Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
Children who are conceived through by assisted reproduction techniques do not experience any decline in academic performance during adolescence in comparison to babies born through traditional means, researchers from Denmark reported in a new study.
Speaking Monday at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, Anne Lærke Spangmose Pedersen, a student in the fertility clinic of Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, explained that ninth graders conceived by ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) are no better or worse off scholastically than spontaneously-conceived pupils of the same age.
Similarly, she found that single children and twins conceived through ART have comparable test scores, suggesting that the “higher obstetric risk” identified in these types of pregnancies “is not associated with poorer academic performance in adolescence,” ESHRE said in a statement.
The authors called the results of the study “very important for infertile patients.”
Results: ART is a “safe” method
As part of her research, Pedersen conducted a national study involving every child conceived by ART in Denmark from 1995 through 2000. This group of more than 8,200 kids (which included nearly 5,200 single children and more than 3,200 twins) was then compared to a pair of control groups, one comprised solely of twins and the other of single children.
The academic performance of each group was compared to a general test given to all ninth grade students in Denmark. The test is graded on a scale of -3 to +12, with an average score of 7. While initial results indicated some discrepancies between the different groups, they disappeared after statistical adjustments were made, including those involving birth weight, maternal age, gestational age, and social status.
“We were pleased to see the results,” Pedersen explained. “The higher rate of twins and preterm birth in ART singletons might have given rise to lower academic test scores. But our results now confirm smaller studies, which have shown no difference in IQ between ART and non-ART children. All our four study groups had test scores very close to the average.”
Furthermore, she said that the results were “reassuring” and that they showed “the high validity of the study.” Pedersen added that the results of the study “might finally persuade politicians and society as a whole that there is no reason for caution in future ART generations. Thus, we can continue to perform ART as a safe and sound method from the long-term child perspective.”
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