Being conceived through an assisted reproductive technology, such as in vitro fertilization, could confer benefits in terms of quality of life in adulthood.
- Children conceived by IVF would benefit from better health and a better quality of life around their thirties
- They would also benefit from a greater ability to manage their social relationships well.
“A lot of research has focused on the physical health and development of children and adolescents conceived by medically assisted procreation methods. Less is known about the quality of life of adults conceived by an assisted reproduction technique”, said scientists from the University of Melbourne in Australia. This is why they decided to carry out a study, of which the results were published in the journal Human Fertility March 22.
A comparison between people conceived through IVF and those conceived naturally
To carry out their work, the researchers recruited 193 people conceived by a medically assisted procreation technique and 86 young adults conceived naturally. The participants, aged 22 to 35, completed a questionnaire about their quality of life when they were 18 to 28 and when they were 22 to 35. Four elements were taken into account: physical health, social relations, mental health and the environment.
The authors then examined the associations between the information given between the ages of 18 and 28 (the mode of conception, the age of the mother at the birth of the participant, her sexual orientation, the financial situation of the family, the perception of her own weight, number of close friends, frequency of physical activity and relationship with parents) and responses given when they were 22 to 35 years old.
Children conceived through IVF enjoy better health and quality of life
After making statistical adjustments for other psychosocial factors, the results showed that being conceived by an ART method was strongly related to higher scores in social relations and environment. “Furthermore, having less psychological distress, a more positive relationship with parents, better financial situation and feeling of having the correct weight between 18 and 28 years old contributed to a better quality of life at the adulthood”can we read in the study.
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