Study finds risk of birth defects higher with medical conception

Mothers who get pregnant with the help of medical techniques such as in vitro fertilization are two to four times more likely to have a child with certain birth defects, according to a national study announced Monday.

The study of 14,376 infants in Arkansas and nine other states found the risk of having a baby with particular heart defects doubled in mothers who had assisted reproductive technology procedures. The risk of having a baby with an incompletely formed lip or roof of the mouth more than doubled, and the risk of having a child with certain gastrointestinal defects more than quadrupled, according to the study by the federal Centers …