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The Documentary: The Changing Face of Procreation: Assisted Reproduction

The Changing Face of Procreation: Assisted Reproduction

18/09/2018 GMT

Assisted Reproduction

The Changing Face of Procreation

BBC World Service - The Documentary, The Changing Face of Procreation, Assisted Reproduction

How humans make babies could be about to change, thanks to IVF and reproductive tech

How humans make babies could be about to change, thanks to advances in IVF and reproductive technology.

How humans make babies could be about to change, thanks to advances in IVF and reproductive technology. Krupa Padhy meets the new kinds of families that could become the norm, and explores how reproductive technology may soon alter the way all of us make babies.

Image: Illustration of sperm approaching an egg (Credit: Science Photo Library)

The Documentary: The Changing Face of Procreation

Are we facing the 'end of sexual reproduction'?

Krupa Padhy investigates whether science could bring about the 'end of sexual reproduction'.

"Within 30 years Americans will stop having sex to procreate", according to the American bioethicist and barrister Henry Greely. Instead, he says stem cells from a couple's skin would be used to make eggs and sperm and then an embryo.

His comments last year caused an outcry, but he's one of a growing number of scientists and academics who are warning of revolutionary changes ahead. Many are predicting the 'end of sexual reproduction', as more and more people turn to IVF to have children.  
 
The Global Assisted Reproductive Technology Market is expected to reach $31.4 billion in the next five years, and the number of IVF babies is rocketing due to infertility issues caused by obesity, stress and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. In The Changing Face of Procreation, Krupa Padhy meets the scientists that are at the cutting edge of reproductive medicine, and examines the alternative paths being taken to create a family, including 'snow babies', conceived from frozen embryos that in some cases are decades old.

Image:Embryo selection for IVF (Credit: Science Photo Library)

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