Follow-up of a cohort of 422 children aged 6 to 13 years conceived by in vitro fertilization.
OBJECTIVE
To contact the total cohort of children conceived by IVF-ET consecutively in our center between June 1981 and December 1988.


METHODS
Retrospective study.


METHODS
Infertility unit of the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Antoine Béclère Hospital, Clamart, France.


METHODS
Complete information was obtained on 370 children. The percentage lost for follow-up was 9%.


METHODS
To assess the children's well-being, telephone interviews of the parents and questionnaires sent to the parents and/or pediatrician were used.


METHODS
Surgical procedures, malformation, height and weight, school performance.


RESULTS
The physical growth of these children showed no major pathological features, with only 2.2% of them being below 2 SD for weight and 0.3% for height. The rates of malformation were not significantly different between these children and the general population. School performance was good, with 92.2% presenting encouraging outcome. Fifty-eight percent of the parents of children aged 6 to 10 years old did not inform their children about the IVF nor did 34% of the parents of children aged 11 to 13. Subsequent to the birth of the IVF child, 30 patients (8.9%) had a spontaneous pregnancy. However, five of them (15.1%) were ectopic.


CONCLUSIONS
This study reports, for the first time, reassuring data on the long-term assessment of a large group of older IVF-ET children conceived consecutively, with a low percentage of subjects lost for follow-up.
Olivennes
F
F
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Antoine Béclère Hospital, Clamart, France.
Kerbrat
V
V
Rufat
P
P
Blanchet
V
V
Fanchin
R
R
Frydman
R
R
D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003219:Confidentiality; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000453:epidemiology; D003710:Demography; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012189:Retrospective Studies