None.

About half of the couples stopped before any fertility treatment was started and one-third stopped after at least one IVF cycle. The main reasons for withdrawal were emotional distress and poor prognosis. This insight may help to improve quality of patient care by making care more responsive to the needs and expectations of subfertile couples.

In couples with primary unexplained or male subfertility participating in an IUI program, ovarian hyperstimulation can be achieved by CC or rFSH. No significant difference in live birth rates between CC and rFSH was observed. Being less expensive, CC seems the more cost-effective drug and therefore, can be offered as drug of first choice.

In a cohort of subfertile couples, most pregnancies were conceived spontaneously. The contribution of IVF to ongoing pregnancy rates was comparable to those of OI and IUI. Compared with the pre-IVF era, couples with 'endometriosis', 'tubal factor' and 'male subfertility' have benefited most from its introduction.

Summary Five experiments were conducted to evaluate damage incurred in each processing step for cryopreservation of stallion spermatozoa. In Experiment 1, semen was centrifuged for 9 centrifugation times and the percentage of spermatozoa recovered after each treatment was calculated and spermatozoal motion characteristics analysed. Recovery of spermatozoa was ≥80% when spermatozoa were centrifuged for ≥10 min. Experiment 2 evaluated spermatozoa cryopreserved at 5 different concentrations in each of 2 extenders (skim milk‐egg yolk‐glycerol, SM‐EYG; and lactose‐EDTA, LAC). In SM‐EYG, TMOT and PMOT were higher at spermatozoal concentrations of 20, 200 and 400 times 106/ml (51%/41%, 52%/44%, 50%/43%, respectively) than for samples frozen at ≥800 times 106 spermatozoa/ml (41%/35%, 32%/27%; P<0.05). Spermatozoa frozen in LAC at a concentration of 20 times 106/ml resulted in the highest TMOT and PMOT (43% and 30%, respectively, P<0.05). The effect of freezing rate on motion characteristics of spermatozoa was evaluated in Experiment 3. The VCL of spermatozoa frozen in SM‐EYG was the only parameter affected by freezing rate (P<0.05). Experiment 4 evaluated motion characteristics after cryopreservation of spermatozoa in different sized straws (0.5 or 2.5 ml) in each of 2 extenders (SM‐EYG and LAC). In SM‐EYG, PMOT (38%) and VCL (109 μm/s) were highest when spermatozoa were frozen in 0.5 ml straws (P<0.05). In Experiment 5, spermatozoa thawed immediately after cryopreservation or thawed after storage in liquid nitrogen for 24–48 h were evaluated. There was no effect of length of storage in liquid nitrogen on spermatozoal motion characteristics (P<0.05). Experiment 6 evaluated the effects of cooling time to 5°C (0, 2.5 and 5 h) on motion characteristics of spermatozoa cryopreserved in 2 extenders (SM‐EYG and LAC). TMOT and PMOT were effected by cooling time, and there was a cooling‐time‐by‐extender interaction (P<0.05). In SM‐EYG, TMOT and PMOT were higher if spermatozoa were cooled to 5°C prior to initiation of freezing than if freezing was initiated at 20°C (P<0.05). A suggested protocol for cryopreservation of stallion spermatozoa would include: 1) centrifugation at 400 g for 14 to 16 min; 2) extension at 23°C with SM‐EYG to 400 times 106 spermatozoa/ml; 3) cool to 5°C for 2.5 h; 4) package in 0.5 ml straws at 5°C; 5) freeze in liquid nitrogen vapour at −160°C; and 6) thaw for 30 s in 37°C water.