Fertility treatment ‘has risk of low IQ baby’

Cape Town 14-11-08 -Cape Fertility Clinic in Claremont -Zikhona Muinjelwa a Embryologist doing a ICSI procedure Picture Brenton Geach

Cape Town 14-11-08 -Cape Fertility Clinic in Claremont -Zikhona Muinjelwa a Embryologist doing a ICSI procedure Picture Brenton Geach

Published Jul 18, 2013

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London - Fertility treatment used to help men with poor sperm carries a slightly greater risk of low IQ in children, say researchers.

There may also be a link with a severe type of autism affecting twins and triplets conceived using the same type of treatment.

The study found the extra risk in babies born after ICSI treatment, where a sperm is injected into the egg to compensate for low sperm count or poor quality sperm.

It is unclear whether the higher risk is triggered by men with sperm damage passing on a higher rate of genetic abnormalities.

The techniques involved may also play a part, as the highest risk was linked with surgery to extract sperm from the testicles in men with extreme fertility problems.

This procedure led to a more than a four-fold increased chance of a child developing a severe and highly disabling form of autism.

But the scientists, who analysed data on more than 2.5 million births, stressed the chances of an ICSI baby being affected remained tiny in real terms. Overall, the findings were “reassuring” for couples having IVF treatment for infertility problems.

ICSI (intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection) is used in just over half of all IVF treatments in the UK.

The Swedish study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is the first of its kind to compare a wide range of IVF treatments and their impact on autism and intellectual disability.

They found a 51 percent increased risk of intellectual impairment, an IQ below 70, in children conceived by IVF treatments in which sperm cells are injected directly into eggs.

This amounted to a rise from 62 per 100 000 children (0.062 percent) to 92 per 100 000 (0.092 percent).

Dr Avi Reichenberg, from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London, said: “Our study shows treatments developed to manage male infertility are associated with an increased risk for developmental disorders in offspring.” - Daily Mail

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