New Study Manages To Saddle IVF Moms With Even More Worry

Ladies who have turned to IVF in that tussle with infertility are usually already dealing with a rainbow of worry. The hopes of getting pregnant are usually compounded with a lot fears, anxiety, and a struggle for just that one conception. But for many successful IVF mothers who have come out the other end happy, healthy, and with the child who they have always hoped for, science has a tactful postscript to your fertility endeavor. While carrying your IVF baby in utero, you were actually upping his or her risk for birth defects.

Mommy guilt parade!

Reuters reports that children who are conceived through IVF are one-third more likely to be born with a variety of birth defects to all areas of the body and nervous system, including  genitals, skeleton, and digestive system. And yet researchers have no idea why. Some floated theories are that those struggling with infertility are doing so for “the same reasons” that could ultimately cause birth defects. Drugs that are involved in fertility treatments, as well as “the jostling and handling of the embryos” could also be a factor. And it’s also important to remember that IVF babies are monitored way more closely than those who are conceived naturally, so “subtle abnormalities” are more likely to be discovered and noted.

Although this birth defects risk has been acknowledged by doctors already, these recent results affirm that suspicion. They’ll no doubt be slapping this statistic onto IVF pamphlets for you to peruse in the waiting room whilst your fertility doctor encourages you to relax.

(photo: Gladskikh Tatiana/ Shutterstock)

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