A lot of couples were extremely relieved when in vitro fertilization became more popular, therefore more affordable across the nation. Now, several years later, a groundbreaking study has quenched the concerns that many would-be parents had regarding IVF.
According to researchers at the National Institutes of Health, in vitro fertilization does not trigger developmental delays up to 3 years old. Since many of the couples who opt for IVF are older, the fetal development is influenced greatly by a range of health and other concerns.
But the study proved there is no reason to believe that developmental delays are not more common among children conceived through IVF than those conceived without a treatment.
Researchers also found that IVF children are in no way at greater risk to suffer from full-blown developmental disabilities – speech or language disorders, learning disabilities, or autism.
Dr. Edwina Yeung, a researcher at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, explained in a press release that little research had been conducted on the “potential effects of conception via fertility treatments on U.S. children” before the biomedical research facility started their study.
The findings are expected to provide the needed reassurance to thousands of couples who turned to these treatments as means for establishing a family.
For the study published in JAMA Pediatrics, the researchers analyzed the medical records of 4,824 mothers of 5,841 children that had been gathered between 2008 and 2010 in New York state, excluding New York City.
Of the children participating in the review, 1,830 had been conceived with IVF and 2,074 of them were twins. Questionnaires at fixed times provided the data on delays; the participants were asked to fill them at 4, 8, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months.
In light of the data, the researchers concluded there was no significant difference in terms of developmental delays between IVF and non-treatment groups of children. Roughly 13 percent of children conceived with IVF had developed a delay, compared to 18 percent among those conceived without treatment.
Dr. Norbert Gleicher, medical director of the Center for Human Reproduction, explained the concern comes from the fact that would-be parents with infertility are often older, which brings into the picture all sorts of medical conditions.
However, the potential effects of the fertility treatment were differentiated from those caused by medical conditions the parents had, and the results were reassuring.
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