Children conceived using IVF are more likely to be born with cardiovascular diseases
Scientists from Scandinavia have found that children born through the use of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have a higher risk of developing heart defects. To do this, they analyzed data on 7.7 million newborns over the past 25 years. Heart defects were found in 1.84% of children born using ART and in 1.15% of those conceived naturally. However, the risk was highest in twins and triplets, regardless of the method of conception. Experts explain the phenomenon by the age of women resorting to IVF and their health problems.
To identify a pattern between the development of heart defects in the fetus and the use of assisted reproductive technologies, scientists analyzed data on children born in Scandinavian countries from the late 1990s to 2015. In total, the study covered 7.7 million newborns, including 170 thousand children born using ART methods such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and embryo freezing. The results were published in the European Heart Journal.
The researchers assessed the incidence of the “main” types of heart and vascular defects: truncus arteriosus, double origin of the great vessels from the right ventricle, ventricular and atrial septal defects, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, and coarctation of the aorta. Such conditions were found in 1.84% of children born using ART and in 1.15% of children born after natural conception. The risk of serious congenital heart disease was highest in children born as a result of multiple pregnancy: after ART it was 2.47%, with natural conception - 2.41%. Severe congenital heart defects were found in 0.35% of children after ART and in 0.26% after natural conception.
Obstetrician-gynecologist, reproductive specialist at the GMS IVF clinic, member of the Russian Association of Human Reproduction (RAHR) Nora Maeva points out that multiple pregnancy is a high-risk factor for almost all complications, primarily premature birth. In premature babies, so-called minor malformations are more common. “However, all over the world and in Russia, regulatory documents recommend selective transfer of one embryo in ART programs, in which the frequency of multiple pregnancies does not exceed that of natural conception,” says Ms. Mayeva. Thus, according to her, the share of multiple births in the overall structure of the birth rate after IVF programs with “fresh” embryo transfer in 2022 was 6.8%, of which 6.7% were births of twins, 0.1% were births of triplets. In cycles of transfer of thawed embryos, Nora Maeva noted, the numbers are similar. “As for the increased risk of preeclampsia (deterioration of the kidneys and cardiovascular system.— “Kommersant”), placental insufficiency and fetal growth retardation, they increase with the use of hormone replacement therapy in thawed embryo transfer programs. Therefore, if a woman’s ovulatory function is preserved, we give preference to preparation for embryo transfer in a natural cycle,” says the expert.
Reproductologist, head of the ART department of the DocMed clinic Anna Mgoyan notes among the risk factors are late reproductive age (over 35 years) and concomitant diseases of women resorting to IVF. “The health of parents directly affects the health of the child, and, as a rule, absolutely healthy people do not come to us. And when a woman becomes pregnant at a late reproductive age, the state of her body, her chronic diseases certainly affect the intrauterine development of the fetus.”
Health Minister Mikhail Murashko previously reported that in 2023, thanks to IVF, more than 32 thousand children were born in Russia - this is 2.5% of all births. In the first four months of 2024, the minister specified, more than 28 thousand complete IVF cycles were performed (according to statistics, only every fourth ends in the birth of a child). According to RAHR, since 1995, about 400 thousand babies have been born in Russia using artificial insemination technologies, or 0.9% of all children born during this period. Russia is second only to China, Japan and the United States in the number of such procedures. In 2014, IVF was included in the list of services available under the compulsory medical insurance policy.
