What Are Some Risks For Offspring of Assisted Reproductive Technologies?

Discussion “ART [assisted reproductive technologies] includes all fertility treatments in which either eggs or embryos are handled. The main type of ART is in vitro fertilization (IVF). IVF involves extracting a woman’s eggs, fertilizing the eggs in the laboratory, and then transferring the resulting embryos into the woman’s uterus through the cervix.” In Europe 2-6% of all births are due to some type of ART and ART occurs in 2% of US births. In 2021 in the US, there were 91,906 live births and 97,128 live born infants due to ART. ART is an enabling medical treatment for subfertile or infertile patients. However with any medical treatment there are also potential risks which are outlined below. The IVF technology and infertility itself appear to be separate risk factors for increased risks. Parental factors can include overall genetics and epigenetics factors, maternal environment (e.g. alcohol, drugs, tobacco use, weight, etc.), age, and reproductive disease (e.g. endometriosis, male fertility, etc). IVF factors can include many factors but especially specific technology type, (e.g. fresh versus frozen embryo transfer, number of embryos transferred, etc), and even culture media and culture time. The specific risks also vary depending on the control group used to study for possible risks (e.g. multiple versus singleton births, ART versus spontaneously conceived offspring, ART and spontaneously conceived offspring, IVF versus subfertile women, etc.). ...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news