GLOSSARY
The International Glossary on Infertility and Fertility Care
The following glossary was developed in 2017 by a global panel of more than 100 multidisciplinary experts, professional organisations, and patient representatives to provide consensus agreement on 283 items and definitions. Published in Fertility and Sterility (FNS) and Human Reproduction (HR).
A printable version of the 2017 Glossary and more information on the methodology, and a list of previous compiled glossaries can be found here.
Gestational sac
A fluid-filled structure associated with early pregnancy, which may be located inside or, in the case of an ectopic pregnancy, outside the uterus.
Globozoospermia
Describes spermatozoa with a reduced or absent acrosome.
Haploidy
The condition in which a cell has one set of each of the 23 single chromosomes. Mature human gametes are haploid, each having 23 single chromosomes.
Hatching
The process by which an embryo at the blastocyst stage extrudes out of, and ultimately separates from, the zona pellucida.
Heterotopic pregnancy
Concurrent pregnancy involving at least one embryo implanted in the uterine cavity and at least one implanted outside of the uterine cavity.
High-order multiple births
The complete expulsion or extraction from their mother of three or more fetuses, after 22 completed weeks of gestational age, irrespective of whether they are live births or stillbirths.
High-order multiple gestation
A pregnancy with three or more embryos or fetuses.
Hydrosalpinx
A distally occluded, dilated, fluid-filled Fallopian tube.
Hypergonadotropic hypogonadism
Gonadal failure associated with reduced gametogenesis, reduced gonadal steroid production and elevated gonadotropin production.
Hyperspermia
High volume of ejaculate above the upper reference limit. When reporting results, the reference criteria should be specified.
Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism
Gonadal failure associated with reduced gametogenesis and reduced gonadal steroid production due to reduced gonadotropin production or action.
Hypospermatogenesis
Histopathologic description of reduced production of spermatozoa in the testes.
Hypospermia
Low volume of ejaculate below the lower reference limit. When reporting results, the reference criteria should be specified.