体外受精胚移植により生まれた子供は精神的にも社会的にも問題がない　

2001/7/7　23年前から始まった体外受精胚移植により現在まで100万人以上の子供が産まれているが、思春期に成長した子供には精神的にも社会的にも特別な問題がないことがわかった。

Test-Tube Babies Show No Emotional Problems: Study
By Patricia Reaney
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) - Babies born with the help of fertility treatment grow into emotionally and socially well-adjusted children, according to new research announced on Tuesday.
The world's first study that followed in-vitro, or test tube, babies to the brink of adolescence showed that youngsters who had been conceived through fertility treatments do not suffer any more psychological problems than other children.
Since Louise Brown, the world's first test tube baby, was born 23 years ago, more than a million children worldwide have been born using assisted reproductive technology (ART).
In some countries as many as three percent of children have been conceived using some form of fertility treatment.
``These very wanted children are well-adjusted and much loved,'' Professor Susan Golombok, told a fertility conference.
The director of London's City University Family and Child Psychology Research Centre said concerns about the development of test-tube babies and those born through artificial insemination with donor sperm were unfounded.
``We found these children to be well adjusted with no evidence of emotional or behavioural problems,'' she added.
Children born with the help of fertility treatments agreed.
``My parents needed help and I'm grateful they got it, otherwise I wouldn't be here,'' said Susannah Hedgley who lives near Belfast in northern Ireland.
The 13-year-old, who can't remember when her parents told her how she was conceived, said she doesn't feel any different from other children.
Tyler Madsen, a 10-year-old boy from New York, told the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) he doesn't feel any different either.
Neither of the children took part in Golombok's study.
The study of more than 400 children, who were naturally conceived or born through fertilisation techniques, found no differences in the mental and social development of the youngsters.
But the researchers noted that only one in 10 children conceived through donor insemination were aware that their father was not their genetic parent.
This was because most of the parents did not inform their children about their genetic origins.
``In spite of this, the children do not seem to experience negative consequences arising from the secrecy,'' said Golombok.
``But this does not mean that it is preferable for children not to be told. Many parents have informed other people and this creates a risk that the children will find out from someone else.''
One in six couples suffers some form of fertility problem and may seek medical treatment to help them become parents.