Babies born through test-tube baby treatments face an increased risk of suffering from malformations, researchers warned today.
The risk is so significant that doctors should warn all couples seeking to use the treatment to have children, a major European conference was to be told.
The findings from a study of 15,000 births in France was being reported to the conference of the European Society of Human Genetics in Gothenburg, Sweden.
More than four per cent of children born through assisted reproductive technology were found to suffer from major malformations such as heart disease.
Some problems were especially common. Retinoblastoma – a cancer of the eye – was four times more common than normal and a condition called Beckwith Wiedemann syndrome, which causes multiple problems was six times more common.
The problem of angioma – strawberry birth mark – was five times more common than normal.
Researcher Dr Géraldine Viot, of the Maternité Port Royal hospital, Paris, France, said it was not known whether the problems were related to factors lying behind the parents being infertile or to problems with the treatment itself.
She said: "We estimate that in France some 200,000 children have been born after ART and therefore a malformation rate of this magnitude is a public health issue.
"It is important that all doctors and also politicians are informed about this. We also need to follow up all children born after ART and to put much more effort into trying to understand which of the procedures involved is implicated in this problem."
In Britain a spokesman for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority described the risks as "still very small".
He said: "The reason for this is not clear and the risks are still very small. It is important that patients are informed about this but not alarmed by it.
"In order to make sure patients understand the risks of ART we keep research of this kind under review and where it suggests there may be a greater risk we share this information with patients in a clear way to help them understand the risks associated with the choices they are making."
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