Infertility Treatment, Child Growth, and Development Though Age Three Years

Last Update: 10/11/2007

Principal investigator: Mary L. Hediger, Ph.D.
The Study, Upstate KIDS: The Upstate New York Infant Development Survey, is designed to use a population-based sampling strategy to recruit and compare the development of a matched-exposure cohort of infants (i.e., infants identified from pregnancies conceived with the help of infertility treatment, as noted on birth certificates) with infants who were conceived without such therapies. For the primary cohort, a total of 1,500 infants who are identified on birth certificates as having been conceived by infertility treatment (exposed) will be enrolled as participants at 3 to 5 months of age (gestation-corrected, if necessary) and followed longitudinally until age 36 months (3 years), along with a cohort of 4,500 unexposed infants, who are frequency-matched for maternal age, zip code of residence, and plurality of birth. All co-twins of study participants will be enrolled simultaneously and either their outcomes will be noted (e.g., stillbirth, neonatal mortality), or the infants will be followed on the same schedule as study participants, although the co-twins will not be considered as part of the primary cohort, but will be part of the secondary cohort. All higher-order multiples (i.e., triplets, quadruplets) will also be enrolled and followed on the same schedule, regardless of exposure status. All infants are eligible for enrollment without regard to race, ethnicity, or gender. The period of recruitment for the referent (primary) birth cohort is expected to last 10 months to one calendar year. The sampling frame for the study is New York State, excluding New York City.

Parents of infants born in New York State will be asked to participate in the study for three years by: (a.) completing an initial questionnaire about the pregnancy, including, for example, confirmation of infertility treatment, time-to-pregnancy, infant feeding, and other demographic and socioeconomic factors (i.e., maternal education, occupation) and confounders associated with motor and social development; (b.) completing a standardized screening instrument that addresses their child’s motor and social development at chronologic or gestation-corrected ages 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 30, and 36 months; and (c.) providing information on the child’s growth and medical history (e.g., illnesses, diagnoses of birth defects, major impairments). Information on growth and medical history will be assembled in journal format from physicians’ examination data. Records will be linked to other pertinent health records (e.g., early intervention programs, birth defect or cancer registries).

DESPR Collaborators

· Germaine M. Buck Louis, Ph.D., M.S.
· Courtney Denning-Johnson Lynch, Ph.D., M.P.H.
· Ondine von Ehrenstein, Ph.D., M.P.H., MSc.

Selected Publications

Buck GM, Schisterman EF, Dukic VM, & Schieve LA. (2005). Research hurdles complicating the analysis of infertility treatment on child health. Human Reproduction, 20(1):12-18. [Abstract]

Schieve LA, Rasmussen SA, Buck GM, Schendel DE, Reynolds M, & Wright V. (2004). Are children born after assisted reproductive technology at increased risk for adverse health outcomes? Obstetrics & Gynecology, 103:1154-1163. [Abstract]

Hediger ML, Overpeck MD, Ruan WJ, & Troendle JF. (2002). Birth weight and gestational age effects on motor and social development. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, 16:33-46. [Abstract]