New Link Found Between Cerebral Palsy And Fertility Treatments?

Does the use of fertility drugs increase the risk of giving birth to a baby with cerebral palsy? Denmark researchers say yes. The study, published in the medical journal, Human Reproduction, yielded results showing that babies born with the assistance of fertility drugs were two times more likely than babies born without the use of fertility drugs to have cerebral palsy.

The study looked at data “on all 588,967 children born in Denmark from 1995 to 2003″. 33,139 of those children were born as a result of fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization and ovulation induction. According to the study, as of 2009, 1,146 of those child have been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. According to the researchers, in vitro fertilization was ” 2.3 times more likely to lead to a cerebral palsy birth”. Ovulation induction was “1.5 times more likely” to lead to a cerebral palsy birth.

However, this research does not definitely demonstrate that all fertility treatments cause babies to be born with cerebral palsy. According to a recent news article on the findings, “when researchers accounted for multiple births and preterm deliveries, which are frequently associated with assisted conception, the higher rates of cerebral palsy disappeared”. This means that if single embryo fertility treatments are more frequently utillized, the risk of long-term health problems may decrease dramatically.

If you are either already taking fertility drugs, or are seriously considering it, make sure that your doctor informs you of all of the risks associated with the treatment. If your child has been both with cerebral palsy and you took fertility drugs during pregnancy, there may be a chance that it was caused by those drugs.You are not without redress. Call an attorney and find out what legal rights you may have.

Cerebral palsy may also be caused by a number of things including birth trauma during labor, suffocation before birth (asphyxia), other lack of oxygen to the brain (Hypoxia), or other complications before or after birth. Many times, cerebral palsy can be caused by a doctor’s error during delivery.

If your baby was born with cerebral palsy, a mistake by your physician may also be the cause and you are not without redress. Again, call an attorney for you and your child and find out the legal remedies available to you!