Educational Outcomes in Children Born after ART
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Educational outcomes in children born after assisted reproductive technology; a population based linkage study.
IRAS ID
186458
Contact name
Alastair G Sutcliffe
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2017/01/48, UCL Data Protection Registration Number
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Nearly 1 in 50 children in the UK are born to parents who have benefited from fertility treatments and this number is increasing year on year. Worldwide there are already over 5 million such children. The principal investigator is a Paediatrician who has studied children born after assisted reproductive therapy (ART) and their families for over 20 years, and over this time he has developed insights into the concerns that these families have. One major concern for parents is whether their children are at higher risk of developing learning or behavioural problems.\n\nTo date this question has not been adequately answered because existing studies have been small, and have not included adequate comparison groups. We propose to address this question by combining and analysing data from two existing large research databases, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) Register and the National Pupil Database (NPD). We will compare educational and behavioural outcomes in children born following ART with two comparison groups of naturally conceived children.\n\nHigh-quality research is essential for us to understand whether or not this increasing population of children are at higher risk of developing any problems as they grow and develop, so that couples considering ART can receive appropriate and reliable information, and so that any problems in children can be identified and managed early.
REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0344
Date of REC Opinion
8 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion