title: Is subfertility or fertility treatment associated with long-term growth in the offspring? A cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study whether fertility treatment or subfertility is associated with long-term growth in the offspring.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective follow-up study including 1,773 singletons participating in the Lifestyle During Pregnancy Study at the age of 5.
  
  
  METHODS
  Research centers.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 3,478 mother-child pairs were sampled from the Danish National Birth Cohort, and 1,773 completed the outcome measurements. A total of 69 children were born after fertility treatment, whereas 132 were born to subfertile parents conceiving spontaneously but after a time to pregnancy of more than 12 months. The remaining 1,572 children were born to parents conceiving spontaneously within 12 months. At the age of 5, the children participated in a follow-up including anthropometric measurements. Information on important covariates with respect to family background, maternal prenatal exposures, perinatal outcomes, and postnatal parental lifestyle characteristics were obtained from the Danish National Birth Cohort, the 5-year follow-up, and Danish health registers.
  
  
  METHODS
  None.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adjusted mean differences in body weight, height, body mass index (BMI), and head circumference at age 5.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with spontaneously conceived children born to fertile parents, no systematic differences were observed for body weight, height, BMI, or head circumference at age 5 in children conceived after fertility treatment or to subfertile parents conceiving spontaneously.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There were no differences in child anthropometrics at 5 years between children conceived after fertility treatment or by subfertile parents compared with that of children born to fertile parents. However, children born after fertility treatment may show catch-up growth during childhood.
authors.affiliation: Section of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Fertility Clinic, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. Electronic address: bjornbay@me.com.
authors.forename: Bjørn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bay
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health and Center for Health Aging, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Erik Lykke
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Mortensen
authors.affiliation: Fertility Clinic, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Ulrik Schiøler
authors.initials: US
authors.lastname: Kesmodel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D049628:Body Size; D001835:Body Weight; D002508:Cephalometry; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003718:Denmark; D005260:Female; D006257:Head / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted / Q000009:adverse effects; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Assisted reproduction; child development; growth; subfertility