IVF

by Leigh Ann Woodruff, May 7, 2012

During the past few weeks, several studies have come out with alarming headlines about fertility treatment, with the most recent linking a type of fertility treatment to birth defect risk in the resulting children. Other recent studies have linked fertility treatment to childhood leukemia and circulatory problems in children.

If you are a fertility treatment patient, try to put the studies into perspective. There are many factors that can increase the risk of a certain condition, but the overall risk may remain relatively low.

Fertility Treatment and Birth Defects Study

Researchers have known for a while that babies born via assisted reproductive technology (ART) are more likely to have birth defects. A recent study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests that two things play a role in this: certain fertility treatments and infertility itself.

“This study confirms what has been known for quite some time: Patients who need medical assistance to conceive have a somewhat higher risk of having children with birth defects than parents able to conceive on their own," says Linda Giudice, MD, PhD, a fertility doctor with UCSF Center for Reproductive Health and president-elect of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). "Patients considering medically assisted conception have been, and should continue to be, counseled on those risks prior to undergoing any treatment.”