SUMMARY ANSWER The available high- quality evidence indicates that specific treatments may give rise to different effects on cognitive development , with certain treatments , including ICSI , associated with cognitive impairment .
STUDY QUESTION Does  fertility treatment  influence cognitive ability in school aged children , and does the impact vary with the type of treatment ?
WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Previous review s of the literature concerning cognitive outcomes among children conceived with medical assistance have concluded that study findings are generally ' reassuring ' , but limited attention has been paid to the quality of this research .
In addition , no review has separately assessed the range of treatment modalities available , which vary in invasiveness , and thus , potentially , in their effects on developmental outcomes .
US National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: Psychological Adjustment of 17-Year-Old Adolescents
OBJECTIVES : The objective of this study was to document the psychological adjustment of adolescents who were conceived through donor insemination by lesbian mothers who enrolled before these offspring were born in the largest , longest running , prospect i ve , longitudinal study of same-sex – parented families . METHODS : Between 1986 and 1992 , 154 prospect i ve lesbian mothers volunteered for a study that was design ed to follow planned lesbian families from the index children 's conception until they reached adulthood . Data for the current report were gathered through interviews and question naires that were completed by 78 index offspring when they were 10 and 17 years old and through interviews and Child Behavior Checklists that were completed by their mothers at corresponding times . The study is ongoing , with a 93 % retention rate to date . RESULTS : According to their mothers ' reports , the 17-year-old daughters and sons of lesbian mothers were rated significantly higher in social , school/academic , and total competence and significantly lower in social problems , rule-breaking , aggressive , and externalizing problem behavior than their age-matched counterparts in Achenbach 's normative sample of American youth . Within the lesbian family sample , no Child Behavior Checklist differences were found among adolescent offspring who were conceived by known , as-yet-unknown , and permanently unknown donors or between offspring whose mothers were still together and offspring whose mothers had separated . CONCLUSIONS : Adolescents who have been reared in lesbian-mother families since birth demonstrate healthy psychological adjustment . These findings have implication s for the clinical care of adolescents and for pediatricians who are consulted on matters that pertain to same-sex parenting
SUMMARY ANSWER The available high- quality evidence indicates that specific treatments may give rise to different effects on cognitive development , with certain treatments , including ICSI , associated with cognitive impairment .
STUDY QUESTION Does  fertility treatment  influence cognitive ability in school aged children , and does the impact vary with the type of treatment ?
WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Previous review s of the literature concerning cognitive outcomes among children conceived with medical assistance have concluded that study findings are generally ' reassuring ' , but limited attention has been paid to the quality of this research .
In addition , no review has separately assessed the range of treatment modalities available , which vary in invasiveness , and thus , potentially , in their effects on developmental outcomes .