ART Pregnancies Have Higher Exposure to Teratogenic Medications

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 22, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Pregnancies resulting from assisted reproductive technology (ART) have a higher prevalence of exposure to teratogenic medicines, according to a study published online Dec. 9 in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Anna Kemp-Casey, Ph.D., from University of South Australia in Adelaide, and colleagues examined datasets for births in Western Australia (with a conception date on or after July 1, 2012, and date of birth on or before Dec. 31, 2014) to assess whether exposure to teratogenic medicines during pregnancy varies by conception method (ART [2,041 pregnancies] and three non-ART groups: ovulation induction [OI; 590 pregnancies], subfertile untreated [2,063 pregnancies], and fertile naturally conceiving [52,987 pregnancies]).

The researchers found that the overall prevalence of exposure to Category D/X medicines was 0.8 percent in the first trimester and 0.7 percent in the second and third trimesters. For all conception groups and trimesters, Category X medicine exposure was <0.5 percent. Compared with subfertile and fertile pregnancies, the first trimesters of ART and OI pregnancies were more often exposed to Category D medicines (ART, 4.9 percent; OI, 2.0 percent; subfertile, 1.3 percent; fertile, 0.6 percent) as were later trimesters (ART, 3.4 percent; OI, 1.4 percent; subfertile, 0.9 percent; fertile, 0.6 percent).

“The overall prevalence of exposure to teratogenic medicines is low; however, exposure was greatest in pregnancies arising from ART and may be a modest contributing factor to the higher rate of birth defects observed among ART babies,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the fertility treatment industry.

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