WHY WOMEN WHO DO IVF ALWAYS END UP HAVING TWINS OR TRIPLETS

In-Vitro Fertilization, IVF is now on the rise and waiting women has openly adopted the option unlike when many don’t want people to know they did IVF. IVF is not a shameful things and a lot of women has also decided to put an end to the stigma people attached to waiting women.

IVF is a fertility treatment where the woman is given ovulation inducing hormones to produce multiple eggs. These eggs are retrieved and fertilized with the partner’s sperm. Once they begin to grow, these embryos are transferred back to the woman’s uterus.

However, as IVF is expensive, physically and emotionally taxing, and success rate is not very high with only one embryo transfer, multiple embryos are placed back to give the parents higher chance of success. Many times without number, women who result in trying out IVF are exposed to the use of fertility drugs as well which intends to results in multiple fertilization whereby having multiple eggs.

According to the American Pregnancy association and babymed online, they came out with some facts on how IVF works and how it can or may not produce multiple birth. Although placing more than one embryo back into the uterus increases the likelihood of a pregnancy, it also increases the chances of twin and triplet births. As opposed to a normal fertilization, where only one egg is released during ovulation and if fertilized leads to a singleton birth, couples opting for IVF are more likely to have twin or multiple births.

During the initial years when IVF gained popularity, the twin and triplet birth ratios were very high. However, as multiple gestations are more likely to result in premature deliveries and other pregnancy complications, doctors are trying to cut back on placing a large number of embryos back to minimize these risks. Regardless of these practices, even today, twin births after fertility treatments are much more common than normal conception. 

These modern day medical advances provide a number of infertile couples the chance of having children. Many parents choose to get a larger number of embryos transferred back in hopes of having twins the first time around, as they cannot afford to go through IVF treatment repeatedly!IVF can be used to treat infertility in the following patients: Blocked or damaged fallopian tubes, Male factor infertility including decreased sperm count or sperm motility, Women with ovulation disorders, premature ovarian failure, uterine fibroids, Women who have had their fallopian tubes removed, Individuals with a genetic disorder, Unexplained infertility,The chance of a multiples pregnancy is increased with the use of fertility treatment.

There are additional risks and concerns related to multiples during pregnancy including the increased risk of premature delivery and low birth weight. How successful is in vitro fertilization?The success rate of IVF clinics depends on a number of factors including reproductive history, maternal age, the cause of infertility, and lifestyle factors. It is also important to understand that pregnancy rates are not the same as live birth rates.

The number of embryos transferred typically depends on the number of eggs collected and maternal age. As the rate of implantation decreases as women age, more eggs may be implanted depending on age to increase the likelihood of implantation. However, a greater number of eggs transferred increases the chances of having a multiples pregnancy. The chance of a single embryo dividing and resulting in identical twins is also higher after IVF though it is not yet known why this happens.

So it is possible to end up with twins from a single transferred embryo, or triplets from 2 embryos. Most of the triplets born after IVF are the result of double embryo transfer.Multiple births are a recognised ‘problem’ in IVF pregnancies.Although in vitro fertilisation (IVF) births account for only a small percentage (1.3%) of all births nationally, over 20% of all multiple births are IVF births. This means that IVF births contribute a disproportionately large number of multiple births to the overall rate.At present, about 1 in 4 IVF pregnancies result in multiples: this is around 20 times higher than the rate after natural conception. Currently, after IVF and intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) around 24% of pregnancies are multiple, compared with only 1 – 2% after natural conception.This can be directly related to the fact that IVF normally involves the transferring of 2 or 3 embryos to the womb.

At present, according to HFEA guidance, the number of embryos that can be transferred is no more than 2 for women under 40 (or for those receiving donated eggs as donors are under 35) or no more than 3 for women over 40.If two separate embryos implant in the womb, the mother will be pregnant with non-identical twins.The chance of a single embryo dividing and resulting in identical twins is also higher after IVF though it is not yet known why this happens.

So it is possible to end up with twins from a single transferred embryo, or triplets from 2 embryos.Most of the triplets born after IVF are the result of double embryo transfer.Data from the UK (2005) shows that almost 46% of babies born as a result of IVF to women under 35 (using fresh eggs) are multiple births. Between 40-60% of IVF twins are transferred to neonatal care units when they are born, compared with 20% of IVF singletons.  In a Belgian study, intensive care stays of more than four weeks were endured by 11.7% of IVF twins, but only 1.6% of IVF singletons.Drugs that help women become pregnant have replaced in vitro fertilization as the main culprit behind high-risk multiple births, according to a study looking at births of triplets and higher-order multiples. You certainly have less control” over the potential number of eggs with fertility drugs compared to IVF, But fertility specialists already have guidelines that help reduce that risk. “Using lower doses of drugs will go a long way toward reducing the number of multiples expert says.TAYO FAJORIN-OYEDIJI

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