Review： An overview of studies on psychological well-being in children born following assisted reproductive technologies

Over the course of the past 35 years, assisted reproductive technologies （ARTs） have been increasingly used worldwide, while debates on their safety have been generated. Birth defects and imprinting disorders were re- ported in previous research. Thus, the psychological development of children born...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:浙江大学学报：B卷英文版 2013, Vol.14 (11), p.947-960
Main Author: Qi-tao ZHAN Pei-pei PAN Xiang-rong XU Hang-ying LOU Yi-yun LOU Fan JIN
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Assisted
Behavior
Parent-child
problems
Psychological
relationship
reproductive
technologies
well-being
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Summary:Over the course of the past 35 years, assisted reproductive technologies （ARTs） have been increasingly used worldwide, while debates on their safety have been generated. Birth defects and imprinting disorders were re- ported in previous research. Thus, the psychological development of children born following ARTs has become a major concern nowadays. This review gives a systematic view of psychological well-being of children conceived by different types of ART, including in vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmic sperm injection （ICSI）, preimplantation genetic diagnosis/screening, and in vitro maturation. The previous studies are analyzed in three sections： （1） cognitive, motor, and language developments, （2） behavior problems and socio-emotional development, and （3） parent-child rela- tionship. We conclude that although the majority of the studies on cognitive, motor, and language developments re- ported comparable achievements in the ART group vs. the naturally conceived group, lower intelligence quotient （IQ） scores, worse visual-motor ability or locomotor development, and delayed receptive language competence were found in the ART group. The results on the socio-emotional development were reassuring. As for the behavior problems, a higher prevalence of behavior problems existed in ART children; moreover, ICSI children were found to be at a higher risk of autism than the general population. Meanwhile, ART parents tended to have positive parental attitudes and be more protective of their children. Some suggestions for further research are also given in this review.
ISSN:1673-1581
1862-1783