News in the Fertility World

The medical journal of fertility specialists, Fertility and Sterility, announcedrecently that researchers had found a connection between in vitro fertilization(IVF) and birth defects. Scholars also looked at ICSI (single-sperm injection)to determine if babies born from that procedure had a higher level of birthdefects. In the past I’ve heard of a known link to birth defects and ICSI, butnot an IVF/birth-defect link.

The researchers started with 925 studies. They eliminated most due toduplicated data, data unavailable, or inappropriate control groups. Looking atthe forty to fifty studies they had left, they determinedthat children conceived by IVF and/or ICSI are at significantly increased riskfor birth defects. The big finding here is that it’s more than just ICSI; it’s IVFtoo. This study found that there was actually no less of a risk to IVF babiesthan to ICSI babies.

The study did not explore possible reasons for the risk difference.How do we account for the increased risk? Does it happen because of how wehandle embryos? Is it because infertile couples are at higher risk for birth defects inthe first place?

Another logical next step is to determine the seriousness ofmost defects. What kind of defect are we talking about? A sixth toe? Heartissues? This will be a key question for couples considering IVF and ICSI. They will want to know whatsort of risk we are talking about and how serious it is.