Reply of the Author: “Unexplained” does not mean, “not understood”
Richard J Paulson · 2026
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Description
Richard J Paulson wrote a 2026 author's reply in the debate over the term unexplained infertility, standing by his editorial's conclusion. Critics had argued the label honestly marks testing limits and warned against calling the condition mainly mechanical. Paulson agrees couples understand the diagnosis in varied ways, which he sees as part of the problem with an imprecise label. He restates his view that the cause is primarily mechanical.
His argument rests on treatments that simply bring egg and sperm together. A past procedure placing both into the fallopian tube often worked without changing hormones, immunity, or the womb. Modern IVF, which unites egg and sperm in the lab, achieves conception rates in unexplained cases matching those in blocked-tube cases. If other hidden factors dominated, he argues, a mere mechanical bypass should not succeed so well.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Richard J Paulson |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 3146 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |