Most of the differences listed in this analysis are basically retrospective cohort studies comparing outcomes of parents who sought IVF with those of parents who didn’t. I think these are likely to result in spurious hypothesis about negative effects of IVF. We know that parents who seek IVF are disproportionately unhealthy, and as such are likely to pass on their conditions to their children.
But I’d make on exception to this generality, which is the differences observed when using different culture media. In particular, the study from Kleijkers et al, which was a double-blind RCT of 836 couples. You almost never get a randomized study that large in IVF.
It found a difference in birth weight of 158 grams between children born using two different culture media. That’s a difference of about 4-6%.
That’s a relatively small effect. For comparison, women with preeclampsia who give birth early tend to have babies with birth weights about 350g below that of babies born to mothers without the condition (when matching for gestational age).
So while the effect is not very large, I believe it.
Interesting study, thanks for the link.
Most of the differences listed in this analysis are basically retrospective cohort studies comparing outcomes of parents who sought IVF with those of parents who didn’t. I think these are likely to result in spurious hypothesis about negative effects of IVF. We know that parents who seek IVF are disproportionately unhealthy, and as such are likely to pass on their conditions to their children.
But I’d make on exception to this generality, which is the differences observed when using different culture media. In particular, the study from Kleijkers et al, which was a double-blind RCT of 836 couples. You almost never get a randomized study that large in IVF.
It found a difference in birth weight of 158 grams between children born using two different culture media. That’s a difference of about 4-6%.
That’s a relatively small effect. For comparison, women with preeclampsia who give birth early tend to have babies with birth weights about 350g below that of babies born to mothers without the condition (when matching for gestational age).
So while the effect is not very large, I believe it.