Haha that's just great.

Yeah, I am sure there are studies. My one friend is working on her PhD in psych and I think she is doing some research on this kind of stuff. She has said it so many times though and I know it sounds horrible, but if you can't conceive, you shouldn't mess with nature for a reason. (Not that I can really comment appropriately on this since I am not in this situation) God, I feel like I am going straight to hell for talking about this.........

Does your friend make a distinction between the use of fertility drugs and other methods (like "test tube babies") with regard to increased levels of Autism?

This did happen with a friend of mine. She and her hubby were trying for a family, and nothing. They adopted a little boy who was four months old. Three months later, she was pregnant with her second son. The boys were about a year apart in school. She said they never treated them differently b/c one was adopted and one wasn't.

As I think of it, most of them I believe were born to people who used a lot of fertility drugs. It's sad too because she also said most couples have a horrible marriage, are on the verge of divorcing (if they haven't already), and if there are other kids in the picture, because of the autistic child and their need for a great deal of attention, the other child is suffering too. What an interesting topic in general to discuss. Thanks for starting this thread Russ.

That's interesting. I wonder if my aunt knows about this. Another aunt (my mother's sister...the previous aunt is my father's sister) has 2 children born through IVF and are perfectly healthy teenagers now.
My aunt is a licensed therapist specilizing in infertility. She is currently working on her PhD.

If I remember correctly, my aunt conceived twins artificially and they've been autistic since they were two years old (when it was discovered).. I'm going to ask her about this....

Does she differentiate between the various types of drugs? (Follitism, Clomid, Metformin, etc...) And how many cycles the couple has been through before conceiving? And how old the couples are?

There are just so many variables when dealing with conception and fertilization, even without fertility drugs.

Geez, I really have no clue. I didn't get into all that with her but when I see her again it would definately be a cool topic of discussion.

My parents tried for YEARS to conceive until they were told it wasn't possible. They were very close to closing in on an adoption, and lo and behold, my sister came along! The parents couldn't financially support two babies at once (esp. since the one they were going to adopt was challenged) so they decided not to adopt. The girl actually ended up at school with my sister and myself. It's funny to think that she would have been my older sister had my biological sister not decided to make an appearance in this world :)

Then my parents got lucky and conceived me, and after the terrible baby that I was, they decided they'd had enough ;)

I babysat for a family that had this happen to them. They tried for years to have a child to no avail. Then, they adopted their son. Once he was home, they found out they were pregnant just a few months later.

I truly believe it is due to the pressure of having a child being lifted off of a couple's shoulders.

My friends tried and tried to have children. They had miscarriage after miscarriage. They gave up and were going to start the process of adopting. Then, they had their son. He's 10 months and they are having number 2 now.

I have a cousin who has 4 kids :eek: , and the first one is 10 and suffers from Asberger's Syndrome. The next 2 kids are twins and are 6. The first 3 are boys and the last is an 11 month old baby girl. The twins were conceived through in vitro. The 10-year-old was conceived through fertility drugs. The twins have nothing wrong with them. When my cousin was pregnant with the twins, though, she was pregnant with triplets in the beginning of the pregnancy but she lost the third.

The little girl, on the other hand, was conceived naturally. She didn't think she would be able to get pregnant because of all the trouble she had getting pregnant the first 2 times (remember, she has twins . . . that is if you're counting).

Unfortunately, I don't think the oldest is getting enough attention (although, his parents are just wonderful and treat him like he's like everyone else). I think this because of the lack of money and having 3 more kids in the picture. Kind of sad really.

Yup! My former coworker tried to get PG and they adopted a bi-racial newborn. They were about to adopt again and she found out she was pregnant. Had a little girl.

Oh yes, here is another one. My mother in law was told that she would not be able to have kids. So they adopted Mr. 1228. 4 years later my mother in law gave birth. She had a boy.

my grand little is a product of this. Her parents tried for years to get pregnant but couldn't so they adopted her as baby... then 4 yrs later they got pregnant with her brother.

I think it has something to do with stress.

This actually happened to my grandmother. Her and my grandfather tried for years to have children, but couldn't. So they decided to adopt my father and his sister, about four years later she became pregnant with my uncle.

My grandparents never really showed any of the kids tons of affection, I think this is a product of them both having nannies raise them then my dad having the same, but the favoritism is apparent that my granmother shows for my uncle. My grandfather was not like this though.

This is mostly why my dad felt like his aunt was more of a mother figure to him, she took care of him and took him to do things more than my grandmother did once another boy came along. My aunt was still the only girl though.