Infertility Treatments
Does Ovulation Induction Increase Risk for Developmental Delays?
Our patients frequently ask if fertility treatment poses any risk to their future offspring. In particular, they are concerned about long-term issues that could affect the health of their child. A common question is does ovulation induction increase risk for developmental delays? First, we will explain what ovulation induction is and who is the best candidate for this.
What is Ovulation Induction?
In ovulation induction, patients are treated with hormone medications to increase the chances of ovulation. These medications stimulate the ovaries to produce a mature egg and release it so it may be fertilized. Ovulation induction medications are used to help women who do not produce a single, healthy egg during ovulation and women who ovulate but the quality or number of eggs produced is not sufficient to achieve a successful pregnancy. Ovulation induction is also used during IVF cycles for the retrieval of multiple eggs so that following fertilization, the best embryo can be selected for transfer.
Does Ovulation Induction Increase Risk for Developmental Delays?
A study published in Fertility and Sterility (May 2020) by the multi-center Reproductive Medicine Network was designed to study the development of children following their mothers’ use of ovulation induction to conceive. Three groups of women with a history of infertility either due to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) or with unexplained infertility who had ovulation induction with Gonadotropins (FSH), Clomiphene citrate (Clomid), or Letrozole (Femara) were studied. No significant differences in their children were found among the groups at any time point with respect to abnormal scores on the Ages and Stages Developmental Questionnaire. Ovulation induction does not impede childhood development.
Ovulation Induction and PCOS
Improving fertility in women with PCOS has largely focused on medications such as clomiphene citrate (Clomid) which is the most commonly used oral agent for ovulation induction in women with PCOS. Studies suggest that only half of women who ovulate using clomiphene citrate end up having a baby. Metformin, a medication to lower insulin resistance and blood sugar, has also been used to help induce ovulation and appears to work best in conjunction with either clomiphene citrate or another anti-estrogen, letrazole (Femara). Femara is an oral non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor that may result in more live births than can be achieved with clomiphene.
For more difficult cases, in vitro fertilization remains the most efficacious treatment of infertility in women with PCOS. Great care is needed when inducing ovulation in women with PCOS as the chance of developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is increased. Vigilance and careful choice of gonadotropin dosing is imperative in the management of ovulation induction in women with PCOS and should only be done by a certified specialist where daily monitoring is available.
Contact Us
At Fertility Centers of New England, our goal is to optimize all aspects of a patient’s overall health in order to have the best possible chance of conceiving. If you are seeking more ovulation induction, please contact us today!
