Mothers’ Infertility Problems Up the Risk for Mental Illnesses in Children: Study

Women with fertility problems are more likely to give birth to children with mental disorders, according to a study.

Many infertile women opt for IVF treatment or artificial insemination to get pregnant. But these treatments can sometimes result in defective genes in children who mostly are at risk of having psychological disorders like autism, anxiety disorder and schizophrenia, say Danish experts.

Though their study could not help determine the exact cause linking fertility treatments to poor mental conditions, they believe women with reproductive problems often suffer from psychiatric issues. The defective genes linked to poor mental health are more dominant in infertile women and are inherited by their children, reports the Guardian.

The experts from University of Copenhagen examined the health data of children with mental illnesses born to healthy women and those with fertility problems. Of the total 2,490,826 births between 1969 and 2006, around 5 percent of children were born to women diagnosed with fertility problems. Nearly 170,240 children of mothers with fertility problems were hospitalized for mental health conditions and had 33 percent higher chances of having behavioral difficulties, autism, schizophrenia, psychoses, ADHD, eating disorders and autism.

In addition, it was observed that 1.9 percent of these mental illnesses were directly related to mothers' infertility. Again the children were observed at 19 and it was found the mental illnesses that occurred in childhood were carried in to adulthood.

"In my opinion this figure supports our interpretation of the results that the increased risk is real but modest," said Allan Jensen study author and fertility expert at the University of Copenhagen, reports the Telegraph.

"It is generally believed that underlying infertility has a more important role in adverse effects in the offspring than the treatment procedures. It is known, for example, that psychiatric disorders to some degree have a genetic component," he added.

The research was presented at the annual meet of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Munich.