Are IVF Babies Healthy?

via mercatornet.com

"Are the babies born to people who use IVF okay? Are they healthy?  The answer is relatively uncomplicated.

Yes.

In the over five million babies born using the IVF fertility treatment protocol, the babies are mainly healthy. 

Research shows that one way to be more specific in answering the question of whether babies born through IVF are healthy is to ask about multiple fetuses, most often resulting from transferring multiple embryos to the uterus. This is one area where IVF babies and families do show an increase of problems, specifically in prematurity, often attributed to multiple pregnancies (more than one fetus being carried at a time) and is an area of concern.

IVF Babies & Prematurity

A report released in 2012, sponsored by the March of Dimes, The Partnership for Maternal, newborn and Child Health, Save the Children and the World Health Organization called Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth is a 102 page report on over 65 countries on the issue of prematurity.

There are only five references to IVF and ART (assisted reproductive technology), three of which are quoted verbatim in this blog. The other two references were research cited in the report.

Keeping in mind that this report was released five years ago, what's worthy to note is that when it comes to prematurity and ART or IVF, the overriding concern is how many fetuses are being carried per pregnancy. There is no mention of concerns with prematurity with either IVF or ART and a single embryo. There appears to be no correlation drawn or even concern about IVF and ART and prematurity with these leading health and research organizations except in the cases of multiple fetuses per pregnancy.

Are IVF Babies Premature?

These are the paragraphs where IVF and/or ART are cited:

"Of 65 countries with reliable trend data, all but 3 show an increase in preterm birth rates over the past 20 years. Possible reasons for this include better measurement and changes in health such as increases in maternal age and underlying maternal health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure; greater use of infertility treatments leading to increased rates of multiple pregnancies; and changes in obstetric practices such as more cesarean births before term... "

Learn more: http://fertility-news.rmact.com/path-to-fertility-blog/are-ivf-babies-healthy-prematurity-single-embryo-transfer