Stillbirths and Infant Health Risks Higher in California’s Artificially Conceived Infants
By Miriam Zoll
A new study published in the Journal of Perinatology [1] online has found that in California from 2009-2011 there was a 24- to 27-fold increase in multiple births and significantly higher rates of preterm births, lower birth weights, fetal anomalies and stillbirth among infants born through assisted reproductive technologies (ART) or artificial insemination (AI) compared to babies conceived naturally.
The retrospective study was based on 2009-2011 data from the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development and conducted by researchers from the Loma Linda University School of Medicine.
The CDC’s Assisted Reproductive Technology Surveillance report for 2010 indicates that “ART-conceived births were highest in California, followed by Texas and New York,” and that nationwide that year, 46.4 percent of all ART births were multiples, compared to only three percent among naturally conceived infants. [2] While California has the most infertility clinics of any state in the country [3] the large increase in multiple births from ART/AI found in the study was higher than but not significantly different from those reported nationally. However, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that California’s rates of low- and very low-birth weight infants, as well as premature and very premature infants, exceed national averages.[4]
According to the new Journal of Perinatology study, in 2009, 18,405 California women underwent ART cycles, which refers to procedures in which the egg and sperm are handled outside the body. Of the total number of women in California undergoing ART, only three percent of women underwent AI or intrauterine insemination. A total of 15,953 embryos were transferred, resulting in 7,155 pregnancies and 5,710 live births. Roughly 1,718 of these births—or 30.1 percent–– were multiple births consisting of twins, triplets or more.
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