Link between birth control hormones in mothers and autism in their children?

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I've been thinking recently about a possible correlation between children on the autism spectrum and mothers who were on hormonal birth control before getting pregnant.

Lots of people are talking about the growing number of children with autism, wondering whether there really are more children on the spectrum, or whether they're just being diagnosed sooner or more often or at a higher functioning level (what we used to call quirky).

There are a lot of studies about various possible correlations/causes (foods, maternal drug/alcohol use, vaccinations, etc). But, one thing I've never seen is a discussion or study examining the possibility of a correlation (or possible causation) between a mother who got pregnant either while on, or within a short time (a year, perhaps) of using birth control pills or other forms of hormonal birth control.  Does anyone know of such a study or an article discussing the possibility (or a thread, if it's been discussed already)? Or even any ideas for a concise words to google the topic?

(Please don't say anything about vaccines. I'm really only looking for discussions of a possible hormone link.)

I have some background and I could share my thought process that leads me to this hypothesis, but I am hesitant to share it because it might open a whole other can of worms. I'd like to focus on this micro-topic in this discussion.  Thank you for your wisdom.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Thanks Aethelthryth. This definitely gives me a starting point. I won't have time to look until this evening, though. Dang.

Thanks!

[Terabith]

I don't have anything to add on the scholarly front.  I hadn't used birth control for awhile....maybe a year before I got pregnant with either of my kids, but I got pregnant with my ASD kid within six months of the birth of her older sister.  (And with nursing, I only had one cycle before I got pregnant.)  I've wondered if there was a hormonal impact.  That said, there's a LOT of general autistic phenotype in the rest of the family.  

[8filltheheart]

I have never used BC but I had a full-term stillbirth 6 weeks prior to getting pregnant with our autistic ds.  (I desperately wanted to get pregnant again.)  Ds was also a footling breech which I have read since can be an indication of neurological problems.  I have often wondered if my body was depleted of something important when I was pregnant with him that caused his problems.  None of our other kids are on the spectrum (several do suffer from high levels of anxiety, though.  Anxiety is his most disabling comorbid condition.)

I do have a nephew who is definitely on the spectrum, so it could be genetic. 

ETA: none of his issues are related to delivery.  His delivery was via C-Sec and uncomplicated.  If I had attempted to do external version or natural delivery, most likely he would have had serious complications because the umblilical cord was completely  tangled around his neck multiple times, but no issues bc of the c-sec. 

Edited January 17, 2020 by 8FillTheHeart

[maize]

There are a number of people with ASD in my extended family, none of the mothers were on birth control at any point prior to their conception.

I believe there are genetic factors at play in our family.

With regards to an overall increase in the population, I have wondered if folic acid supplementation interacting with particular genetics (such as MTHFR mutations) might be a factor. High maternal blood levels of folic acid in the third trimester correlated in at least one study with increased incidence of ASD. 

[maize]

https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-pediatric-biochemistry/jpb00066

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/7/11/149

[maize]

Looks like there is enough research to definitely suggest caution with folic acid supplementation. Since the primary benefits of supplementation in preventing neural tube defects occur in the first trimester, it seems to be that limiting supplementation to that trimester might be wise. There may also be benefit to supplementing only with the natural folate form.

[1shortmomto4]

Interesting to study that path towards a link towards ASD.  I was not, nor ever on BC pills and thus far there has been no genetic link to any other member on either side of family.  In my case, there does appear to be a link towards Gulf War Syndrome but the government doesn't/refuses to recognize.  Obviously not everyone is a Gulf War (most specifically those who served in 1991 in the Desert Storm) vet nor a spouse of one who did but the numbers of offspring from those who served with major health/behavior issues is very high.  My oldest is severely hearing impaired - no deafness on either side of the family.  My 3rd child is ASD.  They all suffer from some type of ADHD/anxiety/depression.  The only event that differed between my 4 kids was that when I was pregnant with #3 (who has ASD), I became very ill from a stomach bug for 3 days early in the pregnancy - like before I knew I was pregnant.  Other than that, each was the same healthy pregnancy and easy delivery (albeit #3 and #4 delivered extremely fast - there was actually a code blue called with #4).  There has been a lot of study about a few anti-nerve gas pills and anti-malarial meds given prior to or while in theater that many are pointing to - so, could there be a similar chemical found in all of these products?  Also key to note is that Gulf War vets with kids with issues (I'm not even going into what the vets are experiencing - including my dh), this spans the globe as other countries sent their soldiers to serve alongside the US and they, too, have kids with same/similar issues.  But it all seems to tie back to a pharmaceutical product.  

[kbutton]

1 hour ago, 1shortmomto4 said:

I became very ill from a stomach bug for 3 days early in the pregnancy - like before I knew I was pregnant. 

I had food poisoning at 13 weeks when pregnant with my child with ASD. I did have a history of BC in prior year but had been off for a few months prior to TTC. DH and I both have individuals in our families (one close relation) that are high in autism traits. Our second child has some things associated with autism but doesn't have autism (auditory processing issues, mild apraxia of speech).

[EKS]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306987714003521

https://www.longdom.org/open-access/the-case-for-epidemiological-investigation-of-the-possible-link-2161-1017.1000165.pdf

https://molecularautism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13229-017-0159-3

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00611/full

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aur.1777

https://academic.oup.com/edrv/article/35/6/961/2354721

[Crimson Wife]

Birth control use has been widespread since the very early 1960's, but the autism epidemic has been much more recent. If it were hormonal contraceptives, then why would that be?

FWIW, the child whom I conceived while on the patch is NT while the one with ASD I hadn't taken hormonal contraception in probably 4 years prior to getting PG.

[Crimson Wife]

I could see an indirect link in that effective contraception has led to a dramatic increase in the number of babies being born to women 30+ vs. <30, and maternal age is a known risk for autism.

Edited January 26, 2020 by Crimson Wife

[maize]

On 1/17/2020 at 2:18 PM, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

From a public health stand point (not my own personal argument), the argument for wide supplementation is that by the time most women know they are pregnant, the ship has sailed on folic levels, and the number of unplanned pregnancies in the US is still quite high which would mean people don't supplement in advance. So that is the justification despite increased long term FA amounts being associated with an increase in certain cancer risks and other things. 

ETA- The risk of severe birth defects is higher than the current known risk of long term supplementation, because birth defects are a major contributor to <5 child death rates. 

I do understand the concern with early supplementation, and that is why we fortify foods and tell women who might conceive to take prenatal vitamins.

Pregnant women are being prescribed prenatal vitamins throughout pregnancy though, doesn't seem like it would be hard to have over prescription for the first trimester and a different one for the second and third trimesters.

I did stop taking vitamins containing folic acid after my blood levels came back very high during my last pregnancy--someone had pointed out the potential link to ASD and I figured since I was past the first trimester there was no reason not to cut back.