IVF not linked to developmental delays in children

Data from the Upstate KIDS study based in New York has provided evidence that there is no association between assisted reproductive technology and developmental delays.  The study collected data from children born in New York between 2008 and 2010.

The study assessed fine motor, gross motor, communication, personal-social functioning, and problem-solving ability via a questionnaire up until the child was 36 months of age.  Mothers involved in the study were asked if they had become pregnant through ovulation induction, IVF, ICSI, frozen embryo transfer or donor gametes. Overall 1,442 of the mothers had undergone infertility treatment to produce 1,830 children.  This data was compared to the 3402 mothers who had given birth to 4011 children without infertility treatment.

Though there were differences in the mothers who had received different types of infertility treatment (women who had undergone an IVF/ICSI cycle were older and had a higher level of education than the women who underwent ovulation induction), there was no difference in the likelihood of a child failing a developmental test whether they had been conceived through infertility treatment or not.

Read more:

http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2478295

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2016/01January/Pages/Infertility-treatments-not-linked-to-developmental-delays.aspx

http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-health-childdevelopment-infertility-idUKKBN0UI1S920160104

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