BACKGROUND Assisted reproductive technology (ART) involves the manipulation of early embryos at a time when they may be particularly vulnerable to external disturbances. Environmental influences during the embryonic and fetal development influence the individual's susceptibility to cardiovascular disease, raising concerns about the potential consequences of ART on the long-term health of the of...

BACKGROUND Studies of parental decision making regarding information sharing with offspring conceived as a result of donor insemination are almost all based on a 'one point in time' design. This study reports on parental decision making at two points in time, Time 1 and Time 2, 14 years apart. METHODS Forty-four of 57 families (77%) who had agreed to take part in a follow-up study were interv...

BACKGROUND This study examines the findings from the largest survey to date of donor-inseminated (DI) offspring and focuses on respondents' learning of the method of their conception and their desire to contact their donor. METHODS Online questionnaires were completed by 741 DI offspring, of whom 61.8% have heterosexual parents and 38.2% have lesbian parents. Respondents were recruited via th...

BACKGROUND There have been increasing indications about an epigenetically-based elevated predisposition of assisted reproductive technology (ART) offspring to insulin resistance, which can lead to an unfavorable cardio-metabolic profile in adult life. However, the relevant long-term systematic molecular studies are limited, especially for the IntraCytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) method, intr...

Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) allowed the births of >8 million babies worldwide. Even if ART children are healthy at birth, several studies reported that may cause changes in foetal programming, leading to an increased predisposition metabolic disorders adulthood. Previous on mouse model showed obesity, glucose intolerance, and hepatic lipid accumulation offspring. A cumulative effec...

InGameteDonorAnonymity andLimits ofNumbers ofOffspring:TheViews ofThree Stakeholders,1 Margaret K. Nelson, Rosanna Hertz, and Wendy Kramer, present empirical data on the attitudes of gamete donors,2 intended parents,3 and donor-conceived persons toward both donor anonymity and limits on the number of children produced using gametes from any one donor. Consistent with the assisted reproductive t...

Vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies worldwide. Maternal vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased susceptibility to hypertension in offspring, but the reasons for this remain unknown. The aim of this study was to determine if parental vitamin D deficiency leads to altered DNA methylation in offspring that may relate to hypertension. Male and female Sp...

In a large set of twin pairs, we compared twins born after IVF to naturally conceived twins with respect to birth characteristics, growth, attainment of motor milestones, and emotional and behavioral problems. Twin families were registered with the Netherlands Twin Register. We included 1534 dizygotic (DZ) twins born after IVF, 5315 naturally conceived (NC) DZ twins, and 1504 control NC DZ twin...

Objective Infertility affects different aspects of life as well as quality of life (QOL) in infertile couples. Many infertile couples conceive via using Assisted Reproduction Technologies (ART). However, the effect of pregnancy and childbearing on QOL is not known in these couples. This study aim was to evaluate quality of life and general health during pregnancy and after successful treatment ...