Growth and development of children born after in vitro fertilization

Ceelen, Manon; van Weissenbruch, Mirjam M.; Vermeiden, Jan P.W.; van Leeuwen, Flora E.; Delemarre-van de Waal, Henriette A.

doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2007.09.005

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Volume 90, Issue 5 , Pages 1662-1673, November 2008

Growth and development of children born after in vitro fertilization

Manon Ceelen, M.Sc.
- Department of Paediatrics, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Neuroscience, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Mirjam M. van Weissenbruch, M.D., Ph.D.
- Department of Paediatrics, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Neuroscience, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Reprint requests: Mirjam M. van Weissenbruch, M.D., Ph.D., VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands (FAX: +31 20 4442422).
Jan P.W. Vermeiden, Ph.D.
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Flora E. van Leeuwen, Ph.D.
- Department of Epidemiology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Henriette A. Delemarre-van de Waal, M.D., Ph.D.
- Department of Paediatrics, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Neuroscience, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Received 1 June 2007; received in revised form 3 September 2007; accepted 4 September 2007. published online 03 January 2008.

Objective

To evaluate growth and development of children born after IVF treatment.

Design

Literature review.

Conclusion(s)

At present there is substantial evidence that children born after IVF are at increased risk for adverse perinatal outcome, congenital malformations, and rare epigenetic defects. It is still unclear whether observed health problems originate from the IVF procedure itself or the underlying subfertility problems of the parents. Current follow-up studies regarding postnatal growth and morbidity rates are scarce with conflicting results and other areas of long-term research in children born after IVF are still in its infancy. The importance of the worldwide continuing monitoring of children born after IVF to investigate potential long-term consequences including the development of cardiovascular diseases is therefore highlighted.

Key Words: Epigenetic defects, follow-up research, in vitro fertilization, perinatal outcome, postnatal development