{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]],"date-time":"2026-06-03T18:04:10Z","timestamp":1780509850030,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]],"date-time":"2026-06-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780444800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100020595","name":"National Science and Technology Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["113-2314-B-006 -065"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["113-2314-B-006 -065"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100020595","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Children conceived through infertility treatments may have altered birth outcomes and growth patterns compared to those conceived naturally. However, evidence on long-term growth trajectories, particularly distinguishing singletons and multiples, remains inconsistent. This study aimed to compare childhood growth trajectories from birth to 12 years of age between children conceived via infertility treatments and those conceived naturally, using a large national birth cohort.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We analyzed the follow-up data (6 months to 12 years of age) from the Taiwan Birth Cohort Study, an ongoing, nationwide, longitudinal study of children. Our final sample included 20,507 singletons (20,306 naturally conceived [NC], 104 via intrauterine insemination [IUI], 97 via in vitro fertilization [IVF]) and 950 multiples (670 NC, 68 IUI, 212 IVF). We used linear mixed models with random coefficient cubic splines for age to assess the growth trajectories for weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) by infertility treatment status and logistic regression to analyze risk of rapid weight gain, overweight, obesity, and underweight.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Children conceived via IUI or IVF showed lower weight, height, and BMI in pooled analyses; however, these differences were largely attributable to the higher proportion of multiple births in the infertility treatment groups. After stratification by plurality, most differences were attenuated and not statistically significant, with the exception of slightly lower weight (\u22120.353\u2009kg; p\u2009=\u20090.039) among IUI-conceived multiples. The risk of rapid weight gain (6 months\u20132 years) and underweight, overweight, or obesity (5.5\u201312 years) did not differ significantly by the conception mode after plurality was controlled.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>After accounting for plurality, children conceived through infertility treatments showed similar growth trajectories to those conceived naturally. These findings are reassuring for families using infertility treatments and highlight the importance of minimizing multiple births in assisted reproduction to support optimal child growth and health outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0348091","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]],"date-time":"2026-06-03T17:21:25Z","timestamp":1780507285000},"page":"e0348091","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Infertility treatment and the growth of children from birth to 12 years of age: A national cohort study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Yu-Shan","family":"Chang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5773-3665","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Tsung","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tzu-Jung","family":"Wong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0321-8908","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Chung-Yi","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0348091.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"308","DOI":"10.1161\/HYPERTENSIONAHA.120.14592","article-title":"Developmental and Early Life Origins of Cardiometabolic Risk Factors: Novel Findings and Implications","volume":"77","author":"E Lurbe","year":"2021","journal-title":"Hypertension"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0348091.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"110","DOI":"10.1179\/2046905514Y.0000000136","article-title":"Low birthweight or rapid catch-up growth: which is more associated with cardiovascular disease and its risk factors in later life? A systematic review and cryptanalysis","volume":"35","author":"R Kelishadi","year":"2015","journal-title":"Paediatr Int Child Health"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0348091.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20","DOI":"10.1038\/ijo.2017.196","article-title":"Birthweight and cardiometabolic risk patterns in multiracial children","volume":"42","author":"D Sun","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int J Obes (Lond)"},{"key":"pone.0348091.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpeds.2019.02.041","article-title":"Preterm Birth as a Risk Factor for Metabolic Syndrome and Cardiovascular Disease in Adult Life: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis","volume":"210","author":"P Markopoulou","year":"2019","journal-title":"J Pediatr"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0348091.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"485","DOI":"10.1093\/humupd\/dms018","article-title":"Obstetric and perinatal outcomes in singleton pregnancies resulting from IVF\/ICSI: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"18","author":"S Pandey","year":"2012","journal-title":"Hum Reprod Update"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0348091.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1966","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/des145","article-title":"Further evidence that culture media affect perinatal outcome: findings after transfer of fresh and cryopreserved embryos","volume":"27","author":"EC Nelissen","year":"2012","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"pone.0348091.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"72","DOI":"10.1016\/j.reprotox.2016.07.015","article-title":"Can assisted reproductive technologies cause adult-onset disease? 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