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Canada Post

Canada Post Corporation (Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada.

Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Canadian government founded in 1867), the Canada Post Corporation Act of 1981 abolished the Post Office Department and created the present-day Crown corporation that provides postal service. The act aimed to set a new direction for the postal service by ensuring its financial security and independence.

Canada Post provided service to more than 16 million addresses and delivered nearly 8.4 billion items in 2022 and consolidated revenue from operations reached $11.11 billion. Delivery takes place via traditional "to the door" service and centralized delivery by 25,000 letter carriers, through a 13,000 vehicle fleet. There are more than 6,200 post offices across the country, a combination of corporate offices and private franchises that are operated by retailers, such as drugstores. In terms of area serviced, Canada Post delivers to a larger area than the postal service of any other nation, including Russia (where Russian Post service in Siberia is limited largely to communities along the railway). As of 2022, nearly 3.5 million rural Canadian customers received residential mail delivery services.

Canada Post operates as a group of companies called The Canada Post Group. It employs approximately 70,000 full and part-time employees. The Corporation holds an interest in Purolator Courier, Innovapost, Progistix-Solutions and Canada Post International Limited. In 2000, Canada Post created a company called Epost, allowed customers to receive their bills from participating merchants and institutions online for free. In 2007, Epost was absorbed into Canada Post. In early 2022, Canada Post announced that the Epost service would be discontinued at the end of the year.

Canada Post (French: Postes Canada) is the Federal Identity Program name. The legal name is Canada Post Corporation in English and Société canadienne des postes in French. During the late 1980s and much of the 1990s, the short forms used in the corporation's logo were "Mail" (English) and "Poste" (French), rendered as "Poste Mail" in Québec and "Mail Poste" in the other provinces. Although English-language advertising also still referred to the corporation as "Canada Post".

History
On August 3, 1527, in St. John’s, Newfoundland, the first known letter was sent from present day Canada. While in St. John's, John Rut wrote a letter to King Henry VIII about his findings and planned voyage. Mail delivery within Canada first started in 1693 when the Portuguese-born Pedro da Silva was paid to deliver between Quebec City and Montreal. Official postal services began in 1775, under the control of the British Government up to 1851. The first postage stamp (designed by Sandford Fleming) went into circulation in Canada that same year. It was in 1867 that the newly formed Dominion of Canada created the Post Office Department as a federal government department (The Act for the Regulation of the Postal Service) headed by a Cabinet minister, the Postmaster General of Canada. The Act took effect on April 1, 1868, providing a uniform postal service throughout the newly established dominion. The Canadian post office was designed around the British service as created by Sir Rowland Hill, who introduced the concept of charging mail by weight and not destination along with creating the concept of the postage stamp. The new service traded under the name The Royal Mail Canada.

Prior to rural mail delivery, many Canadians living outside major cities and towns had little communication with the outside world. On October 10, 1908 the first free rural mail delivery service was instituted in Canada. The extension of residential mail delivery services to all rural Canadian residents was a major achievement for the Post Office Department. The Post Office Department was an early pioneer of airmail delivery, with the first airmail flight taking place on June 24, 1918, carrying mail from Montreal to Toronto. A modern plaque at the site of Leaside Aerodrome reads: "At 10:12 a.m. on June 24, 1918, Captain Brian Peck of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and mechanic Corporal C.W. Mathers took off from the Bois Franc Polo Grounds in Montreal in a JN-4 Curtiss two-seater airplane. They had with them the first bag of mail to be delivered by air in Canada. Wind and rain buffeted the small plane and forced it to make refuelling stops at Kingston and Deseronto. Finally, at 4:55 p.m., Peck and Mathers landed at the Leaside Aerodrome (immediately southwest of here). The flight had been arranged by a civilian organization, the Aerial League of the British Empire, to demonstrate that aviation was the way of the future." A regular air express service began in 1928.

The Post Office Savings Bank system, an agency created by the April 1868 Post Office Act, was phased out in 1968–69.

The 1970s was a difficult decade for the Post Office, with major strikes combined with annual deficits that had hit $600 million by 1981. This state of affairs made politicians want to rethink their strategy for the federal department. It resulted in two years of public debate and input into the future of mail delivery in Canada. The government sought to give the post office more autonomy, in order to make it more commercially viable and to compete against the new threat of private courier services. On October 16, 1981, the Federal Parliament passed the "Canada Post Corporation Act", which transformed Canada Post into a Crown corporation to create the Canada Post Corporation (CPC). The legislation also includes a measure that legally guarantees basic postal service to all Canadians. It stipulates that all Canadians have the right to expect mail delivery, regardless of where they live.

Several historical sites related to the history of the Post Office Department of Canada can be visited today. In Ontario, the first Toronto Post Office is still in operation. The site of Scotiabank Arena was once the Canada Post Delivery Building. Also notable are the Vancouver Main Post Office and the Dawson, Yukon, Post Office, a National Historic Site of Canada. In Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia, a nineteenth-century lighthouse acts as a seasonal post office for the tiny coastal community.

Mail format
Any letter sent within Canada has the destination address on the centre of its envelope, with a stamp, postal indicia, meter label, or frank mark on the top-right corner of the envelope to acknowledge payment of postage. A return address, although it is not required, can be put on the top-left corner or the back of the envelope in smaller type than the destination address.

Official addressing protocol is for the address to be in block letters, using a fixed-pitch typeface (such as Courier). The first line(s) of the address contain(s) the personal name and internal address of the recipient. The second-to-last line is the post office box, general delivery indicator, or street address, using the shortened name of the street type and no punctuation. The last line consists of the legal place name, a single space, the two-letter province abbreviation, two full spaces, and then the postal code. The country designation is unnecessary if mailed within Canada.

Fictitious examples:

Major products and services
The Corporation has a directory of all its products and services called the Postal Guide and has divided its range of services into three main categories: Transaction Mail, Parcels and Direct Marketing.

Transaction mail
The lettermail service allows the transmission of virtually any paper document. The 2015 to 2018 rate was 85 cents for a standard letter (30 g or less) and $1.20 for a letter between 30 g and 50 g. Proposed change for 2019 is 90 cents and $1.27 for these rates. Rates usually increase in mid-January of each year; for ordinary letters (30 g or less). The rate was regulated by a price-cap formula, linked to the inflation rate. The Corporation now has a "permanent" stamp that is valued at the domestic rate forever, eliminating the need to buy 1 cent stamps after a rate increase. The rates for lettermail are based on weight and size and determine whether the article falls into the aforementioned standard format or in the oversize one.

The Canada Post website documents standards for delivery within Canada:
 * Lettermail
 * Priority™ Delivery Standards

Daily cross-country airmail services were introduced in 1939. Canadian municipal delivery service standards are two days, as seen on the Lettermail Delivery Standards Grid.

Mail sent internationally is known as letter-post. It can only contain paper documents (See "Small Packet" below). From 2015 to 2018 the rate for a standard letter is $1.20 if sent to the United States and $2.50 if sent to any other destination.

Domestic
Canada Post offers four domestic parcel services. The rates are based on distance, weight, and size. The maximum acceptable weight is 30 kg.

Small Packet

 * Air and surface services are available.
 * Maximum weight is 1 kg (USA) and 2 kg (International).
 * No on time guarantee
 * No ability to make a trace or investigation if it is lost or delayed

Expedited Parcel USA

 * Available for items sent to the United States only.
 * Despite its name, does not provide any service guarantee.
 * The maximum acceptable weight is 30 kg
 * It is cheaper than the standard international rate.
 * Handed off to the USPS as Priority Mail.

Xpresspost-USA and International

 * Provides speedy and guaranteed delivery to addresses in the United States.
 * Provides accelerated delivery to certain countries.
 * Maximum weight is 30 kg (USA) and 20 to 30 kg (depending on the international destination).
 * Handed off to the USPS / other postal administrations as Priority Mail Express / EMS.

International Parcel

 * Air and surface service available
 * Provides delivery to countries to which Xpresspost is not available
 * No on time guarantee

Personalized mail

 * Promotional mailings targeted to specific residents.
 * Minimum quantity of 1,000 articles.

Neighbourhood mail

 * Consists of printed matter and product samples that are not addressed to specific delivery addresses in Canada, but to specific neighbourhoods or cities.

Snap Admail
On September 22, 2014, Canada Post unveiled Snap Admail™, an all-in-one online tool that is aimed to support small businesses in the creation and execution of direct-marketing campaigns.

Store
Canada Post operates a store front that sells a variety of stamps, and postal supplies to the public. The personal shop is focused on nominal postage, shipping supplies, and prepaid envelopes while the collectors shop has a selection of limited edition definitive and commemorative stamps as well as coins.

Comparison shopping
On October 26, 2010, Canada Post launched a comparison shopping service for Canadians. This service, Canada Post Comparison Shopper, allowed shoppers to find and compare product available to Canadians from over 500 stores across the USA and Canada. Notable features included price comparison, store policy information, cross-border shipping, duties and fees estimation, price history charts, reviews and color search ability. As of October 2012 the Comparison Shopper service is no longer available.

Issue of stamps
Although Canada Post is responsible for stamp design and production, the corporation does not actually choose the subjects or the final designs that appear on stamps. That task falls under the jurisdiction of the Stamp Advisory Committee. Their objective is to recommend a stamp program that will have broad-based appeal, regionally and culturally, reflecting Canadian history, heritage, and tradition.

Before Canada Post calls a meeting of the committee, it also welcomes suggestions for stamp subjects from Canadian citizens. Ideas for subjects that have recently appeared on a stamp are declined. The committee works two years in advance and can approve approximately 20 subjects for each year.

Once a stamp subject is selected, Canada Post's Stamp Products group conducts research. Designs are commissioned from two firms, both chosen for their expertise. The designs are presented anonymously to the committee. The committee's process and selection policy have changed little in the thirty years since it was introduced.

Notable stamps include Canadian definitive postage stamps like the Queen Elizabeth II definitive stamps, the Canada Post millennium stamps, and an assortment of ice hockey and Olympic stamps.

Tracking numbers and barcodes
Canada Post use 13 digit alphanumeric tracking numbers / barcodes for their pre-printed labels. Bar codes consist of two letters, followed by eight sequence digits, and a ninth digit which is the check digit. The first two letters are the type of service (RN for registered mail, PG for express post envelopes). The last two characters are the letters CA. The check digit ignores the letters and only concern itself with the first 8 numeric digits. The scheme is to multiply each of those 8 digits by a different weighting factor, (8 6 4 2 3 5 9 7). Add up the total of all of these multiplications and divide by 11. The remainder after dividing by 11 gives a number from 0 to 10. Subtracting this from 11 gives a number from 1 to 11. That result is the check digit, except in the two cases where it is 10 or 11. If 10 it is then changed to a 0, and if 11 then it is changed to a 5. The check digit may be used to verify if a barcode scan is correct, or if a manual entry of the barcode is correct. The system of barcode digit checking is referred to as Modulo 11 or Modulus 11 digit calculation.

Canada Post use 16 digit numeric tracking numbers / barcodes for parcels that originate from a Canada Post post office. The first 7 digits are the reference numbers for the specific post office that the package originated. A Modulus 10 digit calculation is used to verify that the barcode has been read correctly, also referred to as the Luhn algorithm. USPS and Canada Post both use the same system to verify the barcodes, with a difference that USPS uses a 20 digit numeric tracking number. These types of barcodes are referred to as GS1-128.

Management and organization
In 1981, Canada Post became a Crown Corporation with a CEO and President: 1981-1985 - appointed on the advice of Pierre Trudeau 1986-1992 - Chair 1993-? - appointed on the advice of Mulroney and business executive; deceased (2010) 1993-1998 - appointed on the advice of Campbell; now CEO of International Post 1999–2004 - appointed on the advice of Jean Chretien and former Minister in charge of Canada Post (as Postmaster General); Chair 1996-2004 2004–2010 - appointed on the advice of Paul Martin and left to become CEO of Royal Mail. 2010 - appointed interim CEO on the advice of Stephen Harper following Greene's departure 2011–2018 - appointed on the advice of Stephen Harper
 * Michael Warren
 * Donald Harley Lander
 * Georges Clermont
 * André Ouellet
 * Moya Greene
 * Stewart Bacon
 * Deepak Chopra
 * Jessica McDonald

April 2, 2018 -March 4, 2019- Interim appointment by the Canada Post Board of Directors

Doug Ettinger

March 4, 2019 - Present

Ombudsman
The Office of the Ombudsman at Canada Post was created in October 1997 as a result of the 1995 Canada Post Mandate Review conducted by an Advisory Panel appointed by the Canadian government.

The Ombudsman is the final appeal authority in resolving postal service complaints. If a complaint is not resolved to the customer's satisfaction by Canada Post, the customer can appeal to the Ombudsman. Although the Ombudsman has no legislative power over the Corporation, the recommendations that the office makes to Canada Post can help improve company processes, amend policies and reinforce compliance with procedures.

The Ombudsman is independent of Canada Post staff and management, reporting directly to the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mrs. Francine Conn was appointed on July 11, 2011, as the fourth and current Ombudsman at Canada Post. The services offered by the Office of the Ombudsman are free of charge.

Attempt to phase out door-to-door delivery
In 2014, Canada Post began to phase out door-to-door service in urban centres, in favour of community mailboxes—a process that was estimated to affect 32% of Canadian addresses (subdivisions built after 1985 already use community mailboxes, and customers using rural mailboxes would not be affected). This change was instituted by Stephen Harper's Conservative government, and was meant to be a cost-cutting measure in the face of financial losses, due primarily to the decreased use of traditional mail in favour of electronic alternatives.

The plan proved controversial, and the CUPW criticized the move, which was expected to result in the loss of at least 8,000 jobs, by arguing that Canada Post should have attempted to expand its services to include new offerings, such as postal banking, rather than cutting jobs and reducing services. In 2015, the CUPW filed a federal lawsuit demanding that the roll-out be suspended—an action endorsed by Mayor of Montreal Denis Coderre. Concerns were also raised about the effect of the change on seniors and people with disabilities. During the 2015 Canadian federal election campaign, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau promised to halt the cutbacks at Canada Post and the shift to community mailboxes.

On October 26, 2015, following Trudeau's victory in the election, Canada Post announced that it would place the discontinuation of door-to-door delivery "on hold in an orderly fashion" and that it would collaborate with the government on evaluating the future of the mail system in Canada. On January 24, 2018, the Liberal government announced that it had officially halted the future deployment of community mailboxes, and will focus on finding other methods of expanding Canada Post's services in the future. Canada Post will not reintroduce door-to-door delivery in areas where it was discontinued prior to April 15, 2016, but stated that an advisory panel would assist in addressing related accessibility issues.

Labour relations
Canada Post has a history of troubled labour relations with its trade unions, particularly the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and the Letter Carriers Union of Canada (which merged with CUPW in 1989), culminating in periodic strike action that has halted mail service in Canada on different occasions. There have been at least 19 strikes, lockouts, and walkouts between 1965 and 1997, including several wildcat strikes. A number of these strikes since the 1970s have seen the corporation employ strikebreakers, known colloquially as "scabs," resulting in back-to-work legislation being passed by the Canadian parliament.

In 2007, Canada Post was able to sign a four-year agreement with CUPW without any labour disruptions. For 2007, 2008, and 2009 the corporation was named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers, as published in Maclean's magazine. In 2008, a long strike by its administrative worker union — Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) - compromised customer service.

Nearly all Canada Post employees who are not in the CUPW belong to one of three smaller trade unions. The Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association covers 12,000 rural workers, the Association of Postal Officials of Canada has 3,400 supervisors and the Union of Postal Communications Employees represents 2,600 technical workers.

On June 2, 2011, a labour action involving rotating strikes (the first strike to affect Canada Post in 14 years) commenced with CUPW members striking in Winnipeg, Manitoba and in Hamilton, Ontario on June 3. On June 14, 2011, Canada Post management locked out CUPW members, marking the 20th work stoppage in the 46-year relationship between CUPW and Canada Post. Back to work legislation was passed in the Canadian Legislature which also mandated arbitration by a government-appointed arbitrator. This back to work legislation was challenged in court by CUPW for violating their constitutional right to strike. CUPW won this case in 2016 and the back to work legislation was ruled in violation of the constitution by the Superior Court of Ontario. A new collective agreement was signed in 2012 which included major concessions by the employees, such as a $4 per hour reduction in starting wages and the complete elimination of bankable sick days Since this agreement was signed and agreed to by the membership of CUPW, the court ruling on the back to work legislation was of no effect.

In 2016, Canada Post and CUPW negotiated a two-year agreement without a labour disruption. This agreement expired January 31, 2018.

Starting October 22, 2018, Canada Post workers have organized rotating strikes nationwide, the major friction points being major processing centers, including Toronto and Richmond. In mid-November, annual Black Friday and Cyber Monday online purchases, and even Christmas holiday deliveries, appeared at risk. With a 30-day backlog of mail stored in 600 trailers at distribution centers, CP appealed to the 190 Universal Postal Union (UPU) countries to hold Canada-bound mail.

Modernization
Moya Greene, former Canada Post CEO, was quoted as saying that years of under-investment to improve the company had hurt its efficiency and its financial performance. In September 2007, she estimated that modernizing the corporation would cost $2.7 billion over five to seven years for new buildings, equipment, technology and training.

The initiative, called Postal Transformation, has been rolled out across the country from 2010 to 2017. The transformation saw a fundamental change in the work duties of letter carriers. Previously, the delivery of parcels, clearance and transfers to retail postal outlets and collection of mail from street letter boxes was carried out by the separate position of a mail service courier, while letter carriers delivered the mail through walking routes, utilizing public transit and taxis to travel to their work locations. Today, many letter carrier routes are motorized and they are responsible for delivering parcels, mail, clearing and transfers at retail postal outlets, and collection of mail from street letter boxes. The additional duties have led to increased overtime, work stress, and injuries to employees who are facing greater fatigue and delivering mail in the dark; with many complaining that regular routes can no longer be completed in 8 hours, resulting in forced overtime and undelivered mail.

Profitability
For 16 years until 2011, Canada Post realized an annual profit, and it has since had several profitable years. In 2011, Canada Post posted a pretax loss of $253 million, due in part to a 25-day employee lockout, and a $150 million pay equity class action lawsuit. In 2012, Canada Post rebounded to post a profit of $98 million before tax. In 2013, Canada Post lost $37 million overall. The Canada Post group's gross profit in 2014 was $269 million. In 2015, the corporation continued to remain profitable, posting a $136 million profit before tax. In 2016, Canada Post recorded its 3rd consecutive profitable year, making $114 million before tax ($81 million after taxes). In total, Canada Post has made a net profit of $266 million since 2012. In 2017, the Corporation posted $144 million after tax profit.

In 2018: "Canada Post is reporting a loss before tax of $270 million for 2018. Three main non-recurring items factor into the result: the $280 million cost of resolving pay equity and the estimated $135 million net impact of the labour disruption in the fall, partially offset by a $48 million gain after an actuarial update to workers compensation liabilities. Had it not been for these non-recurring factors, Canada Post would have recorded a profit in 2018."

In 2023 the corporation posted its largest loss ever, at $748 million: "Canada Post said Friday its financial situation is so grim it could run out of operating funds in less than a year, after the Crown corporation posted another whopping pre-tax loss of $748 million in 2023 ... The corporation cites declining revenue from delivery of letter mail and parcels, despite an increase in the volume of packages the company is delivering. Letter mail has been declining since it peaked in 2006. Canada Post delivered less than 2.2 billion letters in 2023." asterisk indicates year with labour disruption and pay equity lawsuit

Rural mail
Safety of rural mobile delivery personnel on busy roads has been an ongoing concern. Canada Post launched the Rural Mail Safety Review as rural and suburban mail carriers across the country, supported by their union, raised complaints about workplace safety. As of March 2008, there have been more than 1,400 such complaints. In some cases, the union staged protests in delivering mail, even after Canada Post tests showed there was no undue traffic safety risk at a particular mail box. Such cases were referred to Labour Canada, who in several instances asked Canada Post to cease delivery to mailboxes. In December 2006, the Canadian government ordered that Canada Post maintain rural delivery wherever possible. On January 1, 2004, rural route contractors became employees of Canada Post and joined the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

Letters to Santa Claus
Canada Post receives millions of letters addressed to Santa Claus each year. In 1974, three Canada Post employees started to respond to mail addressed to Santa in Montreal, Quebec. In 1982, Canada Post rolled out the initiative across Canada and pledged that every letter sent in would receive a reply. A stamp is not required when sending a letter to Santa Claus from Canada and there is a special dedicated postal code, H0H 0H0. About 15,000 current and retired employees respond in many languages to each letter received on behalf of Santa. Over the past 27 years, more than 15 million letters were written by volunteers. Canada Post also receives letters to God and, on occasion, the Easter Bunny.

In 2001, Canada Post started accepting e-mail messages to Santa. In 2006, more than 44,000 email messages were responded to.

title: Canada Post


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Infertility

Infertility is the inability of an animal or plant to reproduce by natural means. It is usually not the natural state of a healthy adult, except notably among certain eusocial species (mostly haplodiploid insects). It is the normal state of a human child or other young offspring, because they have not undergone puberty, which is the body's start of reproductive capacity.

In humans, infertility is the inability to become pregnant after one year of unprotected and regular sexual intercourse involving a male and female partner. There are many causes of infertility, including some that medical intervention can treat. Estimates from 1997 suggest that worldwide about five percent of all heterosexual couples have an unresolved problem with infertility. Many more couples, however, experience involuntary childlessness for at least one year: estimates range from 12% to 28%. The main cause of infertility in humans is age, and an advanced maternal age can raise the probability of suffering a spontaneous abortion during pregnancy.

Male infertility is responsible for 20–30% of infertility cases, while 20–35% are due to female infertility, and 25–40% are due to combined problems in both parts. In 10–20% of cases, no cause is found. The most common cause of female infertility is age, which generally manifests in sparse or absent menstrual periods. Male infertility is most commonly due to deficiencies in the semen, and semen quality is used as a surrogate measure of male fecundity.

Women who are fertile experience a period of fertility before and during ovulation, and are infertile for the rest of the menstrual cycle. Fertility awareness methods are used to discern when these changes occur by tracking changes in cervical mucus or basal body temperature.

Definition
"Demographers tend to define infertility as childlessness in a population of women of reproductive age," whereas the epidemiological definition refers to "trying for" or "time to" a pregnancy, generally in a population of women exposed to a probability of conception. Currently, female fertility normally peaks in young adulthood and diminishes after 35 with pregnancy occurring rarely after age 50. A female is most fertile within 24 hours of ovulation. Male fertility peaks usually in young adulthood and declines after age 40.

The time needed to pass (during which the couple tries to conceive) for that couple to be diagnosed with infertility differs between different jurisdictions. Existing definitions of infertility lack uniformity, rendering comparisons in prevalence between countries or over time problematic. Therefore, data estimating the prevalence of infertility cited by various sources differ significantly. A couple that tries unsuccessfully to have a child after a certain period of time (often a short period, but definitions vary) is sometimes said to be subfertile, meaning less fertile than a typical couple. Both infertility and subfertility are defined similarly and often used interchangeably, but subfertility is the delay in conceiving within six to twelve months, whereas infertility is the inability to conceive naturally within a full year.

World Health Organization
The World Health Organization defines infertility as follows:

"Infertility is 'a disease of the reproductive system defined by the failure to achieve a clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse (and there is no other reason, such as breastfeeding or postpartum amenorrhoea). Primary infertility is infertility in a couple who have never had a child. Secondary infertility is failure to conceive following a previous pregnancy. Infertility may be caused by infection in the man or woman, but often there is no obvious underlying cause'"

United States
One definition of infertility that is frequently used in the United States by reproductive endocrinologists, doctors who specialize in infertility, to consider a couple eligible for treatment is:
 * a woman under 35 has not conceived after 12 months of contraceptive-free intercourse. Twelve months is the lower reference limit for Time to Pregnancy (TTP) by the World Health Organization.
 * a woman over 35 has not conceived after six months of contraceptive-free sexual intercourse.

These time intervals would seem to be reversed; this is an area where public policy trumps science. The idea is that for women beyond age 35, every month counts and if made to wait another six months to prove the necessity of medical intervention, the problem could become worse. The corollary to this is that, by definition, failure to conceive in women under 35 is not regarded with the same urgency as it is in those over 35.

United Kingdom
In the UK, previous NICE guidelines defined infertility as failure to conceive after regular unprotected sexual intercourse for two years in the absence of known reproductive pathology. Updated NICE guidelines do not include a specific definition, but recommend that "A woman of reproductive age who has not conceived after 1 year of unprotected vaginal sexual intercourse, in the absence of any known cause of infertility, should be offered further clinical assessment and investigation along with her partner, with earlier referral to a specialist if the woman is over 36 years of age."

Other definitions
Researchers commonly base demographic studies on infertility prevalence over a five-year period. Practical measurement problems, however, exist for any definition, because it is difficult to measure continuous exposure to the risk of pregnancy over a period of years.

Primary vs. secondary infertility
Primary infertility is defined as the absence of a live birth for women who desire a child and have been in a union for at least 12 months, during which they have not used any contraceptives. The World Health Organisation also adds that 'women whose pregnancy spontaneously miscarries, or whose pregnancy results in a still born child, without ever having had a live birth would present with primarily infertility'.

Secondary infertility is defined as the absence of a live birth for women who desire a child and have been in a union for at least 12 months since their last live birth, during which they did not use any contraceptives.

Thus the distinguishing feature is whether or not the couple have ever had a pregnancy that led to a live birth.

Psychological
The consequences of infertility are manifold and can include societal repercussions and personal suffering. Advances in assisted reproductive technologies, such as IVF, can offer hope to many couples where treatment is available, although barriers exist in terms of medical coverage and affordability. The medicalization of infertility has unwittingly led to a disregard for the emotional responses that couples experience, which include distress, loss of control, stigmatization, and a disruption in the developmental trajectory of adulthood. One of the main challenges in assessing the distress levels in women with infertility is the accuracy of self-report measures. It is possible that women "fake good" in order to appear mentally healthier than they are. It is also possible that women feel a sense of hopefulness/increased optimism prior to initiating infertility treatment, which is when most assessments of distress are collected. Some early studies concluded that infertile women did not report any significant differences in symptoms of anxiety and depression than fertile women. The further into treatment a patient goes, the more often they display symptoms of depression and anxiety. Patients with one treatment failure had significantly higher levels of anxiety, and patients with two failures experienced more depression when compared with those without a history of treatment. However, it has also been shown that the more depressed the infertile woman, the less likely she is to start infertility treatment and the more likely she is to drop out after only one cycle. Researchers have also shown that despite a good prognosis and having the finances available to pay for treatment, discontinuation is most often due to psychological reasons. Fertility does not seem to increase when the women takes antioxidants to reduce the oxidative stress brought by the situation.

Infertility may have psychological effects. Parenthood is one of the major transitions in adult life for both men and women. The stress of the non-fulfilment of a wish for a child has been associated with emotional consequences such as anger, depression, anxiety, marital problems and feelings of worthlessness. Partners may become more anxious to conceive, increasing sexual dysfunction. Marital discord often develops, especially when they are under pressure to make medical decisions. Women trying to conceive often have depression rates similar to women who have heart disease or cancer. Emotional stress and marital difficulties are greater in couples where the infertility lies with the man. Male and female partner respond differently to infertility problems. In general, women show higher depression levels than their male partners when dealing with infertility. A possible explanation may be that women feel more responsible and guilty than men during the process of trying to conceive. On the other hand, infertile men experience a psychosomatic distress.

Social
Having a child is considered to be important in most societies. Infertile couples may experience social and family pressure leading to a feeling of social isolation. Factors of gender, age, religion, and socioeconomic status are important influences. Societal pressures may affect a couple's decision to approach, avoid, or experience an infertility treatment. Moreover, the socioeconomic status influences the psychology of the infertile couples: low socioeconomic status is associated with increased chances of developing depression. In many cultures, inability to conceive bears a stigma. In closed social groups, a degree of rejection (or a sense of being rejected by the couple) may cause considerable anxiety and disappointment. Some respond by actively avoiding the issue altogether.

In the United States some treatments for infertility, including diagnostic tests, surgery and therapy for depression, can qualify one for Family and Medical Leave Act leave. It has been suggested that infertility be classified as a form of disability.

Sexual
Couples that suffer from infertility have a higher risk than other couples to develop sexual dysfunctions. The most common sexual issue facing the couples is a decline of sexual desire and erectile dysfunction.

Causes
Male infertility is responsible for 20–30% of infertility cases, while 20–35% are due to female infertility, and 25–40% are due to combined problems in both parts. In 10–20% of cases, no cause is found. The most common cause of female infertility are ovulation problems, usually manifested by scanty or absent menstrual periods. Male infertility is most commonly due to deficiencies in the semen, and semen quality is used as a surrogate measure of male fecundity.

Iodine Deficiency
Iodine deficiency may lead to infertility.

Natural infertility
Before puberty, humans are naturally infertile; their gonads have not yet developed the gametes required to reproduce: boys' testicles have not developed the sperm cells required to impregnate a female; girls have not begun the process of ovulation which activates the fertility of their egg cells (ovulation is confirmed by the first menstrual cycle, known as menarche, which signals the biological possibility of pregnancy). Infertility in children is commonly referred to as prepubescence (or being prepubescent, an adjective used to also refer to humans without secondary sex characteristics).

The absence of fertility in children is considered a natural part of human growth and child development, as the hypothalamus in their brain is still underdeveloped and cannot release the hormones required to activate the gonads' gametes. Fertility in children before the ages of eight or nine is considered a disease known as precocious puberty. This disease is usually triggered by a brain tumor or other related injury.

Delayed puberty
Delayed puberty, puberty absent past or occurring later than the average onset (between the ages of ten and fourteen), may be a cause of infertility. In the United States, girls are considered to have delayed puberty if they have not started menstruating by age 16 (alongside lacking breast development by age 13). Boys are considered to have delayed puberty if they lack enlargement of the testicles by age 14. Delayed puberty affects about 2% of adolescents.

Most commonly, puberty may be delayed for several years and still occur normally, in which case it is considered constitutional delay of growth and puberty, a common variation of healthy physical development. Delay of puberty may also occur due to various causes such as malnutrition, various systemic diseases, or defects of the reproductive system (hypogonadism) or the body's responsiveness to sex hormones.

Immune infertility
Antisperm antibodies (ASA) have been considered as infertility cause in around 10–30% of infertile couples. In both men and women, ASA production are directed against surface antigens on sperm, which can interfere with sperm motility and transport through the female reproductive tract, inhibiting capacitation and acrosome reaction, impaired fertilization, influence on the implantation process, and impaired growth and development of the embryo. The antibodies are classified into different groups: There are IgA, IgG and IgM antibodies. They also differ in the location of the spermatozoon they bind on (head, mid piece, tail). Factors contributing to the formation of antisperm antibodies in women are disturbance of normal immunoregulatory mechanisms, infection, violation of the integrity of the mucous membranes, rape and unprotected oral or anal sex. Risk factors for the formation of antisperm antibodies in men include the breakdown of the blood‑testis barrier, trauma and surgery, orchitis, varicocele, infections, prostatitis, testicular cancer, failure of immunosuppression and unprotected receptive anal or oral sex with men.

Sexually transmitted infections
Infections with the following sexually transmitted pathogens have a negative effect on fertility: Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. There is a consistent association of Mycoplasma genitalium infection and female reproductive tract syndromes. M. genitalium infection is associated with increased risk of infertility.

Genetic
Mutations to NR5A1 gene encoding steroidogenic factor 1 (SF-1) have been found in a small subset of men with non-obstructive male factor infertility where the cause is unknown. Results of one study investigating a cohort of 315 men revealed changes within the hinge region of SF-1 and no rare allelic variants in fertile control men. Affected individuals displayed more severe forms of infertility such as azoospermia and severe oligozoospermia.

Small supernumerary marker chromosomes are abnormal extra chromosomes; they are three times more likely to occur in infertile individuals and account for 0.125% of all infertility cases. See Infertility associated with small supernumerary marker chromosomes and Genetics of infertility.

Other causes
Factors that can cause male as well as female infertility are:
 * DNA damage
 * DNA damage reduces fertility in female ovocytes, as caused by smoking, other xenobiotic DNA damaging agents (such as radiation or chemotherapy) or accumulation of the oxidative DNA damage 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine
 * DNA damage reduces fertility in male sperm, as caused by oxidative DNA damage, smoking, other xenobiotic DNA damaging agents (such as drugs or chemotherapy) or other DNA damaging agents including reactive oxygen species, fever or high testicular temperature. The damaged DNA related to infertility manifests itself by the increased susceptibility to denaturation inducible by heat or acid or by the presence of double-strand breaks that can be detected by the TUNEL assay. In this assay, the sperm's DNA will be denaturated and renatured. If DNA fragmentation occurs (double and single-strand-breaks) a halo will not appear surrounding the spermatozoas, but if the spermatozoa does not have DNA damaged, a halo surrounding the spermatozoa could be visualized under the microscope.
 * General factors
 * Diabetes mellitus, thyroid disorders, undiagnosed and untreated coeliac disease,    adrenal disease
 * Hypothalamic-pituitary factors
 * Hyperprolactinemia
 * Hypopituitarism
 * The presence of anti-thyroid antibodies is associated with an increased risk of unexplained subfertility with an odds ratio of 1.5 and 95% confidence interval of 1.1–2.0.
 * Environmental factors
 * Toxins such as glues, volatile organic solvents or silicones, physical agents, flame retardants, chemical dusts, polychlorinated biphenyls, and pesticides.   Tobacco smokers are 60% more likely to be infertile than non-smokers.

German scientists have reported that a virus called adeno-associated virus might have a role in male infertility, though it is otherwise not harmful. Other diseases such as chlamydia, and gonorrhea can also cause infertility, due to internal scarring (fallopian tube obstruction).
 * Alimentary habits
 * Obesity: Obesity can have a significant impact on male and female fertility. BMI (body mass index) may be a significant factor in fertility, as an increase in BMI in the male by as little as three units can be associated with infertility. Several studies have demonstrated that an increase in BMI is correlated with a decrease in sperm concentration, a decrease in motility and an increase in DNA damage in sperm. A relationship also exists between obesity and erectile dysfunction (ED). ED may be the consequence of the conversion of androgens to estradiol. The enzyme aromatase is responsible for this conversion and is found primarily in adipose tissue. As the number of adipose tissue increases, there is more aromatase available to convert androgens, and serum estradiol levels increase. Other hormones including inhibin B and leptin, may also be affected by obesity. Inhibin B levels have been reported to decrease with increasing weight, which results in decreased Sertoli cells and sperm production. Leptin is a hormone associated with numerous effects including appetite control, inflammation, and decreased insulin secretion, according to many studies. Obese women have a higher rate of recurrent, early miscarriage compared to non-obese women.
 * Low weight: Obesity is not the only way in which weight can impact fertility. Men who are underweight tend to have lower sperm concentrations than those who are at a normal BMI. For women, being underweight and having extremely low amounts of body fat are associated with ovarian dysfunction and infertility and they have a higher risk for preterm birth. Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa are also associated with extremely low BMI. Although relatively uncommon, eating disorders can negatively affect menstruation, fertility, and maternal and fetal well-being.

Females
The following causes of infertility may only be found in females. For a woman to conceive, certain things have to happen: vaginal intercourse must take place around the time when an egg is released from her ovary; the system that produces eggs has to be working at optimum levels; and her hormones must be balanced.

For women, problems with fertilization arise mainly from either structural problems in the fallopian tube or uterus or problems releasing eggs. Infertility may be caused by blockage of the fallopian tube due to malformations, infections such as chlamydia or scar tissue. For example, endometriosis can cause infertility with the growth of endometrial tissue in the fallopian tubes or around the ovaries. Endometriosis is usually more common in women in their mid-twenties and older, especially when postponed childbirth has taken place.

Another major cause of infertility in women may be the inability to ovulate. Ovulatory disorders make up 25% of the known causes of female infertility. Oligo-ovulation or anovulation results in infertility because no oocyte will be released monthly. In the absence of an oocyte, there is no opportunity for fertilization and pregnancy. World Health Organization subdivided ovulatory disorders into four classes:
 * Hypogonadotropic hypogonadal anovulation: i.e., hypothalamic amenorrhea
 * Normogonadotropic normoestrogenic anovulation: i.e., polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
 * Hypergonadotropic hypoestrogenic anovulation: i.e., premature ovarian failure
 * Hyperprolactinemic anovulation: i.e., pituitary adenoma

Malformation of the eggs themselves may complicate conception. For example, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is when the eggs only partially develop within the ovary and there is an excess of male hormones. Some women are infertile because their ovaries do not mature and release eggs. In this case, synthetic FSH by injection or Clomid (Clomiphene citrate) via a pill can be given to stimulate follicles to mature in the ovaries.

Other factors that can affect a woman's chances of conceiving include being overweight or underweight, or her age as female fertility declines after the age of 30.

Sometimes it can be a combination of factors, and sometimes a clear cause is never established.

Common causes of infertility of females include:
 * ovulation problems (e.g. PCOS, the leading reason why women present to fertility clinics due to anovulatory infertility )
 * tubal blockage
 * pelvic inflammatory disease caused by infections like tuberculosis
 * age-related factors
 * uterine problems
 * previous tubal ligation
 * endometriosis
 * advanced maternal age
 * immune infertility

Males
Male infertility is defined as the inability of a male to make a fertile female pregnant, for a minimum of at least one year of unprotected intercourse. There are multiple causes for male infertility. These include endocrine disorders (usually due to hypogonadism) at an estimated 2% to 5%, sperm transport disorders (such as vasectomy) at 5%, primary testicular defects (which includes abnormal sperm parameters without any identifiable cause) at 65% to 80% and idiopathic (where an infertile male has normal sperm and semen parameters) at 10% to 20%.

The main cause of male infertility is low semen quality. In men who have the necessary reproductive organs to procreate, infertility can be caused by low sperm count due to endocrine problems, drugs, radiation, or infection. There may be testicular malformations, hormone imbalance, or blockage of the man's duct system. Although many of these can be treated through surgery or hormonal substitutions, some may be indefinite. Infertility associated with viable, but immotile sperm may be caused by primary ciliary dyskinesia. The sperm must provide the zygote with DNA, centrioles, and activation factor for the embryo to develop. A defect in any of these sperm structures may result in infertility that will not be detected by semen analysis. Antisperm antibodies cause immune infertility. Cystic fibrosis can lead to infertility in men.

Combined infertility
In some cases, both the man and woman may be infertile or subfertile, and the couple's infertility arises from the combination of these conditions. In other cases, the cause is suspected to be immunological or genetic; it may be that each partner is independently fertile but the couple cannot conceive together without assistance.

Unexplained infertility
In the US, up to 20% of infertile couples have unexplained infertility. In these cases, abnormalities are likely to be present but not detected by current methods. Possible problems could be that the egg is not released at the optimum time for fertilization, that it may not enter the fallopian tube, sperm may not be able to reach the egg, fertilization may fail to occur, transport of the zygote may be disturbed, or implantation fails. It is increasingly recognized that egg quality is of critical importance and women of advanced maternal age have eggs of reduced capacity for normal and successful fertilization. Also, polymorphisms in folate pathway genes could be one reason for fertility complications in some women with unexplained infertility. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that epigenetic modifications in sperm may be partially responsible.

Diagnosis
If both partners are young and healthy and have been trying to conceive for one year without success, a visit to a physician or women's health nurse practitioner (WHNP) could help to highlight potential medical problems earlier rather than later. The doctor or WHNP may also be able to suggest lifestyle changes to increase the chances of conceiving.

However, there are instances where couples should seek reproductive counseling after only 6 months of trying for a pregnancy:

 * The woman is over 35 years old.
 * The woman has a history of endometriosis.
 * The woman has infrequent or irregular menses.
 * There is a male factor involved.

A doctor or WHNP takes a medical history and gives a physical examination. They can also carry out some basic tests on both partners to see if there is an identifiable reason for not having achieved a pregnancy. If necessary, they refer patients to a fertility clinic or local hospital for more specialized tests. The results of these tests help determine the best fertility treatment.

Treatment
Treatment depends on the cause of infertility, but may include counselling, fertility treatments, which include in vitro fertilization. According to ESHRE recommendations, couples with an estimated live birth rate of 40% or higher per year are encouraged to continue aiming for a spontaneous pregnancy. Treatment methods for infertility may be grouped as medical or complementary and alternative treatments. Some methods may be used in concert with other methods. Drugs used for both women and men include clomiphene citrate, human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues, aromatase inhibitors, and metformin.

Medical treatments
Medical treatment of infertility generally involves the use of fertility medication, medical device, surgery, or a combination of the following. If the sperm is of good quality and the mechanics of the woman's reproductive structures are good (patent fallopian tubes, no adhesions or scarring), a course of ovulation induction may be used. The physician or WHNP may also suggest using a conception cap cervical cap, which the patient uses at home by placing the sperm inside the cap and putting the conception device on the cervix, or intrauterine insemination (IUI), in which the doctor or WHNP introduces sperm into the uterus during ovulation, via a catheter. In these methods, fertilization occurs inside the body.

If conservative medical treatments fail to achieve a full-term pregnancy, the physician or WHNP may suggest the patient to undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF). IVF and related techniques (ICSI, ZIFT, GIFT) are called assisted reproductive technology (ART) techniques.

ART techniques generally start with stimulating the ovaries to increase egg production. After stimulation, the physician surgically extracts one or more eggs from the ovary, and unites them with sperm in a laboratory setting, with the intent of producing one or more embryos. Fertilization takes place outside the body, and the fertilized egg is reinserted into the woman's reproductive tract, in a procedure called embryo transfer.

Other medical techniques are e.g. tuboplasty, assisted hatching, and preimplantation genetic diagnosis.

In vitro fertilization
IVF is the most commonly used ART. It has been proven useful in overcoming infertility conditions, such as blocked or damaged tubes, endometriosis, repeated IUI failure, unexplained infertility, poor ovarian reserve, poor or even nil sperm count.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)
This technique is used in case of poor semen quality, low sperm count, failed fertilization or occurrence of polyspermy during prior IVF cycles. A single healthy sperm is injected directly into a mature egg. The fertilized embryo is then transferred to the womb. This method was first developed in 1978 by Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe.

Tourism
Fertility tourism is the practice of traveling to another country for fertility treatments. It may be regarded as a form of medical tourism. The main reasons for fertility tourism are legal regulation of the sought procedure in the home country, or lower price. In-vitro fertilization and donor insemination are major procedures involved.

Stem cell therapy
Nowadays, there are several treatments (still in experimentation) related to stem cell therapy. It is a new opportunity, not only for partners with lack of gametes, but also for same-sex couples and single people who want to have offspring. Theoretically, with this therapy, we can get artificial gametes in vitro. There are different studies for both women and men.
 * Spermatogonial stem cells transplant: it takes places in the seminiferous tubule. With this treatment, the patient experience spermatogenesis, and therefore, it has the chance to have offspring if he wants to. It is specially oriented for cancer patients, whose sperm is destroyed due to the gonadotoxic treatment they are submitted to.
 * Ovarian stem cells: it is thought that women have a finite number of follicles from the very beginning. Nevertheless, scientists have found these stem cells, which may generate new oocytes in postnatal conditions. Apparently there are only 0.014% of them (this could be an explanation of why they were not discovered until now). There is still some controversy about their existence, but if the discoveries are true, this could be a new treatment for infertility.

Stem cell therapy is really new, and everything is still under investigation. Additionally, it could be the future for the treatment of multiple diseases, including infertility. It will take time before these studies can be available for clinics and patients.

Epidemiology
Prevalence of infertility varies depending on the definition, i.e. on the time span involved in the failure to conceive.
 * Infertility rates have increased by 4% since the 1980s, mostly from problems with fecundity due to an increase in age.
 * Fertility problems affect one in seven couples in the UK. Most couples (about 84%) who have regular sexual intercourse (that is, every two to three days) and who do not use contraception get pregnant within a year. About 95 out of 100 couples who are trying to get pregnant do so within two years.
 * Women become less fertile as they get older. For women aged 35, about 94% who have regular unprotected sexual intercourse get pregnant after three years of trying. For women aged 38, however, only about 77%. The effect of age upon men's fertility is less clear.
 * In people going forward for IVF in the UK, roughly half of fertility problems with a diagnosed cause are due to problems with the man, and about half due to problems with the woman. However, about one in five cases of infertility have no clear diagnosed cause.
 * In Britain, male factor infertility accounts for 25% of infertile couples, while 25% remain unexplained. 50% are female causes with 25% being due to anovulation and 25% tubal problems/other.
 * In Sweden, approximately 10% of couples wanting children are infertile. In approximately one-third of these cases the man is the factor, in one third the woman is the factor, and in the remaining third the infertility is a product of factors on both parts.
 * In many lower-income countries, estimating infertility is difficult due to incomplete information and infertility and childlessness stigmas.
 * Data on income-limited individuals, male infertility, and fertility within non-traditional families may be limited due to traditional social norms. Historical data on fertility and infertility is limited as any form of study or tracking only began in the early 20th century. Per one account, "The invisibility of marginalised social groups in infertility tracking reflects broader social beliefs about who can and should reproduce. The offspring of privileged social groups are seen as a boon to society. The offspring of marginalised groups are perceived as a burden."

Society and culture
Perhaps except for infertility in science fiction, films and other fiction depicting emotional struggles of assisted reproductive technology have had an upswing first in the latter part of the 2000s decade, although the techniques have been available for decades. Yet, the number of people that can relate to it by personal experience in one way or another is ever-growing, and the variety of trials and struggles is huge.

Pixar's Up contains a depiction of infertility in an extended life montage that lasts the first few minutes of the film.

Other individual examples are referred to individual sub-articles of assisted reproductive technology

Ethics
There are several ethical issues associated with infertility and its treatment.
 * High-cost treatments are out of financial reach for some couples.
 * Debate over whether health insurance companies (e.g. in the US) should be required to cover infertility treatment.
 * Allocation of medical resources that could be used elsewhere
 * The legal status of embryos fertilized in vitro and not transferred in vivo. (See also beginning of pregnancy controversy).
 * Opposition to the destruction of embryos not transferred in vivo.
 * IVF and other fertility treatments have resulted in an increase in multiple births, provoking ethical analysis because of the link between multiple pregnancies, premature birth, and a host of health problems.
 * Religious leaders' opinions on fertility treatments; for example, the Roman Catholic Church views infertility as a calling to adopt or to use natural treatments (medication, surgery, or cycle charting) and members must reject assisted reproductive technologies.
 * Infertility caused by DNA defects on the Y chromosome is passed on from father to son. If natural selection is the primary error correction mechanism that prevents random mutations on the Y chromosome, then fertility treatments for men with abnormal sperm (in particular ICSI) only defer the underlying problem to the next male generation.
 * Specific procedures, such as gestational surrogacy, have led to numerous ethical issues, particularly when people living in one country contract for surrogacy in another (transnational surrogacy).

Many countries have special frameworks for dealing with the ethical and social issues around fertility treatment.
 * One of the best known is the HFEA – The UK's regulator for fertility treatment and embryo research. This was set up on 1 August 1991 following a detailed commission of enquiry led by Mary Warnock in the 1980s
 * A similar model to the HFEA has been adopted by the rest of the countries in the European Union. Each country has its own body or bodies responsible for the inspection and licensing of fertility treatment under the EU Tissues and Cells directive
 * Regulatory bodies are also found in Canada and in the state of Victoria in Australia

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Infertility


text:
List of funk musicians

This is a list of funk music artists. This includes artists who have either been very important to the funk genre or have had a considerable amount of exposure (such as in the case of one who has been on a major label). Bands are listed by the first letter in their name (not including the words "a", "an", or "the"), and individuals are listed by last name.

A

 * African Music Machine
 * Los Amigos Invisibles
 * Steve Arrington
 * Atlantic Starr
 * Average White Band

B

 * B. T. Express
 * Mike Banks
 * The Bar-Kays
 * Big Pig
 * Black Heat
 * Eddie Bo
 * Bootsy's Rubber Band
 * Brainstorm
 * Brand New Heavies
 * Brass Construction
 * Michael Brecker
 * Brick
 * The Brothers Johnson
 * James Brown
 * The Budos Band

C

 * Cameo
 * Jimmy Castor
 * Central Line
 * A Certain Ratio
 * Chakk
 * Chapter 8
 * Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
 * Chic
 * Chicks Incorporated
 * Chocolate Milk
 * George Clinton
 * Bootsy Collins
 * Catfish Collins
 * Lyn Collins
 * Commodores
 * Con Funk Shun
 * Nikka Costa
 * Don Covay
 * Crown Heights Affair

D

 * DAG
 * Betty Davis
 * Miles Davis
 * Dayton
 * Dazz Band
 * Deckchairs Overboard
 * Manu Dibango
 * Dr. John
 * George Duke
 * Candy Dulfer
 * Dumpstaphunk
 * Dyke and the Blazers
 * Dynasty

E

 * Earth, Wind & Fire
 * ESG

F

 * The Fabulous Counts
 * Fashion
 * Fat Larry's Band
 * Fatback Band
 * Faze-O
 * Amp Fiddler
 * Lee Fields
 * Flyte Tyme
 * Freeez
 * Fun Lovin' Criminals
 * Funkadelic

G

 * Galactic
 * The Gap Band
 * Marvin Gaye
 * Gonzalez
 * Graham Central Station
 * Larry Graham
 * The Grease Band
 * The Greyboy Allstars

H

 * Herbie Hancock
 * Isaac Hayes
 * Leon Haywood
 * The Headhunters
 * Heatwave
 * Jimi Hendrix
 * Here Come the Mummies
 * The Highlighters
 * Hi-Tension
 * Hot Chocolate

I

 * Ian Dury and the Blockheads
 * Imagination
 * The Isley Brothers

J

 * The J.B.'s
 * Rick James
 * Jamiroquai
 * Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
 * Don Julian

K

 * Karma
 * Kay Gees
 * KC and the Sunshine Band
 * Eddie Kendricks
 * Chaka Khan
 * Kleeer
 * Klymaxx
 * Kool & the Gang
 * Fela Kuti

L

 * L.T.D.
 * Lakeside
 * Bill Laswell
 * Light of the World
 * Paula Lima
 * Linx
 * Carrie Lucas

M

 * Machine
 * Manchild
 * Mandrill
 * Manzel
 * Teena Marie
 * Material
 * Maximum Joy
 * Curtis Mayfield
 * Maze
 * The Meters
 * Mezzoforte
 * Miami Sound Machine
 * Mickey & the Soul Generation
 * Midnight Star
 * Mingo Fishtrap
 * Walter "Junie" Morrison
 * Mtume

N

 * Meshell Ndegeocello
 * N.E.R.D
 * Art Neville
 * The Nite-Liters

O

 * Ohio Players
 * Olympic Runners
 * Orgone
 * Osaka Monaurail
 * Ozomatli

P

 * Maceo Parker
 * Parliament
 * Parliament-Funkadelic
 * Teddy Pendergrass
 * The People's Choice
 * Pieces of a Dream
 * Prince

R

 * Jesse Rae
 * Nelson Rangell
 * Ready for the World
 * Republic of Loose
 * The Rimshots
 * Rip Rig + Panic
 * Ripple
 * Nile Rodgers
 * Rufus

S

 * Shakatak
 * Shalamar
 * Garry Shider
 * Shotgun
 * Side Effect
 * Dawn Silva
 * Skull Snaps
 * Skyy
 * Slave
 * Sly and the Family Stone
 * Soulive
 * Sound Experience
 * South Shore Commission
 * Sam Sparro
 * Spearhead
 * Stargard
 * Sly Stone
 * Sun
 * Switch
 * Swoop

T

 * T-Connection
 * T. S. Monk
 * A Taste of Honey
 * Richard Tee
 * The Temptations
 * Joe Tex
 * The Time
 * Tower of Power
 * Roger Troutman
 * TV on the Radio

V

 * Vulfpeck

W

 * War
 * Johnny "Guitar" Watson
 * Fred Wesley
 * The Whispers
 * The Whitefield Brothers
 * Barry White
 * Marva Whitney
 * Stevie Wonder
 * Phil Woods
 * Bernie Worrell

Z

 * Zapp

title: List of funk musicians


text:
No Angels

No Angels are an all-female pop group from Germany, formed in 2000. Originally a quintet, consisting of band members Nadja Benaissa, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, Vanessa Petruo, and Jessica Wahls, they originated on the debut season of the German adaptation of the talent series Popstars and were one of the first television-cast acts to achieve sustainable success throughout Central Europe in the early 2000s. Following a major success with record-breaking single "Daylight in Your Eyes" and debut album Elle'ments in 2001, a series of hit records established their position as one of the most successful female band vocalists to emerge in the early decade. With four number-one hits, four number-one albums and record sales of more than 5.0 million, they became one of the most successful acts in German music history, winning three ECHOs, a World Music Award, a NRJ Music Award, two Comets, a Bambi and a Goldene Kamera.

In fall 2003, the members went their separate ways due to lasting exhaustion, focusing on their individual solo careers in music, theatre, television and film. In 2007, four members of the original line-up re-formed permanently and recorded their first studio album in over four years, Destiny (2007). A year after, the group represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia, where they finished 23rd with their song "Disappear". A second post-reunion album, titled Welcome to the Dance and released in 2009, failed commercially. In September 2010, Benaissa officially left the band due to private reasons, leaving No Angels as a trio before they went into another hiatus. In early 2021, the band reformed as a quartet, commemorating with their 2001 debut. Their sixth studio album 20, a collection of re-recordings and new songs, was released in June 2021 and became their fourth chart topper.

2000: Formation on Popstars
The members of No Angels were selected on the RTL2 channel's first series of Popstars, a reality talent show which set about producing a five-piece girl group. Acquired by Tresor TV television producer Holger Roost-Macias at the MIPTV Media Market event in Cannes, France, in 2000, the series was the third adaptation of the format following both an Australian and a New Zealand version. In August and September of the same year, over 4,300 hopefuls turned up to auditions in Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Cologne, Oberhausen, Stuttgart and Munich which required both singing and dancing experience. The judges consisted of Dutch entertainer Simone Angel, concert booker Mario M. Mendryzcki and Rainer Moslener, an A&R director of Polydor Records.

32 out of 200 girls eventually made it from the local recall shows to Mallorca, Spain, to get trained in singing, dancing, and fitness. While the judges continued eliminating two or three girls each day with the help of choreographer Detlef Soost and British vocal coach Robert Bicknel, eleven finalists remained and were sent home to prepare. After a final elimination round, Nadja Benaissa, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, Vanessa Petruo and Jessica Wahls were chosen, and signed a recording contract with Polydor. Managed by Joy Berhanu during their first year, the girls were named No Angels following a public televoting and moved in together near Munich. With the final members of the group in place, the program followed the group during its recording sessions, photo and music video shoots and other promotional commitments such as showcases and instores. The show concluded with the band's first public live performance at The Dome at the Dortmunder Westfalenhalle in February 2001.

2001: Commercial breakthrough with Elle'ments
After weeks of recording, No Angels released their debut single, "Daylight in Your Eyes" on 5 February 2001. The song instantly entered the top position on the Austrian, German and Swiss Singles and Airplay Charts, making it one of the most successful debuts of the year. Selling over one million copies, the song also proved to be a hit outside German-speaking Europe when it entered the singles charts of France, Latvia, Poland and the United Kingdom, and even became a number-one success in Brazil, and Estonia. Although an alternate version of the original music video was filmed for the North American market the following year, both the video and the song saw minor commercial success overseas. However, "Daylight in Your Eyes" peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales chart in June 2002.

The band released their debut album, Elle'ments. Involving production by German producers Thorsten Brötzmann, Leslie Mandoki, and Peter Ries, Elle'ments also entered the Austrian, German and Swiss Albums Chart at number-one. No Angels broke records for becoming the "first act to ever debut at the top position in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland with both its debut single and debut album." The album would go on to sell more than one million copies worldwide, making it the biggest-selling German album of 2001. Elle'ments was eventually certified triple platinum and septuplicate gold by the IFPI, and earned the band several internationally acclaimed prizes such as a Bambi, two ECHO Awards and a World Music Award.

Riding a wave of publicity and hype, the group's second single, "Rivers of Joy", became a top ten hit, while third single, "There Must Be an Angel", a cover version of the 1985 hit by British pop duo Eurythmics, continued the group's high record sales by topping the charts once again in Austria and Germany. The last single released from Elle'ments was a double A-side of album cut "When the Angels Sing", and "Atlantis", a duet with the song's original performer Donovan. The band had re-recorded the song for the closing credits of the Walt Disney Feature Animation picture Atlantis: The Lost Empire. It became a top five entry in Germany, and was subsequently certified Gold. Following this and two encounters as the opening act for the German leg of both DJ Bobo and Westlife's 2001 concert tours, No Angels embarked on their first own concert tour in October 2001. Compiling more than 30 dates, the tour concluded in December 2001 with all shows reportedly being sold out.

2002: Career development on Now... Us!
In June 2002, No Angels released their second album, Now... Us!, which featured co-writes by all members and received critical acclaim from many critics who believed the band would not last past their first album. The album debuted at number one on the German Album Chart and at number two and four on the Austrian and Swiss albums chart respectively, and was eventually certified platinum and double gold by the IFPI. Producers such as Mousse T. consulted on Now... Us!, whose media-critical leading single "Something About Us", penned by band member Petruo, became the group's third non-consecutive number-one hit in Austria and Germany within a period of 16 months. Further singles released from the album included Latin pop ballad "Still in Love with You", which reached the top five and was awarded a NRJ Music Award the following year, as well as Mousse T.-produced funk track "Let's Go to Bed", the band's first release to miss the German top ten.

Following an exclusive swing concert at the Berlin Tränenpalast in October, No Angels soon followed with a DVD and a live album, titled When the Angels Swing, featuring their biggest hits and selected songs from their first two albums, re-arranged by Grammy Award-nominated jazz musician Till Brönner. Critically acclaimed by critics, the album reached number nine of the German Albums Chart, eventually going gold. In November, the girls embarked on their second national concert tour, the Four Seasons Tour, playing sell-out shows in theatres across German-speaking Europe. Acts such as B3 and the Sugababes served as their support.

Soon after the girls experienced a bit of turbulence when Jessica Wahls announced she was taking a break from the band to give birth to her first child. Although the girls agreed on Jessica's return the following year and Wahls was positive of a re-join after her daughter's birth in March 2003, No Angels' management eventually decided on her departure in July 2003 as the group had equally successful went on as a quartet. While the singer accepted a recording contract as a solo artist with the group's label, Sandy Mölling later noted Jessica's pregnancy marked "the beginning of the end of No Angels".

2003–2004: Pure era and disbandment
In early 2003, the remaining four members of No Angels began intensifying work on their third regular album. Encouraged to exercise more self-control on the longplayer, the band took over responsibility in recording and selecting songs to guarantee a more personal effort — a step that challenged criticism and growing scepticism among the band's label Cheyenne Records and recording company Polydor. Titled Pure, the album was eventually released in August 2003 and became the band's third number-one album in Germany. Sporting a more mature side of pop music, it earned them their best reactions yet, drawing comparisons to Madonna's album Ray of Light (1998) as well as other female groups such as All Saints and the Sugababes. With a total of about 150,000 copies sold however, it failed to achieve the success of its two best-selling predecessors, still going gold. The pop rock-influenced leading single "No Angel (It's All in Your Mind)" became the group's fourth non-consecutive number-one single in Germany and seventh top ten hit in Austria, while mediterran "Someday" and R&B-driven "Feelgood Lies" both reached the top five of the charts.

Further planned single releases off the album never materialised. On 7 September 2003, the quartet announced that they would not come together for a new No Angels project in 2004 due to lasting exhaustion and instead were preparing their official disbandment towards the end of the year. While the media began a never-ending speculation about the reasons for their split and the pro and contra of a "creative pause", the girls and their management arranged the cancellation of all dates of their scheduled 2004 Pure Acoustic Tour. Even so, the band agreed on releasing a final album, The Best of No Angels, in December 2003. Apart from a collection of all singles, the band had released between the years of 2001 and 2003, the compilation album also contained a reworked version of one of the debut album tracks, "Reason". Involving a re-joined Jessica Wahls, it was released as the band's final single before their split and became another top ten success for the group. A charity single featuring the band's vocals, "Do They Know It's Christmas?", was released simultaneously and reached number three on the German singles chart.

After a farewell concert in the Munich Olympiahalle on 28 November, several promotional television appearances, and a private unplugged performance in the Munich P1 club on 12 December 2003, No Angels each went their separate ways, concentrating on their individual solo careers in music, theatre, television and film. A live compilation of their P1 concert, titled Acoustic Angels, would become their final release on the Cheyenne label in July 2004.

2007–2008: First reunion and Eurovision Song Contest
After listening to a few old recordings, Lucy Diakovska approached her former bandmates in mid-2006 to arrange a first meeting with all original band members for years. While Vanessa Petruo refused to re-join the band in favour of an independent solo career in music and film, all other members of the original line-up agreed upon Diakovska's request to reunite for a musical comeback, and the band eventually took action to prepare their next album in secrecy from public. Following weeks of public rumors about a reunion of the band, an official press conference on 31 January 2007 announced that No Angels had reformed and were working on a new studio album with producers Boogieman, Tobias Gustafsson, Steve Mac, Adrian Newman, and the Redfly team.

Although acclaimed and distinguished by the media, the reunion widely failed to link previous successes. The band's first commercial release in years, Destiny, received a lukewarm reception from music critics, and debuted at number 4 in Germany, number 14 in Austria and number 22 in Switzerland, making it the band's first regular studio album release neither to reach the top position on the German Media Control Charts nor the top ten in Austria and Switzerland respectively. It eventually sold 30,000 copies domestically during its run on the charts, also making it No Angels' lowest selling album to date. While the album's lead single "Goodbye to Yesterday" still made it to the top five, follow-up "Maybe" and double A-single "Amaze Me"/"Teardrops" became No Angels' lowest-charting singles to date, never making it to the top 20 of any chart. In March 2008, the album was re-released as Destiny Reloaded, including previously unreleased songs, remixes and B-sides. In fall 2007, No Angels produced the theme song, "Life Is a Miracle" and a music video for the Warner Bros. animated feature Kleiner Dodo.

In January 2008, it was announced that the group had qualified for the Grand Prix Vorentscheid, the German national pre-selection of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Following several weeks of promotional appearances, No Angels entered the competition in March with Remee-and-Troelsen-produced "Disappear", competing against all-male groups Marquess and Cinema Bizarre, and singers Tommy Reeve and Carolin Fortenbacher. Widely considered as early favourites by the media, the band eventually finished first, having earned tight 50,5% of the audience vote over Fortenbacher in the second and final election round. Released on 29 February 2008, "Disappear" reached number four in Germany, where it became the band's biggest-selling single in years. With Germany being one of the biggest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union, No Angels were allowed to skip the contest's semi-finals and automatically qualified for competition with 24 other countries in the finals of the ESC in May 2008. An estimated 100 million fans watched the final contest, and viewers from all 43 participating nations voted for their favourite performers via text message and telephone. No Angels eventually ranked 23rd place out of the 25 countries that participated with a total of 14 points – taking 12 points from Bulgaria, band member Lucy Diakovska's native country, and 2 points from Switzerland only. Only the United Kingdom and Poland placed below the four-member female band.

2009–2011: Welcome to the Dance
Devastated by their performance at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, the band went into a hiatus. Having managed themselves since their reformation, they signed a deal with Khalid Schröder's Kool Management in mid-2008, and started work on their fifth studio album Welcome to the Dance, involving a smaller team of North American musicians such as The Writing Camp, Adam Messinger, Nasri Atweh, Bill Blast, and Aaron Pearce. Taking the group's work further into the dance and electronic genres, it was released on 11 September 2009, following several delays after band member Nadja Benaissa's charge of grievous bodily harm and temporary imprisonment in April 2010. Released to generally mixed reviews by critics, the album debuted at number 26 in Germany where it became both the band's lowest-charting and -selling album yet. Welcome to the Dance's first and only single "One Life", however, reached number 15 on the German Singles Chart. Plans for a second single, "Derailed", were eventually scrapped for unknown reasons.

In May 2010, the band began their five-date acoustic An Intimate Evening With Tour in Munich, their first concert tour in eight years. The stripped-down club tour was inspired by their 2003 acoustic concert, and saw the band performing songs from all of their five studio albums. Benaissa did not take part in the tour as she had called in sick a week before, prompting the remaining trio to re-arrange their set at the last minute. Generally well received by the media, the tour was initially said to be extended in 2011. In September 2010, Benaissa announced her departure from the group following her two-year suspended sentence and 300 hours of community service a month before, leaving the band as a trio. While the remaining three members of the band were said to release a live album in 2011, this project and other plans announced for the tenth anniversary of the band failed to materialize in favor of individual solo projects. In 2014, Diakovska confirmed that the band had dissolved again with no new commercial projects planned.

2020–2022: Second reunion and 20
In late 2020, BMG Rights Management acquired the catalog of No Angels' former label Cheyenne Records. On 27 November 2020, following their absence from digital streaming platforms for five years, the band's backup catalog from 2000 to 2004 was issued online, accompanied by a digital campaign as well as the release of high-quality versions of their original music videos. Released to strong streaming numbers, a revived interest from the media and their fan base prompted Benaissa, Diakovska, Mölling and Wahls to launch an official Instagram account through which they began sharing private photos and hosted several livestreams in the weeks following. With BMG interested in issuing updated versions of their early catalog, the quartet re-formed in January 2021 to record new vocals for a Celebration Version of "Daylight in Your Eyes" along with producer and manager Christian Geller. Commemorating with the 2001 release of the song, it was released on 12 February 2021 and reached the top ten of the German Download Chart.

Following their first performance in a decade on Schlagerchampions 2021, the quartet signed a new recording deal with BMG and began work on 20, their first full-length album release since 2009, with plans to expand the anniversary celebrations. Released on 4 June 2021, No Angels recorded four original songs and sixteen updated versions of songs that were selected from their first three studio albums for 20. Produced by Geller, the album received largely mixed reviews from critics, some of whom complimented the more cohesive, mature production, while others questioned the overall value of the project. 20 debuted at number one on the German Albums Chart, becoming No Angels' first chart topper in nearly two decades, and reached the top ten in Austria and Switzerland. A second single, the Celebration Version of "Still in Love with You," was released the same month, followed by "Mad Wild" and "When the Angels Sing" in August and October, respectively. In June 2022, the band kicked off their Celebration Tour at the Kindl-Bühne Wuhlheide. Continued in September 2022, the tour compromised ten concerts throughout Germany and concluded on 8 October 2022.

2023–present: Festival concerts and seventh studio album
In 2023, the band reunited for a few festival concerts and one-off events, including a special guest appearance on German hip hop group K.I.Z's International Women's Day concert at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. In January 2024, after winning the 17th season of the reality show Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!, Diakovska disclosed that the quartet has plans to record new material for a new project in Berlin in summer 2024. In July 2024, she confirmed that the band was recording a new studio album.

Studio albums

 * Elle'ments (2001)
 * Now... Us! (2002)
 * Pure (2003)
 * Destiny (2007)
 * Welcome to the Dance (2009)
 * 20 (2021)

Concert tours

 * Rivers of Joy Tour (2001)
 * Four Seasons Tour (2002)
 * An Intimate Evening with No Angels Tour (2010)
 * Celebration Tour (2022)

Awards
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 * 1LIVE Krone
 * Beste Newcomer
 * No Angels
 * Won
 * Bambi
 * Pop National
 * No Angels
 * Won
 * Bravo Otto
 * Superband Pop (Gold)
 * No Angels
 * Won
 * Comet
 * Act National
 * No Angels
 * Won
 * Comet
 * Newcomer National
 * No Angels
 * Nominated
 * Comet
 * VIVA Zuschauercomet
 * No Angels
 * Nominated
 * MTV Europe Music Awards
 * Best German Act
 * No Angels
 * Nominated
 * Top of the Pops Awards
 * Top Single Germany
 * "There Must Be an Angel"
 * Won
 * 1LIVE Krone
 * Beste Band
 * No Angels
 * Won
 * Amadeus Austrian Music Awards
 * Single des Jahres (international)
 * "Daylight in Your Eyes"
 * Nominated
 * Bravo Otto
 * Superband Pop (Gold)
 * No Angels
 * Won
 * Comet
 * VIVA Zuschauercomet
 * No Angels
 * Won
 * Echo Music Prize
 * Gruppe Rock/Pop (national)
 * Elle'ments
 * Won
 * Echo Music Prize
 * Rock-Pop-Single des Jahres (national)
 * "Daylight in Your Eyes"
 * Won
 * MTV Europe Music Awards
 * Best German Act
 * No Angels
 * Nominated
 * Radio Regenbogen Awards
 * Aufsteiger des Jahres
 * No Angels
 * Won
 * World Music Awards
 * Best Selling German Artist
 * No Angels
 * Won
 * 1LIVE Krone
 * Beste Singles
 * "No Angels (It's All in Your Mind)"
 * Won
 * Bravo Otto
 * Superband Pop (Silver)
 * No Angels
 * Won
 * Comet
 * Band National
 * No Angels
 * Won
 * Echo Music Prize
 * Gruppe Rock/Pop (national)
 * Now... Us!
 * Nominated
 * Echo Music Prize
 * Musikvideo (national)
 * "Something About Us"
 * Won
 * Echo Music Prize
 * Rock-Pop-Single des Jahres (national)
 * "Something About Us"
 * Nominated
 * Goldene Kamera
 * Pop national
 * When the Angels Swing
 * Won
 * NRJ Music Awards
 * Best German Song
 * "Still in Love with You"
 * Won
 * Bayerischer Musiklöwe
 * Bestes Comeback
 * No Angels
 * Won
 * Szenepreis
 * Song des Jahres (national)
 * "Disappear"
 * Won
 * Szenepreis
 * Song des Jahres (national)
 * "One Life"
 * Won
 * Szenepreis
 * Persönlichkeit des Jahres
 * No Angels
 * Nominated
 * Goldene Henne
 * Musik
 * No Angels
 * Nominated
 * Preis für Popkultur
 * Lifetime Achievement Award
 * No Angels
 * Won
 * Preis für Popkultur
 * Beeindruckendste Liveshow
 * 20 Celebration – Eine Sommernacht in Berlin
 * Nominated

title: No Angels