The Birds, the Bees, and Technology : Four active research areas are boosting birth rates.

In 1978, "test tube baby" Louise Joy Brown became the first person born through the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF). Since then, the number of babies delivered with help from IVF or other assisted reproductive technology (ART) totaled about 2.5 million worldwide as of 2007, with another 2.5 million born through 2013, according to the International Committee for the Monitoring of Assisted Reproductive Technology. Andrew La Barbera, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), provided IEEE Pulse with an overview of this quickly growing and evolving field, including reproductive technologies that may soon be available in the clinic.