Recent study revealed that twins born with the help of fertility treatment are at greater risk of serious illness or dying in the first three years of their life as compared to twins conceived naturally.

Researchers studied the data colleted from hospital admissions for all twin children born in Western Australia between 1994 and 2000, whether as a result of fertility treatment or natural conception. Researchers compared the twins born after IVF with 1,240 naturally conceived, non-identical twins of different sexes.

Lead researcher, Michele Hansen, from the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Western Australia said that researchers found that twins conceived following ART treatment had a greater risk of adverse perinatal outcome, including preterm birth, low birthweight and death, compared with spontaneously conceived twins of unlike sex. ART twins had more than double the risk of perinatal death compared to ULS SC twins, although the risk was similar to that of all SC twins, including identical twins.

She added: "ART twins stayed longer in hospital than ULS SC twins at the time of their birth: an average of 12 days compared with eight days. ART twins were four times more likely to be admitted to neo-natal intensive care than ULS SC twins, and were more likely to be admitted to hospital during the first three years of their life."

She concluded that couples undergoing fertility treatment should be aware that, in addition to the known increased perinatal risks associated with a twin birth, ART twins are more likely than spontaneously conceived twins to be admitted to neonatal intensive care and to be hospitalised in their first three years of life.