IVF children found to have levels of mental health in line with their non-IVF counterparts
Children conceived using IVF are no more or less likely to be moody teenagers, have behavioural problems or mental disorders than children conceived by natural methods, says a new study.
Researchers questioned around 200 teenagers about “behavioural, emotional and social problems” they had faced in the last 6 months. Half were conceived via IVF while the other half acted as a control group. Answers from the two groups were then compared showing that the issues faced by the two groups were dealt with in the same way by both.
“Neither IVF conception as such nor growing up as a child of parents who used IVF seems to be an adverse condition for behaviour and psychosocial well-being in adolescence,” concluded the authors of the study, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility.
The study comes as a reassurance after previous research has suggested that youngsters conceived by IVF have a higher risk of depression, binge drinking and ADHD.
