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Obesity, Reproductive Outcomes, and Access to Infertility Treatments: A Clinical and Ethical Debate

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Obesity and Fertility

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Abstract

Obesity poses significant maternal and fetal risks as well as unique reproductive challenges to both natural and assisted attempts at pregnancy. Given the diminished efficacy of infertility treatments including assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and increased risks of treatments in the obese population, a debate has emerged around the implementation of body mass index (BMI) cutoffs restricting access to infertility treatment. While professional medical societies in the United States do not endorse official guidelines for access to fertility treatment based on BMI cutoffs, support for and implementation of BMI cutoffs is growing. Globally, the uptake of BMI cutoffs for access to fertility treatments are being recommended and more widely enforced in countries such as New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Arguments for and against restricting access to fertility care must also be considered within a framework that considers the core ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Samantha Schon MD

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Samantha Butts MD, MSci

Authors
  1. Samantha Schon MD
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  2. Samantha Butts MD, MSci
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Correspondence to Samantha Butts MD, MSci .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

    Emily S. Jungheim

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Schon, S., Butts, S. (2015). Obesity, Reproductive Outcomes, and Access to Infertility Treatments: A Clinical and Ethical Debate. In: Jungheim, E. (eds) Obesity and Fertility. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2611-4_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2611-4_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2610-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2611-4

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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