Perinatal outcome and follow-up of 82 children aged 1-9 years old conceived from cryopreserved embryos

Abstract

Embryo cryopreservation is routinely used in in-vitro fertilization (IVF)-embryo transfer programmes. Yet very few studies have reported the follow-up of children conceived with frozen/thawed embryos. This study was designed to follow up the total cohort of children conceived with cryopreserved embryos in A. Béclère Hospital in Clamart, France between 1986 and 1994. We were able to study 89 children, aged 1-9 years old, out of the 93 conceived during this period (lost to follow-up: 4.3%). The prematurity rate was 14.7% for the singleton and 85.7% for the twins. Half of these premature deliveries occurred during the 36th week of amenorrhea. In all, 8% of the singleton and 28.6% of the twins were small for gestational age. At the time of the study, only three children aged 1 and 2 years old were below the 10th percentile. The total malformation rate was 3.4% when two abortions performed during the study period were added to the one (short ureter) found in our study group. The medical and surgical illness as well as principal acquisitions for children <5 years old and scholastic performance for older children did not show pathological features.

School functioning in 8- to 18-year-old children born after in vitro fertilization

“…Our findings are reassuring and in line with the recent studies in young IVF children [2,4,7,8,10,11,14,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25] and at primary school age [12,17,18]. Olivennes et al [17] found, in a follow-up study of 422 IVF children aged 6 to 13 years, according to the French school system, that 92.2% of the children had at least average school achievement.…”

“…Olivennes et al [17] found, in a follow-up study of 422 IVF children aged 6 to 13 years, according to the French school system, that 92.2% of the children had at least average school achievement. In 1-to 9-year-old IVF children conceived from cryopreserved embryos, the same authors found comparable results for scholastic performance in the school-age children [18]. Levy-Shiff et al [12] examined 9-and 10-year-old IVF children in comparison with naturally conceived children recruited from the IVF children's schools and found that intelligence did not differ between the groups.…”

“…However, from an age of about 6 years, when school functioning becomes more important and cognitive demands increase, only a limited number of studies have evaluated the school performance of IVF children [12,17,18]. Although the data from these three studies indicate normal intellectual and school functioning, it can be questioned as to whether one may be conclusive yet on the overall educational outcome of IVF children.…”

“…Although the data from these three studies indicate normal intellectual and school functioning, it can be questioned as to whether one may be conclusive yet on the overall educational outcome of IVF children. No control groups were used and the children were a maximum of 13 years old [17,18], or the study was conducted on a relatively small number of children [12]. Most importantly, no single study has described IVF children's school functioning at secondary school yet.…”

Increased risk of large-for-gestational age birthweight in singleton siblings conceived with in vitro fertilization in frozen versus fresh cycles

“…Few studies have evaluated the longer-term health effects on children born after frozen embryo transfer [59][60][61][62], with most reporting normal growth and development. In a small, but recent study from New Zealand of 96 term singletons born between 2004 and 2008 and followed up at ages 3.5-11 years, Green et al [62] reported that the transfer of fresh embryos versus frozen embryos was significantly and positively associated with taller stature.…”