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Updated: Jun 12, 2025
Fertility Preservation Through Oocyte Vitrification: Clinical and Laboratory Perspectives
Published on: September 16, 2021
Cognitive, emotional, communicative, and motor development in children born from couple's gametes cryopreserved
Massimo Romano1, Federico Cirillo1, Miriam Comparini1
1Fertility Centre, Division of Gynaecology and Reproductive Medicine, Department of Gynaecology, Humanitas Research Hospital, IRCCS, 20089 Rozzano, Milan, Italy.
Insights
Children born from cryopreserved oocytes show developmental milestones comparable to the general population. However, older children experienced less in-person socializing, impacting peer interaction and relationship milestones.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Medicine
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Genetics
Background:
- Assisted reproductive technologies, including oocyte cryopreservation, are increasingly utilized.
- Understanding the long-term developmental outcomes of children conceived via cryopreserved oocytes is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the social, emotional, communicative, cognitive, and motor development of children born from cryopreserved oocytes with the general population.
- To identify any developmental disparities in children conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF) using cryopreserved oocytes.
Main Methods:
- A single-center population study included children born from cryopreserved oocyte cycles between 2003 and 2021.
- Developmental screening was conducted using a questionnaire based on CDC milestones, with a 75% achievement threshold for children under six.
- Parental judgment was used for assessing milestones in older children.
Main Results:
- Children under six demonstrated developmental milestones comparable to the general pediatric population.
- Preadolescents and adolescents showed a decline in unstructured in-person socializing.
- Lowest scores in older children were related to peer interaction (72.31%) and relationships (63.08%).
Conclusions:
- Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers conceived via cryopreserved oocytes meet developmental milestones at rates similar to their peers.
- School-aged children, preadolescents, and adolescents exhibit comparable emotional well-being and social engagement to the general population.
- While overall development is comparable, a trend towards reduced in-person socializing in older children warrants further investigation.
Objective:
To study if social and emotional, communicative, cognitive, motor development of children born from cryopreserved oocytes are comparable to general population.
Design:
Survey study.
Exposure:
This is a single-center population study, focusing on all children born from cycles of in vitro fertilization of cryopreserved oocytes at Humanitas Fertility Center from January 1st,2003, until December 31st, 2021.
Main Outcome Measures:
General information about birth history were collected from all parents. Then, screening for developmental delay was performed by administration of a questionnaire, edited according to milestones set for age by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Primary outcomes included the percentage of children, for each age range, that reached related milestones. In children younger than 6 years of age, milestones were considered to be reached by each age-based population subgroup studied when ≥ 75 % of included children expressed the tested competences.
Results:
A total of 355 live births fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were included in the study. Results showed that each age-based population subgroup, younger than 6 years of age, scored ≥ 75 % in all the milestones included in the questionnaire. In preadolescents and adolescents, it was noted a decrease in unstructured in-person socializing. Indeed, milestones that scored the lowest values, based on parents' judgement, included tasks concerning peer-to-peer interaction (72.31%) and sexuality and sentimental relationships (63.08%).
Conclusions:
Results indicated that the achievement of emotional, communicative, cognitive, and motor milestones in infants, toddlers, and preschoolers was comparable to the general pediatric population. Similarly, emotional wellbeing and social engagement in school-aged children, preadolescents, and adolescents were in line with their peers.
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