IVF risk

The Daily Telegraph
IVF babies at greater than average risk of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome
by David Derbyshire

"Scientists called for an investigation into the safety of artificial fertility techniques last night, after a study showed that test-tube babies were more likely to be born with a rare genetic disorder than children conceived naturally.

A team of British researchers found that in vitro fertilisation (IVF) babies were at greater than average risk of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome - a condition that can cause birth defects and childhood cancer. Although the risks are small, the findings raise concerns about a technique used to create 68,000 children since 1978."

Source: David Derbyshire, "IVF safety fears over link to birth defects," The Daily Telegraph (London), 16 January 2003;
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F01%2F16%2Fnivf16.xml