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Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics
Published in: Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics 8/2014

01-08-2014 | Meeting Report

Birth defects and congenital health risks in children conceived through assisted reproduction technology (ART): a meeting report

Author: ESHRE Capri Workshop Group

Published in: Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics | Issue 8/2014

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Abstract

Purpose

Assisted Reproduction Treatment (ART) is here to stay. This review addresses the parental background of birth defects, before, during and after conception and focuses both on the underlying subfertility and on the question whether ART as a treatment is an additional contributing factor.

Methods

Searches were performed in Medline and other databases. Summaries were discussed in a Delphi panel set-up by the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE).

Results

Several birth defects and adult diseases arise during the earliest stages of ovarian development and oocyte differentiation: this is the case of cleft palate disorders in offspring from female rat exposed to Dioxin during fetal life or the polycystic ovary diseases in female offspring (primates) exposed to elevated androgen concentration during fetal life. Human oocytes and embryos often fail to stop the propagation of aneuploid cells but maintain their ability to repair DNA damages including those introduced by the fertilizing sperm. There is a 29 % increased risk of birth defects in the newborns spontaneously conceived by subfertile couples and the risk is further increased (34 %) when conception is achieved by treating infertlity with ART (Danish IVF Registry). Periconceptional conditions are critical for ART babies: their birth weight is in general smaller (Norvegian Registry) but a more prolonged culture time doubled the number of large babies (Finnish Registry).

Conclusion

The long-term developmental effects of ART on child and subsequent health as an adult remains a subject worthy of futher monitoring and investigation.
Footnotes
1
Anders Forsdahl, an ordinary county doctor in a remote area of Norway first noticed that the frequency of coronary heart disease in different communities correlated to the infant mortality rate and poverty level 40 years earlier [45, 46].
 
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Metadata
Title
Birth defects and congenital health risks in children conceived through assisted reproduction technology (ART): a meeting report
Author
ESHRE Capri Workshop Group
Publication date
01-08-2014
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics / Issue 8/2014
Print ISSN: 1058-0468
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7330
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-014-0255-7

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