The intent of "Essential IVF" is to present issues in clinical IVF that encompass the varied activities of those engaged in this field. By integrating clinical, basic research and laboratory-related aspects of human reproduction, readers with diverse interests should obtain a more complete understanding of the impact, importance and relevance of each in the progress of infertility treatment and an appreciation of whether emerging technologies will or should contribute to this progress in the near future. The topics selected for this volume include research that has begun to explain the origins of different follicular, gamete, embryo and uterine competence as well as specific laboratory procedures and protocols that may have important clinical implications for the generation of developmentally viable embryos. Comprehensive reviews and discussions of past and contemporary studies in clinically-oriented chapters provide a biological and outcome-based context in which current practices and protocols in human IVF may need to be reconsidered.