In Vitro Fertilization and Adverse Outcomes of Pregnancy

More and more American women are using assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) to overcome infertility. Two recent studies suggest, however, that IVF is associated with an increased risk of placenta previa—a condition of pregnancy in which the placenta is located in the lower part of the uterus, near to or covering the cervix, thus blocking the baby's exit—and with cerebral palsy (CP) among children.3, 4

In the first study, published in Human Reproduction (May 2005) Norwegian researchers compared the prevalence of placenta previa in 7,568 pregnancies conceived through IVF with the prevalence of placenta previa in more than 800,000 spontaneously conceived pregnancies. They found a six-fold higher prevalence of placenta previa associated with IVF. In addition, among a subset (n=1,349) of women who had given birth to one baby after IVF and then to another spontaneously, or vice-versa, placenta previa was nearly three times more likely to occur with a woman's IVF pregnancy than with her spontaneously conceived pregnancy.

The second study, a population-based cohort study published in Pediatrics (August 2006) was of 9,255 children conceived through IVF and 394,713 children conceived spontaneously in Denmark. The risk of receiving a CP diagnosis was higher among babies born after IVF: 40 IVF singletons and twins received a CP diagnosis (0.43%), whereas 1,008 non-IVF singletons and twins received a CP diagnosis (0.26%). Further analysis revealed that preterm delivery, particularly for twins but also for singletons, was the key factor affecting the risk of CP after IVF.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM), in a recent report5, called for guidelines to reduce multiple gestations following infertility treatments, because multiples are more common in assisted reproduction than in spontaneous conception and are more likely to be born at gestational ages of less than 37 weeks. The IOM also called for further investigation into the causes and consequences of preterm delivery after IVF.

The National Children's Study would provide an array of data for such an investigation. National Children's Study researchers plan to collect information on the use of infertility treatments including IVF, multiple gestations, gestational age, birth weight, indicated versus spontaneous preterm birth, perinatal morbidity and mortality, and long-term developmental outcomes. The Study, therefore, has the potential to illuminate the connection between IVF on the one hand and obstetric complications and neonatal outcomes on the other, and to inform efforts to improve infertility treatments and reduce the unintended consequences of these technologies.

1 Landrigan, P.L., Trasande, L., Thorpe, L.E., et al. (in press). The National Children's Study: A 21-year prospective study of 100,000 American children, Pediatrics.

2 Medical Research Council. (2006). The MRC National Survey of Health and Development [Electronic version]. Retrieved on August 31, 2006, from http://www.nshd.mrc.ac.uk/background.html

3 Romundstad, L.B., Romundstad, P.R., Sunde, A., During, V.V., Skjaerven, R., & Vatten, L.J. (2006). Increased risk of placenta previa in pregnancies following IVF/ICSI; a comparison of ART and non-ART pregnancies in the same mother. Human Reproduction, May 25, (epub).

4 Hvidtjorn, D., Grove, J., Schendel, D.E., Vaeth, M., Ernst, E., Nielsen, L.F., & Thorsen, P. (2006). Cerebral palsy among children born after in vitro fertilization: The role of preterm delivery-A population-based, cohort study. Pediatrics, 118, 475–482.

5 Behrman, R.E., & Butler, A.S., Eds. (2006). Preterm birth: Causes, consequences, and prevention. Washington, DC: The Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

IVF Babies up to 40% More Likely to Suffer Severe Birth Defects

PERTH, January 31, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Reports are growing that in vitro fertilization, in which a human being is made in a laboratory by mixing ova and sperm in a petri dish, is resulting in a high rate of severe birth defects. In September 2003, LifeSiteNews.com reported that IVF was coming under scrutiny because of the risks involved to the child. A dozen scientific papers published in 2003 suggested health risks associated with IVF.

Now a new study can be added to the stack. Researchers at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth, Australia, have found that babies born through IVF are up to 40% more likely to suffer from birth defects. From relatively minor problems like cleft palate to severe ones such as spina bifida, more IVF children are showing that IVF is a solution that often creates more trouble than it solves.

In many cases, the solution to such birth defects is abortion following prenatal diagnosis.

Researcher Michelle Hansen said that it is not certain what causes the defects but that they could be caused by the procedure itself. “We don't know why yet, because it's very difficult to tease out the fact they come in with an underlying cause of infertility anyway,” Hansen told The Australian.

“Other causes could be something to do with the treatment itself, the way the egg, sperm or embryo are manipulated, or the medications that are given to induce ovulation or to sustain pregnancy.”

One procedure, which is legal in Canada, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, in which a sperm is selected and forced into the ovum with a needle, has come under particular criticism.

Dr. Hansen said, “This paper will make it even more accepted that (IVF clinic staff) really need to provide this information so patients are giving informed consent when they undertake such treatment.”

The study will be published in the journal Human Reproduction next month.

Researchers Admit IVF Carries Higher Birth Defect Risk

SAN FRANCISCO, September 22, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In the face of mounting evidence, researchers are increasingly admitting that in vitro fertilization carries greater risks of birth defects,. According to media reports, IVF "treatments" are "now coming under closer scrutiny. At least a dozen scientific papers published in the past year suggest a possible link between IVF and increased health risks".

"What's missing now is the data to reassure patients and providers that these procedures are safe," says Mary Croughan, professor at the University of California in San Francisco. In response, IVF promoters say that even if 10% of babies are at higher risk, that still leaves 90% of test tube babies likely to be born without a major birth defect.

LifeSite has previously reported on studies from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Johns Hopkins University, the New England Journal of Medicine, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- showing greater likelihood of complications such as Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome; rare urological defects including bladder development outside the body; heart or central nervous system abnormalities; and dangerously low birth weight.

MOUNTING EVIDENCE OF IVF DEFECTS

Two new studies

MELBOURNE, March 21, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Yet another side defect associated with in vitro fertilization is being reported: abnormalities such as "ambiguous genitalia."

Evidence presented at a symposium at the Monash Institute of Reproduction and development in Melbourne last week shows that certain IVF techniques may pass on birth defects from fathers with defective sperm -- particular when hopeful IVF parents ignore the known risks.

Meanwhile, SPUC highlights a Science Daily report that IVF babies are more prone to urological defects such as development of the bladder outside the body. Researchers at Johns Hopkins say such disorders are 7 times more likely in IVF children.

STUDY FINDINGS SUGGEST OVER 6.7 MILLION EMBRYONIC CHILDREN HAVE DIED DURING IVF -- 85% of Human Embryos Produced During IVF do Not Survive till Birth - A new study has confirmed that beyond all the loss of life that happens when in vitro fertilization embryos are frozen for storage and unfrozen for use, there is massive loss of life even after embryos are transferred into their mother's wombs. 

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that 85% of embryos transferred during IVF fail to live till birth.

IVF specialists boasted last year that over a million children have been born due to IVF (see: http://www.ivf.com/overview.html). 

With the results of the Yale study indicating that 85% of embryos transferred do not survive till birth, one can calculate that for a million children to have been born using IVF over 6.7 other children died in the process.

Published in the August issue of Fertility and Sterility, the Yale study reviewed seven years of U.S. statistics from all the fertility clinics that report data on reproductive techniques. Director of the Yale Fertility Center, Pasquale Patrizio, M.D., professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences led the project. Said Patrizio, "Something in nature has decided that these implanted embryos are not viable."

Citation: Fertility and Sterility, Vol. 84, No. 2, 325-530 (Aug05). [LifeSiteNews.com, 9Sept05, New Haven CT]