OUTCOME IN CHILDREN FROM CRYOPRESERVED EMBRYOS

A cohort of 91 children from cryopreserved embryos and 83 control chil dren who were conceived normally had their development assessed using the Griffiths's scales of mental development. The controls (81 singlet ons and two twins) of a similar age, sex, and social class were select ed from siblings, cousins, and peers of the cryopreserved embryo group (68 singleton, 20 twins, and three triplets). Children from cryoprese rved embryos had a lower mean birth weight and mean gestational age an d a higher proportion were born by caesarean section. One child from t he cryopreserved embryo group had Down's syndrome, three had squints, and four had conductive hearing loss while in the control children, si x had squints, and nine had conductive hearing loss. In both groups, i ncluding the child with Down's syndrome, the mean Griffiths's quotient was greater than the standard 100. In the children from cryopreserved embryos, the singleton and multiple birth subgroups had statistically similar assessment results. The mean (SD) Griffiths's quotient was 10 5.69 (13.55) in children from cryopreserved embryos and 108.18 (9.80) in controls at a chronological age of 25.08 (12.86) and 29.19 (14.65) months respectively. Overall, the development in children fi om cryopr eserved embryos did not cause concern though formal testing had high-l ighted small differences compared with other children conceived normal ly and of a similar social class.