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Assisted Fertilization Risks May Be Due to Infertility -- Single Babies Conceived This Way Have Poorer Outcomes

THURSDAY, July 31 (HealthDay News) -- The increased risk of poor health outcomes among single infants conceived through assisted fertilization (AF) may be due to causes of infertility rather than the procedure itself, say Norwegian researchers.

In general, single babies conceived using AF have worse health outcomes than spontaneously conceived infants. But this difference is much smaller among women who've conceived both spontaneously and with AF, according the study authors.

They analyzed data on 2,546 women who conceived at least one child spontaneously and another after AF, and compared them to 1.3 million women who conceived spontaneously and 8,229 women who conceived through AF.

The researchers found that AF conceptions were associated with a 25-gram lower mean birth weight, a two-day shorter gestation, a 26 percent increased risk of being small for gestational age, and a 31 percent increased risk of perinatal death.

Among women who had one child spontaneously and another with AF, AF conceptions resulted in babies that were nine grams lighter and that had a 0.6-day shorter gestation.

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