REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
Reproductive technologies encompass a group of
clinical laboratory procedures involving the extracor-
poreal (occurring outside the body) manipulation of
gametes (eggs and sperm) and developing embryos to
assist in the achievement of fertilization, implanta-
tion, and pregnancy. Common procedures to assist
fertilization include: artificial insemination, in which
sperm are physically introduced into the vagina or
uterus to facilitate fertilization in vivo (within the
body); in vitro fertilization, in which eggs are com-
bined with sperm outside of the body; intracyto-
plasmic sperm insertion, in which individual sperm
are physically introduced into individual eggs; and in
vitro maturation, in which immature eggs are allowed
to mature appropriately in vitro prior to fertilization.
Procedures to assist implantation include: embryo
transfer, in which developing embryos are placed
physically into the uterus; and assisted hatching, in
which the protective shell surrounding the develop-
ing embryo is compromised to allow the embryo to es-
cape and implant. Embryo cryopreservation involves
procedures that permit the storage of embryos at ex-
tremely cold temperatures to maintain viability for
subsequent intrauterine transfers.
See also: ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION; SURROGATE
MOTHERING
Bibliography
Keel, Brooks A., Jeffrey V. May, and Christopher J. De Jonge, eds.
Handbook of the Assisted Reproduction Laboratory. Boca Raton,
FL: CRC Press, 2000.
Kempers, Robert D., Jean Cohen, Arthur F. Haney, and J. Benja-
min Younger, eds. Fertility and Reproductive Medicine. Proceed-
ings of the XVI World Congress on Fertility and Sterility,
October 1998. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, 1998.
New York State Task Force on Life and the Law, Health Education
Services. Assisted Reproductive Technologies: Analysis and Recom-
mendations for Public Policy. Albany, 1998.
Jeffrey V. May
RESILIENCY
Resilience is a descriptive name given to unexpected-
ly positive outcomes in the face of negative predictors
for child development. The unexpectedness of the
outcomes appears to have influenced at least three of
the major researchers in the field. While tracking chil-
dren of drug-addicted women in London, Michael
Rutter is reported to have doubted his study when he
found that at least one-fourth of the children seemed
healthy and capable. When Norman Garmezy studied
the children of severely depressed women and found
that some of the children seemed healthy, he also
doubted his own diagnosis of the mothers. Other re-
search of pathologies led him in the direction of
studying the attributes of competence in children. Yet
another researcher drawn into the ‘‘why not’’ ques-
tion was Emmy Werner, known for her longitudinal
study of native Hawaiians born in 1955. The study
originally focused on the vulnerability of children ex-
posed to several serious risk factors. When one-third
of the children successfully coped with the risk fac-
tors, however, she changed the focus to look at the
roots of resiliency.How Resiliency Works
Resiliency is the result of a complex interaction
between risk factors and protective factors. A closer
look at the risk factors reveals three main categories.
One category includes life events that tend to trigger
disorders; such events include catastrophes, natural
disasters, and other traumatic circumstances. Another
category is chronic adversity in the home or neigh-
borhood, which predisposes the child to vulnerability;
included in this category are poverty, violence,
substance abuse, poor prenatal care, and parental
psychopathology. Third, the absence of protective
factors is itself a risk factor. There is an interactive ef-
fect among the risk factors that tend to escalate their
impact. Single stress factors do not have a critical im-
pact but combinations do, and additional difficulties
compound the impact of all existing risk factors.
There are several ways to look at resiliency and
the impact of stress on adaptation. At times the risk
factor is seen as having a strengthening or steeling ef-
fect, inoculating the individual as the challenge is
confronted. In other models risks are not the only ele-
ments at work. There are also a wide variety of factors
that protect children from the hazards and stresses
they face. These protective factors function by in-
creasing resistance to risk, making the stress more tol-
erable. They may also be seen to alleviate the effects
of stress, thus fostering adaptation and competence.
These factors can be organized into three groups:
personal disposition, family environment, and out-
side support systems.Growing Up Resilient
For the newborn, good health is a protective fac-
tor. Another is being an easy baby, that is, an active
and good-natured baby with an easy temperament.
These babies elicit a positive response from the pri-
mary caretaker. The age of the opposite sex parent
is an influence but it differs: younger mothers for re-
silient males but older fathers for resilient females.
Spacing is protective if there are two years or more
between children, as is having four or fewer children
in a family. Other protective factors important in in-346 REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES