Gestational carriers have elevated incidence rate ratio compared with those carriers who conceived unassisted or by IVF
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Aug. 4, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Gestational carriers seem to be more likely to be diagnosed with mental illness during and after pregnancy than those with unassisted pregnancies or pregnancies conceived via in vitro fertilization (IVF), according to a study published online July 25 in JAMA Network Open.
Maria P. Velez, M.D., Ph.D., from McGill University in Montreal, and colleagues examined the association between gestational carriage and new-onset mental illness in a retrospective cohort study involving all women from Ontario, Canada, without known mental illness before pregnancy and who gave birth at greater than 20 weeks of gestation. Gestational carriers were compared to nongestational carriers who conceived unassisted or by IVF.
Data were included for 767,406 eligible pregnancies in women: 97.6, 2.3, and 0.1 percent by unassisted conception, IVF, and gestational carriage, respectively. The researchers found that compared with unassisted conception and IVF carriers, gestational carriers were more likely to be parous (91.2 percent versus 57.9 and 34.1 percent, respectively), reside in a lower-income area (23.4 percent versus 21.9 and 12.1 percent, respectively), and have higher rates of obesity (36.1 percent versus 17.0 and 17.1 percent, respectively) and chronic hypertension (3.2 percent versus 1.6 and 2.9 percent, respectively). New-onset mental illness occurred in 236 gestational carriers versus 195,022 women with unassisted conception (6.9 versus 5.2 per 100 person-years; adjusted incidence rate ratio, 1.43) and in 4,704 women receiving IVF (6.9 versus 5.0 per 100 person-years; adjusted incidence rate ratio, 1.29).
“Our findings underscore the importance of adequate screening and counselling of potential gestational carriers before pregnancy about the possibility of a new-onset mental illness, or exacerbation of a prior mental-illness during or after pregnancy,” Velez said in a statement.
One author disclosed ties to Ferring.
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