What is not known yet about children conceived this way
The oldest IVF children are in their forties. Some questions do not have answers yet.
The first IVF baby was born in 1978. That means the oldest cohort is now in their forties, and questions about health in later adult life simply do not have answers yet, for anyone.
What is reasonably well established is covered in the preceding topics: a modest increase in birth defects that largely tracks parental factors for IVF and does not for ICSI, and imprinting conditions that are rare in absolute terms. What is genuinely open:
- Cardiovascular and metabolic health in adulthood. There are signals in small studies of blood pressure and vascular measurements in IVF-conceived children. Whether they persist and whether they matter clinically is not settled.
- The specific effect of newer laboratory techniques. Vitrification, extended culture to the blastocyst stage, and embryo biopsy have all been adopted faster than long-term outcome data could accumulate.
- The effect of the infertility itself, separated from the treatment. This is the confounder that runs through the whole literature, and no observational study fully solves it.
The fertility field says this itselfIts own ethics opinion on planned egg freezing tells clinicians they
"Unknown long-term health effects" is the field's own phrase, written into its own guidance. It is not a reason to refuse treatment. It is a reason to be suspicious of anyone who tells you everything is settled.
should ensure that all who request planned OC are informed about efficacy, safety, benefits, and risks, including the unknown long-term health effects for offspring.
"Unknown long-term health effects" is the field's own phrase, written into its own guidance. It is not a reason to refuse treatment. It is a reason to be suspicious of anyone who tells you everything is settled.
Where this comes from:
66. Henningsen AA, Gissler M, Rasmussen S, Opdahl S, Wennerholm UB, Spangsmose AL, et al. Imprinting disorders in children born after ART: a Nordic study from the CoNARTaS group. Hum Reprod. 2020;35(5):1178-1184.
64. Davies MJ, Moore VM, Willson KJ, Van Essen P, Priest K, Scott H, et al. Reproductive technologies and the risk of birth defects. N Engl J Med. 2012;366(19):1803-1813.
115. Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Planned oocyte cryopreservation to preserve future reproductive potential: an Ethics Committee opinion. Fertil Steril. 2024;121(4):604-612.
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This page is educational. It supports the conversation with your own clinicians. It is not consent to any treatment, and it cannot assess you. If you are worried about a symptom now, see urgent warning signs.