over how to interpret the 1930s pension law in an era of sperm donors and modern fertility. In 1939, Congress added a provision to the Social Security Act to give benefits to the survivors of deceased wage earners, including children who were dependents.  But judges have been split in the past decade over who qualifies as a survivor under this law. At issue is whether mothers can claim benefits for children who were conceived after their father died.