| ■ Most 'Test-Tube' Children Healthy: Researchers | 2010.02.26 |
| Most "test-tube" children are healthy and normal, according to experts at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. "Overall, these children do well. It is a reassuring message, but we must continue to follow up," said Andre Van Steirteghem of the Brussels Free University Center for Reproductive Medicine in Belgium, the Associated Press reported. It's been more than 30 years since the first birth of a baby conceived using assisted reproductive technology, in which sperm is injected into the egg outside of the human body. This type of conception now accounts for about 4 percent of live births. Researchers have found differences in 5 percent to 10 percent of chromosomes between test-tube children and other children, said Carmen Sapienza, a geneticist at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, the AP reported. It's not known if these genetic differences result in some way from assisted reproductive techniques or if they're caused by other factors, such as those that caused the couple's infertility. |