Are babies born through IVF healthy?

One of the major concerns while considering IVF is whether the babies born through IVF are healthy or not. The simple answer is yes. Millions of babies have been born using In Vitro Fertilisation( IVF) and they are perfectly healthy. The procedure does not pose any short-term or long-term risk to the health of the child. The primary difference between IVF babies and naturally conceived babies is the way in which they are conceived.

Some people believe that babies born through reproductive techniques are not as healthy as naturally conceived ones. Therefore, you must have clarity about the concept of IVF. You can compare IVF processes with natural conception in reaching an adequate conclusion.

• The common thing among them is that both processes involve fertilization of the eggs by the sperm. The difference is that the natural process takes place inside a fallopian tube. However, in IVF, fertilization takes place in a dish in a special lab.
• In natural conception, embryos form and travel to the uterus, where they naturally implant for pregnancy. In contrast, in vitro, embryos are artificially implanted.
• Women who conceive naturally may realise that they are pregnant only after missing their periods.
• In a normal pregnancy, a woman may start taking multivitamin tablets only after getting pregnant. However, women undergoing IVF can take progesterone and HCG hormone injections before detecting pregnancy.

It's unreal to say that IVF babies are at higher risk of developing congenital anomalies. The chances are about 2-3%, which is the same as normally conceived babies.

There may be a change of these if there is a family history of a certain problem which could be the cause for infertility in either parent, but it has nothing to do with the IVF process.

The risk of congenital defects also increases with multiple pregnancies. IVF centres transfer more than one embryo at a time to increase the chances of success of the IVF cycle.

The bottom line is that babies conceived through IVF are healthy. This process of conception does not pose any risk to the well-being of the parent or the child, even in the future. The chances of developing a congenital anomaly or cancer are equal to those of babies conceived naturally.