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Fertility treatment and risk of childhood and adolescent mental disorders: register based cohort study

Bjørn Bay1, Erik Lykke Mortensen, Dorte Hvidtjørn

  • 1School of Public Health, Section for Epidemiology, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 2, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. bjornbay@me.com

BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.)
|July 9, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Children born after fertility treatments like IVF/ICSI have mental health risks comparable to spontaneously conceived children. However, ovulation induction may slightly increase risks for certain mental disorders.

Area of Science:

  • Reproductive Medicine and Child Psychology
  • Public Health and Epidemiology

Background:

  • Fertility treatments are increasingly common, raising questions about potential long-term effects on offspring mental health.
  • Previous studies have yielded mixed results regarding the mental health outcomes of children conceived via assisted reproductive technologies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the risk of mental disorders in children born after fertility treatment versus spontaneous conception.
  • To investigate specific mental health risks associated with different fertility treatment modalities.

Main Methods:

  • A prospective, nationwide, register-based cohort study in Denmark (1995-2003, follow-up in 2012).
  • Included 33,139 children conceived via fertility treatment and 555,828 spontaneously conceived children.
  • Utilized Danish National Health Registers, adjusting for potential confounding variables.

Main Results:

  • Children born after in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) showed no increased risk of mental disorders compared to spontaneously conceived children, except for a borderline significant increase in tic disorders.
  • Children born after ovulation induction with or without insemination had significantly increased risks for any mental disorder, autism spectrum disorders, hyperkinetic disorders, conduct/emotional/social disorders, and tic disorders.
  • No specific hormone drug treatment was systematically linked to increased mental disorder risk.

Conclusions:

  • Ovulation induction/intrauterine insemination was associated with a small increase in mental disorder incidence.
  • IVF/ICSI resulted in overall mental health risks comparable to spontaneous conception.
  • These findings highlight the importance of considering specific fertility treatment methods when assessing child mental health outcomes.
Abstract

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