The answer is no but like in any other medical treatment there are some risks that should be acknowledged. We know that pregnancies and babies from IVF are at an increased risk compared with the baseline non-IVF babies or pregnancies. Statistics have shown that IVF babies have an increased risk for malformations. We are not sure so far that if that risk is related to the IVF treatment or rather is the clinical scenario and biological scenario of that couple that put the pregnancy at the baby and the baby at an increased risk for malformations. In the same way, we know that the way in which genes are activated or deactivated during the fertilisation is not the same in some IVF babies. It is called the imprinting disorder. In general we should say that the increased risk of malformation is around 1%t above the risk that had the general population so I mean the non-IVF pregnancies but anyway if the risk is increased, it is not a big increase and IVF at this moment, we consider that is a safe treatment for the patients and for the babies as well.
There shouldn’t be any difference between babies born after IVF and babies born after the natural pregnancy. We now have a lot of experience because we have couples who have secondary infertility, so these are patients who already have a first baby born naturally, and we see that the development both psychological, neurological, and also with regard to the diseases and physical condition is very similar. In some cases, the risk can be even lower because when we do IVF, we have different tools, tests, which can help us reduce the risk of having unexpected diseases such as single-gene diseases or chromosomapathy.
I wouldn’t consider that there is any difference in terms of risk or neurological or psychological, or social development between babies born after IVF and babies born naturally.
