The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has conducted a study regarding the risk of birth defects in children born as a result of fertility treatments.

Regularly, every pregnancy has a risk of 3% that the fetus has one or more congenital defects. With fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization or impregnation using donor eggs, the chances that your baby may suffer a birth defect increase from two to four times, basically ranging from 6 to 12% chances. Although the study brings conclusive evidence to the fact that treatment meant to increase fertility affects the health of your future child. On the whole, however, the risk is quite low.

Furthermore, this increase in risk is available for only certain types of congenital defects, which are more likely to develop in the fetus conceived as a result of fertility treatment. For instance, fetuses are more prone to develop septal heart defects, which are best described as actual holes in the septum between the two atria. Also, children born to couples who have undergone one or more fertility enhancement treatments are also more likely to have either a cleft lip or even no cleft palate at all, as opposed to children conceived naturally. Moreover, they are four times more like to have congenital gastrointestinal defects.

These treatments seem to affect single births. Children born in multiple births are not prone to congenital defects because of the treatments, but because of the fact that multiple births have a higher risk of defects in general, irrespective of the conception methods. It is also true, however, that the treatments increase the chances of multiple births.