To assess the number of live births in women whose systemic sclerosis (SSc) onset occurred during their reproductive years, and to compare this with general population rates.
Within the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group cohort, we identified 320 women whose SSc symptoms began prior to age 50 years. We determined the number of children born in the years following first onset of symptoms. We summed the years of followup from the time of first symptoms in subjects up to age 50 years (or oldest age attained, if the subject was age