• Question: Is it true that Kids born thorugh IVF are more likely to be born with disabilities ?

    Asked by georgiam to Claire, Greg, Jane, Jo, Nuruz, Vicki on 21 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Claire O'Donnell

      Claire O'Donnell answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Because people used to replace two embryos to increase the chance of a pregnancy there used to be a higher incidence of twins in IVF births. There are plans to stop this now and just replace 1 embryo at a time. It was a problem because twins are always smaller adn there are special risks associated with twins as they grow in the womb, one cn be deprived of nutrients etc.
      There were some papers a while ago that suggested that there might be more abnormalities in IVF babies but there is a lot to think about before we can be sure. For example, women who have IVF tend to be older -they’ve spent some time trying to have a baby themselves usually for a few years at least- and older women have a higher chnce of haveing a baby with abnormalities. The only real way to know is to follow a big group of people who have IVF, monitor their babies over a long peropd of time do the same for a groupwho have conceived narurally and see how they compare. As far as I know this hasn’t been done yet.

    • Photo: Jane Cleal

      Jane Cleal answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Some studies say they are more likely to have defects where as other studies say they are not…so it is not known for sure either way. The major risk of ivf is multiple babies which means the baby will also be small. This is getting better as they are restricting the number of embryos put in the mum.

    • Photo: Vicki Onions

      Vicki Onions answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      No, i don’t belive it is true…claire is more knowledgable than me on this

    • Photo: Greg FitzHarris

      Greg FitzHarris answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Hi there giorgia.

      Well, its not a straightforward q to answer… so good to have a bit more space here to answer it!
      Yes, there is statistically slightly more chance of there being developmental/birth probelms in ivf kids. BUT… then ivf causes a much higher risk of prematue birth, and multiple pregnancy (twins) than normal pregnancy. And, both of these (prematurity and twins) have the possibility of ‘causing’ problems anyway.

      So, the simple answer is yes, there are probably more problems after IVF. BUT (1) is marginal, and appears a little controversila cos there not enough good data out there to be ‘sure’ and (2) is very likely is to do with IVF kisd being twins/premature… as opposed to being a direct effect of embryos being in a dish.

      I hope this makes some sense!!

    • Photo: Jo Broadbent

      Jo Broadbent answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Ivf itself does not cause more children to have disabilities. But if a couple need ivf because they have reduced fertility for some genetic reason, there can be a greater chance of that being passed on.
      In the past, ivf babies did have a higher rate of disabilities, but that’s because more ivf babies were twins or triplets. Twins and triplets are at higher risk of some types of disability. If only 1 embryo is used in each ivf cycle there should not be higher numbers of disabled children conceived by ivf. Jo

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