One embryo at a time ‘makes IVF less risky’
(cz) Women should have just one embryo implanted during fertility treatment to cut the chance of them having more risky twin births, experts warn.
The call to cut the number of multiple pregnancies created through IVF came as a British study showed that an emerging technique can achieve the same success rate with just one embryo as two.
Most women receiving IVF treatment are implanted with two or more embryos at one time, to maximise their chances of becoming pregnant.
The practice has led to a boom in multiple births - twins now make up one in four IVF births, compared to just one in 80 of those naturally conceived.
But twins or triplets are more likely to die before or during birth, or have profound disabilities such as cerebral palsy.
Scientists estimate 126 fewer babies would die every year if all IVF children were single births.
Dr Gillian Lockwood, of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’s ethics committee, said some IVF patients should be given one embryo to limit the number of multiple births. more…
From: »The Daily Telegraph«