Fewer cases of adverse birth outcomes for lesbian couples who received IVF treatment

Adverse birth outcomes such as low birth weight and/or pre-term birth occur to a lesser extent in children of lesbian couples who have undergone IVF treatment (in vitro fertilization) compared to heterosexual couples who received the same fertility treatment. This according to researchers from Sweden, the United Kingdom and Finland. These research results were published in an a research article in Journal of the American Medical Association.

Close-up shot of two women expecting a baby.
Photo: Dean Drobot / Mostphotos

The researchers have compared birth outcomes from lesbian and heterosexual couples who received IVF treatment as well. They have also made comparisons with birth outcomes for heterosexual couples who did not undergo any fertility treatment.

After the researchers had adjusted the models for the birth order of the child and multiple births such as twins or triplets, the proportion of cases with low birth weight and preterm birth was higher in IMF conceived children among heterosexual couples compared with lesbian couples.

Profile picture of Agneta Cederström.
Agneta Cederström, researcher at the Department of Public Health Sciences at Stockholm University. Photo: Stockholm Universtity.

“No difference was observed between lesbian couples who underwent IF compared to heterosexual couples who conceived naturally,” Agneta Cederström says. She is a researcher at the Department of Public Health Sciences at Stockholm University and is one of the authors of the research article.

Based on the comparisons they have made, the researchers have been able to demonstrate that negative birth outcomes after IVF treatment are not a consequence of the treatment itself.

Rather, the reason to the adverse birth outcomes seems to lie in the underlying subfertility, i.e. difficulty in having children naturally, which is often the basis for the need for IVF treatment. It is known that subfertility is a risk factor for negative birth outcomes”, Cederström says.

In Sweden, lesbian couples have had access to IVF treatment since 2005, and each year approximately 150 lesbian mothers give birth to children using the method. By comparison, each year approximately 3,000 heterosexual mothers give birth with the help of IVF treatment and approximately 50,000 heterosexual mothers give birth naturally.

“Our results show that for women, lesbians as well as heterosexuals, who want to conceive children with the help of IVF, there are clear signs that there is nothing in the treatment itself that leads to adverse birth outcomes”, Cederström says.

The article “Birth Outcomes Following Assisted Reproductive Technology Conception Among Same-Sex Lesbian Couples vs Natural Conception and Assisted Reproductive Technology Conception Among Heterosexual Couples” was published in April in the medical journal Journal of the American Medical Association.

Håkan Soold