Tag: Assisted Reproduction
Study Links Birth Defects To Assisted Reproduction
by bethany on Nov.19, 2008, under general research
A recent study found that couples relying on medical technology to conceive have a substantially higher risk for some kinds of birth defects, according to a study published in the journal Human Reproduction.
A report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found infants who were conceived with assisted reproduction have twice the average risk for cleft lips and heart defects and almost four times as many gastrointestinal defects.
Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of babies born using medical procedures such as in vitro fertilization and intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection were healthy.
Experts stress that, though assisted reproduction has been linked to birth defects, it is possible that people relying on such procedures have chromosomal abnormalities responsible for their infertility as well as the birth defects.
Because carrying twins or triplets increases the risk of birth defects, the study only considered pregnancies resulting in a single birth. More than 14,000 women from 10 states took part in the study–281 of which used assisted reproduction.
