Ivf & autism

[Hailey12]

Hi All, at the beginning of my journey after my first consultation! I’m 36 & in a same sex relationship. I have the option of iui or ivf we’re swaying more to ivf as the success rate is higher

After googling I’ve seen a few articles about the link with autism & ivf? Anyone ever heard of this

@Hailey12 A doctor told me don't believe google for everything. It's best to speak to a fertility doctor about what you are saying.

You’re right & really it doesn’t matter! I think I will just finding the donor now which is hard!

Oh yes looking for the right donor, yes I remember this stage, good luck with this, yes it's so difficult, I remember I had like 3 different donors that were very good but I had to ask other people on their thoughts and I finally chose one but I had to take a deep breath before signing the contracts and stuff, I even felt a bit emotional when signing the contracts because I knew it was one of the biggest decisions in life.

@Hailey12 So where are you on your journey, have you finished the fertility MOT and now on treatment stage?

Autism has a strong genetic link.

So I’m now deciding on iui or ivf first! I’m 36 & don’t want to waste time & money if iui won’t work but at the same time I keep googling worrying articles about ivf & risks of cancer & possible autism

Why are you so worried about autism?

Any one having a child any way risks their child having anything! Do what's right for you and don't read Google or you'll scare yourself into having neither!

There is also a link between autism and mother's age.

Given that moat couples probably have IVF in their 30s and 40s rather than their 20s, the link between autism and IVF may actually be due to the mother's age rather than IVF.

Men who are over 40 when their child is conceived are also more likely to have an autistic child, so if you’re particularly concerned ask for a younger sperm donor.

i don’t believe there’s any proven link between the process of ivf and autism, I think it’s just that couples using ivf tend to be older.

There's no good evidence of a link between autism and IVF.

There have been significantly more studies finding no link than studies finding a link.

Conventional IVF has fewer risks than ICSI (which you wouldn't need), if that helps. But any birth involves risks, there are no guarantees, etc.

I had my first baby through IVF at 41. He definitely does not have autism. I have not read anything that suggests that there is a link between IVF and Autism. I know a few families who have children with Autism and none of them had IVF or were past 35 they all had autism in their families though.

Please don't spend your time worrying about this. Best of luck with your IVF journey.

I had 2 autistic kids naturally when I was 16 and 19. Was told if we had any more, they’d most likely be autistic too. At the ripe old age of 36 we did IVF a with donor embryos, had one at 36 and 1 at 38, neither of which are autistic (2 different donors). We spoke at length with the Dr about maximising our chances of having non-autistic children and not once was a link between IVF and autism discussed. We used donors that had had their own children with no autism so the likelihood was minimised. Obviously if you’re using your own eggs then there’s no way of knowing for sure how they’re going to interact with the sperm, but that’s true of any conception.