There is a point of view that the IVF procedure affects the weight of a child (someone says that the weight increases, others – that the weight is reduced). Is this true? Is there any reliable information?
Strictly speaking, the question itself is the answer. If someone claims that the weight of IVF children is lower than that of children conceived in a traditional way, while others say that it’s higher, then, in my opinion, you can make a quite clear conclusion – there is no reliable statistics on this point. If any significant deviation in weight existed - the answer to that question would have been straightforward.
First, let us recall what is the normal weight of the baby at birth. Obstetric norm is 2600-4200 grams, the difference between the top and the bottom "plate" - 1600 grams, or more than 60%. So when some would-be researchers are beginning to "do statistics" on deviations of 100-200 grams, and even on a completely non-representative samples (in my opinion, 1000 clinical cases is too few for a serious research), it’s simply ridiculous .
Actually, I’m already tired of refuting news, which states that children conceived in vitro, are different from "normal" children. An egg meets with a sperm cell (2 chromosome sets), an embryo (a unique genetic code) is formed, and then it doesn’t matter at all, where it will spend the first 2-5 days of its life - in the womb or "in vitro". Here, the external environment can perform only trigger functions - or embryo develops (and then develops absolutely normal), or, if this environment isn’t "friendly", its development stops. And it’s nonsense to say that the health of the future child depends on whether he was conceived in vivo or in vitro. And it’s even more surprising to hear it from the doctors.
