05 Your Guide For A Child t July 2022 Undescended testis: Fate of fertility predicted by blood biomarkers Testis development is a complex process that starts even before birth. Normally, the developing testes progressively migrate to reach the scrotum during the fetal stage. However, any abnormality in this developmental cascade - orchestrated by many physiological processes and interactions of various cell types -- may manifest as a disorder of sex development and subsequent male infertility. In boys with undescended testis, the risk of developing infertility is traditionally predicted based on a decrease in germ cell count ob- served using testicular biopsy samples. However, the process of tes- ticular biopsy carries the risk of injury, infection, and developing subfertility. In a new study, researchers from Japan have identified an alternative means of predicting future infertility based on serum sex hormone ratios without performing the testicular biopsy. Stress of COVID-19 pandemic caused irregular menstrual cycles Women and people who menstruate experienced irregu- larities in their menstrual cycle because of increased stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new Northwestern Med- icine study has found. This is the first U.S. study to evaluate the impact of stress on peoples' periods. The study surveyed more than 200 women and people who menstruate in the United States between July and August 2020 in order to better understand how stress dur- ing the COVID-19 pandemic influenced their menstrual cycles. More than half (54%) of the individuals in the study experienced changes in their menstrual cycle following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Individuals who experienced higher levels of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to experience heavier menstrual bleeding and a longer duration of their period, compared to individuals with moderate stress levels, the study found.