In Vitro Fertilization - Are Two Embryos Better Than One?

If you're struggling with infertility, you may be considering IVF (In Vitro Fertilization)

- the process of fertilizing eggs outside the body and then transferring the fertilized embryos to the woman's uterus. It is an impressive procedure that has been helping infertile couples become pregnant since 1978.

It is a normal practice during In Vitro Fertilization to transfer numerous fertilized embryos simultaneously, in the hopes that if multiples are transfered to the ovary, there is a greater likelihood that one will implant and become a healthy pregnancy.

But, with multiple embryo transfers, bearing multiple children becomes far more likely. Why is that bad news? Multiple pregnancies (for example being pregnant with twins, triplets, or the alarming octuplets) carry added risks for the mother and the children. Multiple birth kids are more likely to be affected by chronic disabilities, and more likely to be stillborn. Mothers of twins are more prone to have complications, or pass away in childbirth. And moreover, transferring 2 embryos barely increases the odds of successful IVF at all!

Research has discovered that for women 35 years of age and younger, chances of successful pregnancy are not all that different in single embryo transfer procedures versus double. In one study, 43% of women who transfered two embryos had successful pregnancies, and 39% of women who transfered one embryo had successful pregnancies. That's only a 4% difference! However, in the two embryo group, 33% of the births were twins, compared to 0.8% in the one embryo group. Is that 4% improvement worth the increased risk to mother and infant? I would say no way!

And yet, IVF patients and medical specialists continue to insist on multiple embryo transfers, usually because they are just uninformed of the risks or think that 2 embryos are twice as good as one. If you are thinking about IVF, be sure that both you and your doctor are informed about single embryo transfer techniques and success rates!

In Vitro Fertilization - Are Two Embryos Better Than One?

By: Elise Fox

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