Research news: More birth defects possible from assisted reproduction

The News:
More birth defects possible from assisted reproduction
The CDC study, though not definitive, adds to the growing body of evidence of the risks.
By Judith GrahamChicago Tribune
Article Last Updated: 11/17/2008 11:23:54 PM MST
CHICAGO — Babies born to couples who rely on medical technology to become pregnant have much higher rates of certain birth defects, according to a study published online Monday in the journal Human Reproduction.
The report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found these infants have twice as many heart defects and cleft lips and nearly four times as many gastrointestinal defects as those conceived without technological interventions.
Still, the overall rate of the defects was low, and the vast majority of babies born to couples using assisted reproduction were normal, said Jennita Reehfuis, a CDC epidemiologist and lead author of the report.
Independent experts noted the study establishes an association, not a causal connection, between birth defects and two procedures: in-vitro fertilization, or IVF, and intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection, or ICSI.
With IVF, a man's sperm and a woman's egg are merged outside the body. ICSI involves injecting a single sperm into an egg. In both cases, resulting embryos are then implanted in a woman.
It's possible that couples who turn to these interventions have chromosomal abnormalities that explain their infertility as well as the risks to offspring, said Dr. Elizabeth Ginsburg, president of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology and medical director of the IVF program at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
"This study doesn't get to the question of whether these outcomes are due to the procedures themselves or the population of people who struggle with infertility," she said. Read on...

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal Human Reproduction.