[Study of the health status of subjects born with medical-assisted reproduction: the connexion between epidemiology and bioethics].
The knowledge of the newborns' health status from medical assisted procreation techniques represents the main objective of public health in this field. It is not acceptable, in fact, the use of fertilisation and artificial insemination techniques without a correct evaluation of these newborns' health status. As probable risks exist in medical protocols of treatments (mothers' exposition to hormonal drugs, manipulations of gametes, embryo development in growing coculture with different animal cells, cryopreservation, lack of natural selection of spermatozoa in intracytoplasmatic sperm injection techniques), a check of the results of these techniques is extremely necessary. Newborns' health status must be detected not only at delivery time but also in the following period to evaluate the right physical and psychological development. To estimate infertility risk that these children might run after their mothers' hormonal treatment, it is necessary to follow these subjects till adult age.
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Laboratorio di Epidemiologia e Biostatistica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma.
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D001675:Bioethics; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011247:Pregnancy; D011272:Pregnancy, Multiple; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D012099:Reproductive Techniques / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*