Dr Gianpiero Palermo, from the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility at Cornell University, USA, told the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology annual meeting at Lausanne today (Monday 2 July) that the majority of ICSI children they had studied appeared to be developing well with no significant delays in their cognitive abilities, socio-emotional development or their motor skills.
Amongst the small proportion of children who needed a follow-up evaluation, half had come from multiple pregnancies which carry their own risks, both in terms of medical complications at birth and the natural stresses on parents who have to learn to cope with not just one new baby but two, or possibly more, at the same time.
Dr Palermo, who first developed the ICSI technique in 1991, said: "Our study shows that ICSI children do develop normally. While the response rate from parents in our study was relatively low, and later evaluations are still needed, these data argue for the safety of the ICSI procedure."
Dr Palermo and his team sent questionnaires out to 411 ICSI families and 357 IVF families, representing a total of 601 ICSI and 514 IVF children aged between two and a half and three and a half years old. From these, 91 (22%) ICSI and 50 (14%) IVF families completed at least one questionnaire. The number of multiple pregnancies, the sex of the children and the maternal age was similar for each group. The questionnaires asked about the pregnancy, the childrens behaviour, social skills and development, and parental stress levels.
Previous studies of ICSI children had brought up a number of concerns about the nature of the ICSI technique itself, the effects it might have on babies,
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Contact: Margaret Willson
m.willson@mwcommunications.org.uk
44-21-643-33-33
European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology
2-Jul-2001