Copyright © 1998 Nando.net
Copyright © 1998 Reuters News Service
LONDON (April 10, 1998 01:49 a.m. EDT http://www.nando.net) - Children born
from frozen embryos are just as healthy as those conceived normally or
through standard in-vitro fertilization, Swedish doctors said Friday.
In a study published in the Lancet medical journal, Dr. Ulla-Britt
Wennerholm and researchers at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Goteborg,
Sweden, found no difference in developmental patterns in babies from
cryopreserved, or frozen, embryos and other children.
"The cryopreservation process does not adversely affect the growth and
health of children during infancy and early childhood," she said.
Up to 2 percent of all births in Sweden are from in-vitro fertilization.
The sperm and egg are combined in a test tube and the resulting embryo is
implanted in the womb. Fresh, or embryos frozen earlier, are used in the
procedure.
Wennerholm and her team monitored growth, major malformations and
prevalence of chronic illness of 255 children from cryopreserved embryos,
255 babies born after IVF with fresh embryos and 252 others conceived
naturally during their first 18 months.
They did not find any differences in the three categories.
"Children born after cryopreservations as embryos develop and grow normally
up to the age of 18 months, with no increase in physical or psychomotor
impairment compared with children born after either standard IVF (in-vitro
fertilization) or spontaneous pregnancies," they added.