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Study says kids conceived through reproductive technology are functioning well

The Canadian Press - 10.07.2008

TORONTO — A new study suggests that kids who are conceived through egg donation, sperm donation or surrogacy do just as well as their naturally conceived counterparts - though some experts are advising parents who used reproductive technology to be mindful of their children's unique needs.

The research comes from Cambridge University, where scientists have been studying 128 families who conceived through artificial reproduction for the past seven years. They've also followed 70 families who conceived naturally.

"The main finding is that all the families are functioning very well indeed, regardless of how their child was conceived," researcher Polly Casey said in a phone interview.

The researchers asked the children about their relationship with their parents, how they felt about themselves, and how comfortable they were in social situations. They also questioned the parents and the children's teachers.

The study found that there are few differences in the overall well-being of kids who are conceived naturally or via sperm donation, egg donation or surrogacy.

The study also found that mothers who hadn't conceived naturally tended to be over-involved with their children and be more reluctant to discipline their kids - a trend that Casey says isn't surprising considering the demands of artificial reproduction.

"These children are so incredibly wanted and the parents have gone to such lengths to conceive their child," said Casey, who presented the findings at a conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.

"That may contribute to them being especially concerned about parenting."

Diane Allen, co-founder and executive director of the Toronto-based Infertility Network, calls the study "good news."

But Allen, who is in contact with several adults who were conceived through assisted reproduction, has reservations about the study.

"All of us want to see families functioning well and for people to be happy and for children to feel attached to their parents - but there's a lot of issues that don't get talked about," she said. "Historically, you couldn't do these things. And we don't really know what it means to do these things."

Allen said that conclusions like Casey's could lull parents who have used reproductive technology into thinking that their families will not face any particular issues.

"That's my anxiety when I read research like this. That the message is, 'don't worry about it. There's no issues.' And I'm saying that we don't really know," she said.

Allen argues that families who didn't conceive naturally will confront many of the same issues as those who adopt children.

"Not that long ago, this sort of thing would come out about adoption - and adoptive families were encouraged to believe that theirs would be a family like any other, and that there would be no issues, and it was only a question of raising the child, loving the child, providing for the child, and everything would be fine," she said. "We know now that that's not true. There are issues of loss on all sides from many families involved in adoption."

Allen said that kids who don't share a genetic link with one or both of their parents often experience "genetic bewilderment." Some adult donor offspring feel a sense of loss because they don't see their own interests, looks or abilities reflected in their parents and yearn to have that connection - just as adopted children do, Allen said.

The children's ages - seven and under - also caught Allen's attention.

"Young children are not going to be able to conceptualize these ideas before adults can," she said. "It's going to be many, many years before they're able to do that and before they have enough autonomy to feel free to speak their minds."

This was a concern shared by some of the assisted reproduction parents, Casey said. Though the majority intended to tell their children about their conception at an early age, many feel that their children are too young to understand the process. The majority of the assisted reproduction parents hadn't told their kids about their conception.

"I think that's one of the main reasons that they haven't yet spoken to their children about the way that they were conceived," Casey said. "The children weren't old enough to perhaps understand the intricacies of the treatment and the biology of it all - they were waiting until they were better able to understand that."

Casey's team found that assisted reproduction children who hadn't been told about their conception had slightly higher levels of "emotional difficulty," as reported by their teachers.

Casey said that her team intends to continue following up with the families for as long as possible. The next round of tests will be conducted when the children are nine, she said.

"As time goes on and the children get older, perhaps then we'll be able to see in more detail how they're going to develop," she said. "The medical side of this is advancing at such a rate that it's important to match that rate with a study of the psychological well-being of all of the families involved."