The proceedings of a September 1992 symposium in Bordeaux, France, focusing on the biochemical and molecular mechanisms that program the generation of reciprocal maternal and embryonic signals in pregnant humans and animals. The 32 papers cover experimental and clinical studies of uterine receptivit

Early embryonic loss is a continuing social and economic global problem. In human populations the estimates of interruptions early in pregnancy range from 35-60%. In animal husbandry (swine, ruminants) fully 30% of pregnancies fail to survive early events of gestation. The futility associated with this persistant high risk is even more unsettling because of advances made in assisted reproductive technology which, although this very selective methodology has added to our knowledge of embryo-endometrial interactions, has resulted in a birth rate of only 14%. These studies have instigated...

Long was I hugg'd close-long and long. Immense have been the preparations for me, Faithful and friendly the arms that have help'd me. Cycles ferried my cradle, rowing and rowing like friendly boatmen. For room to me stars kept aside in their own rings, They sent influences to look after what was to hold me. Before I was born out of my mother, generations guided me, My embryo has never been torpid, nothing could overlay it. -Walt Whitman, "Song of Myself" The womb is the seat of all mammalian life. In pregnancy, the uterus acquires this impor tance with the arrival of the fertilized egg, which...