In a widely reported study, the ICSI procedure was found to result in a greater chance of congenital abnormalities than either in the general or infertility population. It's well-known that couples dealing with infertility have a higher chance if birth defects so the real question is whether the increase seen in this study is due to the procedure or just the severity of the infertility warranting the ICSI procedure.
Many have weighted in on this issue.
Linda Giudice MD, PhD, President-elect of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) said, “This study confirms what has been known for quite some time: Patients who need medical assistance to conceive have a somewhat higher risk of having children with birth defects than parents able to conceive on their own. Patients considering medically assisted conception have been, and should continue to be, counseled on those risks prior to undergoing any treatment.”
Glenn Schattman, MD, President of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) said “It is important to note that women with a history of infertility who did not undergo ART treatments also had a higher increase of having children with birth defects. This combined with the finding that those using ICSI (Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection) also had slightly elevated risks of birth defects suggest that the underlying problem that led them to seek medical assistance in the first place is likely contributing to the elevated risk of birth defects in their children. Some results in this study are reassuring for patients: in cycles not including ICSI, the adjusted odds ratio for IVF conceived children did NOT show a significant difference in birth defects children born following embryo freezing had no higher risk of birth defects than naturally conceived children. These are interesting and important findings and we will need much more research to allow us to help patients overcome their infertility with treatments that are as safe as possible for them and the children born from the treatments.”
RPMG's Dr. David Meldrum, who is on the editorial board of the journal Fertility & Sterility commented, " Infertile patients have an increased risk, and ICSI allows couples to conceive that otherwise might not become pregnant at all. It is still unclear whether there is any increase with IVF compared to infertile controls."