Children born by ART make healthier adults

Do children conceived by IVF have better health in adulthood?

Medical Aid to Procreation (PMA) is believed to be the cause of one in thirty births in France. The IVF method (In Vitro Fertilization) dominates the other techniques, in particular that of artificial insemination. But while the first baby conceived through assisted reproduction was born in France on February 24, 1982, around 40 years ago, researchers are now interested in the physical health of babies resulting from IVF and who have become adults. .

Indeed, as indicated by one of the authors of a recent study, published in the journal Human Fertility“Numerous studies have focused on the physical health and development of children and adolescents conceived with assisted reproductive technology (MAP) [mais] less is known about the quality of life of adults conceived through ART”.

Comparative data

To try to provide some answers, Australian researchers from the Pediatric Department of the University of Melbourne conducted investigations with:

• 193 young adults conceived through ART;
• 86 naturally conceived young adults.

All of the participants answered a questionnaire relating to a few years back. They were asked questions, in particular about their physical and mental health, their environment and their social relationships. These questions generally focused on these four elements during two periods of their lives:

• When they were between 18 and 28 years old;
• And between 22 and 35 years old.

Better health and quality of life for children born through IVF

The experts then analyzed the information in the two age groups, taking into consideration several characteristics:

• Related to psychological well-being: age of the mother at the birth of the respondent, her sexual orientation, her financial situation, perception of her own weight, number of friends, frequency of physical exercise and relationship quality with parents;
• The Psychological Distress Scale: identification of cases of anxiety and depression, length of time respondents felt nervousness, agitation and psychological fatigue in the past four weeks;
• Life quality : measurement of quality of life at the physical level (pain, sleep, energy, etc.), psychological (memory, concentration, self-esteem, etc.), social relations (personal relations, sexual activity, etc.) and environmental (resources financial, education, leisure activity, etc.).

The study reveals that “having less psychological distress, a more positive relationship with parents, better financial situation and feeling of having the right weight between 18 and 28 years old contributed to a better quality of life in adulthood“. According to the results of these surveys, it would seem that children who have been conceived by IVF therefore have better health and an optimal quality of life when they are in their thirties.