The Effects of Fertility Enhancing Drugs on Low Birth Weight, United States, 2009-2015

Abstract

Risk of infertility has increased in recent decades as delay of childbearing has become increasingly common among women in developed countries. At the same time, with advances in technology, births from infertility treatments are rising and there is growing concern over the health outcomes of the infants, since infertility treatments are associated with increased risk of low birth weight. Studies suggest that there is a higher rate of low birth weight among singleton infants conceived with ART than among all infants, but they did not address the issue of whether the singleton infants were conceived as part of a multiple gestation that was later reduced or spontaneously to a single pregnancy. In order to address this issue, this study focuses on low birth weight singleton infants conceived with fertility enhancing drugs. Findings imply that use of fertility enhancing drugs has a negative affect on birth weight, and the decrease in birth weight results in a decrease in wage as an adult outcome.