New reproductive technology and the family: The parent-child relationship following in vitro fertilization

Parent-child relationships and the parents' psychosocial functioning were assessed in families with a 24-30-month-old, single born child conceived by homologous in vitro fertilization (IVF) and in a control group of families with a naturally conceived child. The investigation included behavioural observations of mother-child interactions in the home, and self-rated questionnaires. No significant multivariate group effects were found for indicators of the parent-child relationship, nor for the parents' psychosocial functioning. However, in the case of IVF the employment status of the mother tvas associated with her behaviour towards her child: employed IVF-mothers showed less respect for their child's autonomy compared with both nonemployed IVF-mothers and employed control mothers.