INFANTS who have low birth weight, either because of early delivery or because of fetal growthrestriction, are at increased risk for short and long-term disabilities and death. The use of assisted reproductive technology is an important contributor to the rate of low birth weight in the United States because it is associated with a higher rate of multiple birth, which, in turn, is associated with low birth weight. By 1997, the use of assisted reproductive technology accounted for more than 40 percentof triplets born in the United States. In addition,studies have suggested that there is a higher rate of low birth weight among singleton infants conceived with assisted reproductive technology than among naturally conceived singleton infants or among all infants in the general population. However, these studies had methodologic limitations. In particular,they did not address the issue of whether infants born as singletons were conceived as part of a multiple gestation that was later reduced either medically or spontaneously to a singleton pregnancy.
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