Long-term health risk of offspring born from assisted reproductive technologies.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review summarizing existing literature without systematic review or meta-analytic methodology.
PubMed 38146031 · doi:10.1007/s10815-023-02988-5
What was done
This narrative review synthesized literature on the potential long-term health consequences for offspring conceived through assisted reproductive technologies (ART). It evaluated reported associations with later-life diseases, explored potential mechanisms (including parental infertility, epigenetic modifications, altered hormone environments, and placental dysfunction), and discussed clinical management strategies.
What was found
The abstract provides no quantitative data, odds ratios, or risk estimates. It summarizes qualitative associations indicating that in addition to known perinatal risks (preterm birth, low birth weight, small-for-gestational-age status, mortality, and congenital anomalies), ART offspring show predispositions to various non-communicable diseases later in life, including malignancies, asthma, obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders.
Why it matters
With over 8 million individuals conceived through ART now entering adolescence and adulthood, identifying potential adult-onset health risks helps clinicians tailor reproductive protocols and guide long-term preventive pediatric and adult care.
Limits
The abstract contains no numerical effect sizes, counts of included studies, or systematic search methodology. It acknowledges that empirical long-term outcome data in adults remain limited and that isolating the biological effects of ART techniques from underlying parental subfertility remains challenging.
Cited by
- supports Approximately 6 million babies have been born globally through in vitro fertilization.