Asthma, Eczema Risks Higher for Children Conceived Through Assisted Reproduction: Study

Reproductive technologies like IVF may interfere with the functions of the immune system, leading to potentially dangerous adverse side effects.

New research suggests children born through the use of certain assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have a higher likelihood of developing asthma, allergies or eczema.

According to findings published in the journal JAMA Network Open on December 30, conceiving children with the help of ART leads to a 15% higher risk of adverse reactions compared to natural conception.

Assisted reproductive technologies include fertility treatments that transfer eggs, sperm or embryos to a recipient to help them have a higher chance of becoming pregnant. Techniques include in vitro fertilization (IVF), embryo transfer, sperm injection, using donor eggs or frozen eggs and other technologies.

Assisted Reproduction Health Concerns

Prior studies have shown a link between reproductive technologies and other health risks. Research published in 2022 linked in vitro fertilization with an increased risk of developing childhood cancers, especially leukemia and liver cancers. In some cases, the risk was nearly 70% greater among those conceived via IVF.

A more recent study, published in 2024 linked IVF to an increased risk of congenital heart defects compared to babies conceived naturally. Other research indicates ART increases a baby’s risk of developing birth defects that affect the large intestine and rectum. Women using a specific type of ART known as egg hatching faced a 55% higher risk of having a child with birth defects.

Additional data from Columbia University suggests there may be an increased risk of autism among children born via IVF. While researchers said the risk was largely linked to the rate of multiple births associated with the process, other factors may also be involved.

For the new study, researchers used data from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database, Assisted Reproductive Database, and the Maternal and Child Health Database to study nearly 70,000 children born in that country from 2004 to 2014. Led by Dr. Yao-Chi Hsieh, the research team compared 14,000 children conceived using some type of ART. These were matched one to four with children who were conceived naturally.

According to the data, children who were conceived using ART showed a higher risk of developing asthma, allergies and atopic dermatitis compared to those conceived naturally. Atopic dermatitis is an inflammatory skin condition that causes redness, rashes and dry, itchy skin. It is more commonly known as eczema.

Those conceived via ART had:

• 15% increased risk of developing allergies
• 13% increased risk of developing asthma
• 8% increased risk of developing eczema

The data also showed children conceived with ART using fresh embryos had a 12% higher risk of developing allergies compared to children conceived using frozen embryos.

Researchers suggest the overall cause may involve the function of the immune system. It may also be linked to factors that affect early human development and cause permanent changes in the body that may lead to the development of different diseases.

The team’s findings emphasize a need for long-term surveillance of children conceived via ART. They called for more research to fully determine a link between the process and how its underlying mechanisms may contribute to different diseases.

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