Glossary

Definitions of Common Reproductive Terms

1. ANDROLOGY: The study of male fertility
2. AATB: American Association of Tissue Banks. A national association that provides guidelines for and accredits tissue banks, including reproductive tissue banks. Membership is voluntary.
3. AI: Artificial Insemination: The placement of semen within the reproductive tract of a recipient.
4. AID: Artificial Insemination of Donor Semen (also known as DI -Donor Insemination).
5. AIH: Artificial Insemination of Husband's Semen.
6. A.R.T.: Assisted Reproductive Technology; a medical procedure intended to result in contraception, including, but not limited to, therapeutic insemination, in-vitro fertilization (including intracytoplasmic sperm injection), and gamete intrafallopian transfer.
7. ASRM: American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
8. CRYOPRESERVATION: Freezing at a very low temperature with a cryoprotectant, such as in liquid nitrogen (-190 degrees C) to keep embryos, eggs or sperm viable.
9. DONOR: A man whose semen is used for inseminating someone other than his wife or partner. An anonymous donor is someone not known to the recipient. A directed donor is a man selected by the recipient (and known to her), other than her partner, who donates semen for artificial insemination.
10. EMBRYO: A fertilized egg that has begun cell division, often called a pre-embryo. An embryo is now defined as a later stage, i.e. at the completion of the pre-embryonic stage which is considered to end at about day 14.
11. ET: Embryo Transfer
12. FALLOPIAN TUBES: A pair of tubes attached to the uterus, one on each side, where sperm and egg meet in normal conception.
13. FDS: Frozen Donor Sperm.
14. GAMETE: Reproductive cells (sperm or ovum) that can unite with each other to form a cell or zygote (see zygote).
15. GIFT: Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer: Used for women who have normal fallopian tubes but have unexplained infertility or an immunologic response to the male. The ovaries are hyper-stimulated and ova retrieved as in IVF.
16. ICI: intracervical insemination
17. IUI: intrauterine insemination
18. IVF: In Vitro Fertilization: The process in which an egg and sperm are combined in a laboratory dish where fertilization occurs. The resulting embryo is transferred into the women's uterus.
19. MORPHOLOGY of Sperm: Analysis of the shape and size of sperm.
20. MOTILlTY: The ability of sperm to move and the quality of their movement.
21. OPEN DONOR: Selected donors who state their intent, at the beginning of their participation in the program, to respond to a request for contact from offspring when the child reaches 18 or older.
22. SEMEN: The fluid of a man's reproductive system consisting of spermatozoa and secretions of accessory glands.
23. SEMEN ANALYSIS: A test done on ejaculated semen to evaluate the parameters of a normal ejaculate, including count, motility, and other factors.
24. SPERM COUNT: A measurement of the number of sperm in the semen.
25. SPERM WASHING: The process of preparing the sperm for intrauterine insemination by removing the seminal plasma.
26. STD: Sexually Transmitted Disease.
27. TDI: Therapeutic Donor Insemination (also known as AID).
28. VISCOSITY: The thickness or liquidity of the semen sample. The thicker the semen, the more difficult it is for the sperm to travel.
29. ZYGOTE: A cell formed by the union of male and female gametes. The fertilized egg before division that forms the fertilized ovum into the earliest embryonic stage (see gametes).
30. ZIFT: Zygote Intrafallopian Transfer: An egg is fertilized in vitro, and the zygote is transferred to the fallopian tube and the stage before cell division takes place. The eggs are harvested and fertilized on one day and the embryo is transferred the following day.