Long-Term Development and Health of Children Conceived by Assisted Reproductive Technologies

Abstract

The demographic situation in Russia requires escalation of measures to combat infertility including assisted reproductive technologies (ART). The analysis of correlations between ART and features of health and long-term development of “children from the tube” is presented. There is a high risk of dysontogeny after in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection due to epigenetic disorders such as DNA methylation disorders. Living conditions, parenting, education, and health care are crucial for the healthy development of all children including those conceived by ART. The correlations between long-term cognitive development of “children from the tube” and the aspects of parenting in families are presented.

Keywords

• assisted reproductive technologies
• demography
• cognitive development
• dna methylation
• family