In Bangladesh, where motherhood is deeply woven into a woman’s identity, infertility is more than just a medical condition — it is a deeply entrenched social stigma. For many women, being unable to conceive means being treated as incomplete, facing emotional abuse, and even experiencing violence.

Women with a history of infertility have a 10% increased risk of death compared to those without infertility problems, reports a new American study. The difficulty in conceiving is thought to expose them to significant risks of dying of breast cancer or type 2 diabetes.

Sperm have been made in the laboratory and used to father healthy baby mice in a pioneering move that could lead to infertility treatments.