Children Conceived by IVF Have Nearly Twice asMany Health Problems
By Elizabeth O'Brien
LONDON, England, July 24, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Arecent British study shows that children conceived by IVF have increased healthproblems and spend almost double the time in hospital than naturally conceivedchildren, the Daily Mail reports.
The 7-year follow-up study, done in conjunction withFinnish studies, compared the hospital costs of IVF-conceived children tonaturally conceived children. It examined 303 IVF-conceived children as well as567 naturally-conceived children, all of whom were born between the years 1990and 1995. Prior studies had reviewed the pregnancies of these children, theirmedical history and neo-natal health as well as the case notes of theirhospitalization.
Published in the June 21, 2007 issue of HumanReproduction, the study showed that on average, a child conceived through IVFwas in hospital significantly more times (1.76 vs. 1.07 times) than a naturallyconceived child.
Dr. Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin, professor at Imperial CollegeLondon and one of the lead researchers behind the report, toldLifeSiteNews.com, "What we showed was that actually there were certaindisease groups which were more common among those born after IVF." Sheadded that this included "certain infections, respiratory disease, andinflammatory disease," and noted that there are some neurologicaldisorders that are slightly more common as well.
The report also notes that low birth weight and pre-termbirth have been linked to IVF, but these results may be influenced by themultiple births often resulting from IVF. Nevertheless, single IVF childrenwere also sicker than naturally conceived children and spent more time in thehospital. During the 7-year period, 61% of the singleton IVF children werehospitalized versus 46% of the naturally conceived singletons.
Jarvelin told LifeSiteNews.com that researchers don'tknow the reasons for the increased amount of certain diseases among IVFchildren. Most of the children born through IVF, however, are still healthychildren, she said, "But we have to be more cautious and parents should becarefully informed that there might be some dangers that we might notknow."
There are dangers involved in the multiple implantationsof embryos involved in IVF, but this is not recommended anymore, said Jarvelin,because the fetuses are at higher risk.
The IVF mother is also at higher risk, not only from multipleimplantations, but from other clinical problems such as blood toxemia. There isan additional, very rare condition seen among IVF women called Ovum StimulationSyndrome, Jarvelin stated, that is caused by the medication that is used tostimulate ovaries during the IVF process. She stated that it can be "quitedangerous" for the woman.
"What this research really means," sheconcluded, "is that we need studies following these childrenÉIt shows thatwe need follow-up and long-term studies to see whether these people are reallymore healthy than naturally conceived children."
These newest findings are in accordance with paststudies that have indicated that children who are conceived through IVF have ahigher risk of deformity and over-all health problems. These problems includecerebral palsy, higher mortality rates and "ambiguous genitalia".
Read related LifeSiteNews stories:
UK Doctors Warn IVF Drugs Pose Health Hazard for Mothers
Mounting Evidence of IVF Defects
IVF Children Suffer More Over-All Health Problems ThanNaturally-Conceived Children
Finnish Study finds IVF Increases Risk of Deformity
IVF Babies up to 40% More Likely to Suffer Severe BirthDefects
Read UK's Daily Mail coverage:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=469864&in_page_id=1774