ABSTRACT
phe problem of infertility is as old as human civilization. All cultures, from ancient times to the present, have had their fertility rites and practices, dolls and amulets, herbs and folk medicines to ensure that there would indeed be a new generation to carry on the culture. Traditionally, the woman was held responsible for whether or not offspring were produced, and in most societies, the "barren woman" was, and still is, a tragic figure. The woman's worth was perceived largely in terms of childbearing and childrearing abilities; the man had other important roles in the economy and defense of the community. Some notions of the male role in reproduction existed in ancient times, as evidenced by the existence of phallic cults and paraphernalia. However, it was not until the seventeenth century that spermatozoa were observed under the microscope, and not until the eighteenth century that their role in fertilization was discovered. For a while the "homunculus" theory prevailed, which held that a sperm contained a fully formed miniature person, and that the womb provided an incubator in which it could grow. By the nineteenth century, early workers i?i genetics found that both parents co?itributed equally to the genetic makeup of the new individual, except for sex differentiation which is mediated exclusively by the male, and the mammalian ovum was observed. The twentieth century brought great strides in the understanding of reproductive physiology, the complex events occurring within the menstrual cycle, and the multiplicity of factors in both male and female that could enhance or impair conception and the carriage of a pregnancy to term.
