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Feb 26
Are "Test Tube Babies" Healthy?
More than 30 years after the birth of the first "test tube baby," medical researchers and fertility specialists reported that these so-called designer babies are likely to be healthy with few medical differences between them and children conceived naturally.

"By and large, the kids are just fine," Carmen Sapienza, a geneticist at Temple University in Philadelphia, told reporters at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, according to ScienceNOW. Sapienza and other experts were speakers at a symposium about the health and genetic issues of children conceived by in vitro fertilization and other assisted reproductive technologies. Since the first such conception in 1978, several million children have been conceived using such technologies, and in some countries they account for up to 4 percent of all births.
But using such reproductive technologies makes a difference in the transfer of genetic materials and in normal genetic mutation, leading scientists to wonder what the real-life ramifications of that may be. Despite a small increase in congenital abnormalities and an increased risk of low birth weight and premature birth, researchers at the conference in San Diego concluded that the techniques are effective and relatively safe, according to an abstract of the symposium.

There are known concerns, however. The higher incidence of low birth weight and premature birth is troubling because it can cause an increase in childhood illness and neurological problems such as cerebral palsy, and premature babies have an increased risk of problems later in life.

Some studies also show an increased malformation rate, according to the abstract. There is, however, no evidence of developmental or motor delay in children born after the 32nd week of pregnancy. The genetic differences noted between children conceived using assisted reproductive techniques and those conceived naturally have been implicated in metabolic disorders such as obesity and type II diabetes, which is usually developed in adulthood, according to the abstract.

Researchers cautioned that the majority of IVF babies are in their twenties and none is older than early thirties, so long-term problems would not yet have shown up.

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