Question: Would a test tube baby be different to a normal baby?

Amelia Markey answered on 23 Jun 2011:

I’m no expert on this subject but as far as I’m aware there are no differences between babies conceived through IVF and babies conceived naturally.

In fact sometimes IVF is necessary…

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis – this is used to screen embryos, made by IVF, for specific diseases before they are implanted into their mother so they will grow to be healthy babies. This is often done on single cells as you want to test at a very early stage before the fertilised egg becomes a baby. A single cell definitely doesn’t have enough DNA to be able to do all the test so this DNA is also often copied.

For example Huntington disease (HD) is an adult onset disorder involving progressive motor disability, cognitive decline, and personality changes. Because this is an autosomal dominant condition, a person with a parent with HD has about a 50% risk of developing HD. Many couples want to prevent having a child that will develop HD, but do not want to face the decision of prenatal testing or making a decision about their pregnancy. Often, individuals do not know if they have HD when they are family planning because the average age of onset of clinical symptoms is 40 years old. These couples may want to prevent having a child with HD, but not know if they carry the HD gene.