{"id":2055,"date":"2020-07-26T14:10:21","date_gmt":"2020-07-26T14:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theduff.co.uk\/?p=2055"},"modified":"2021-06-04T11:37:32","modified_gmt":"2021-06-04T11:37:32","slug":"how-many-embryos-transfer-ivf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theduff.co.uk\/how-many-embryos-transfer-ivf\/","title":{"rendered":"How many embryos<\/strong> should you transfer for IVF?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WHEN I PRODUCED 41 EGGS AT RETRIEVAL \u2013 18 OF WHICH WENT ON TO BECOME EMBRYOS<\/strong> \u2013 my husband thought it would be a marvellous idea to put a few of them back in and \u201ckill at least four birds with one stone\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While he was kidding about FOUR embryos, he was keen on the idea of two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then we read the \u201cMultiple Pregnancy Information Sheet\u201d provided by our clinic (a \u201cmultiple pregnancy\u201d is any number other than one). It was suitably terrifying, and we opted to put one frostie back in \u2013 after I\u2019d been in hospital with severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS)<\/a>, that is. Forty-one bloody eggs will do that to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That one frostie is now the cuddliest, cheekiest kid on earth, so I have no regrets. But after I gave birth, I started to wonder\u2026 are the risks of multiple embryo transfer really so bad? Or are the NHS and other clinics scaring us off needlessly? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, I was pretty sure I\u2019d heard of some clinics actually recommending<\/em> double embryo transfers. Why do they do that, when others are so adamant about transferring just one? Are there other incentives at play here? Why else would some places advocate single vs multiple while others recommend the exact opposite?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below you\u2019ll find what I discovered. You\u2019ll see that some of the studies I looked at compare single embryo transfers to double embryo transfers, while others refer to single vs multiple. In the UK, there are very few occasions where more than two embryos are transferred at once \u2013 so when you see \u201cmultiple\u201d, you can assume most of those will be double embryo transfers.<\/p>\n\n\n