Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A Centers for Disease Control study finds children born from in-vitro fertilization are two to four times more likely to be born with birth defects than children born naturally.

The study provides more concerns for pro-life advocates who oppose the practice of artificially creating children. Despite the increase in risk, Jennita Reefhuis, a CDC epidemiologist who was the lead author of the study, says the risk associated with assisted reproductive technology (ART) is still relatively low.

"The most important findings were that for infants conceived using ART, we see an increased risk for certain birth defects," she said.

That includes the finding that children born from ART have twice the risk of septal heart defects, more than twice the risk of a cleft palate, and four times the risk of gastrointestinal defects.

The CDC study compared hundreds of birth of children from in-vitro to those born naturally and found four of 18 categories showed an increased risk of birth defects.

The researchers only looked at cases of single births and didn't example multiple births, such as twins or triplets, because multiple birth both naturally and through ART are already known to increase the risk of problems for newborns.



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