Follow-up of children born after assisted reproductive technologies.

The course of pregnancies and the health of children born after assisted reproductive technologies are two of the most important outcome parameters of the quality of the techniques. There is an ongoing discussion as to whether these parameters may show poorer results as compared with spontaneous conception. Recent studies have shown increased risks for the pregnancy course following conventional IVF (e.g. premature birth, low birthweight), and a higher rate of major malformations after conventional IVF as well as after intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Molecular biological studies may support the idea that these risks are not related to the techniques used, but to parental background factors. Data from surrogate motherhood also demonstrate that here the risk is lower as compared with pregnancies from IVF mothers, who carry their own child to birth. Therefore, there are more infertility related problems than those related to technique. Finally, however, a risk related to the technique itself cannot be excluded completely by currently available data.