Five decades of progress in management of the infertile couple.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To review milestones in the care of the infertile couple over the past five decades. DATA RESOURCES All issues of Fertility and Sterility were reviewed beginning with the first issue published in 1950 through volume 61, number 1 (January 1994). Other significant articles from the literature were reviewed as identified by directed Medline searches. RESULTS: This historical review gives the reader a sense of the evolution of modern reproductive technology--how the past has shaped the present--through the development of modern surgical techniques, methods of ovulation induction, laparoscopy, ultrasound, endocrine assays, in vitro fertilization, cryopreservation of sperm and preembryos, and microscopic procedures on gametes and preembryos. CONCLUSIONS: The remarkable capabilities of modern reproductive technologies are only possible because of the culmination of decades of innovative research.