Despite the great popularity of the IVF procedure, many people know little about the features of its implementation. One of the frequently asked questions is why one embryo, but not several at once, is transferred during IVF.
In most cases, one embryo is transferred into the uterine cavity, less often two. The fact is that for a woman, a singleton pregnancy is considered the physiological norm. Indeed, it is easier for the body to bear one baby and the risks of impaired intrauterine development of the fetus are minimal.
As statistics show, multiple pregnancies are often accompanied by problems, and this is confirmed by the opinions of practicing specialists. With multiple pregnancies, the risk of miscarriage and premature birth is significantly higher than with singleton pregnancies. That is why in our time, doctors during IVF most often decide to transfer only one embryo into a woman’s uterus.
Doctors decide how many embryos to transfer into the uterine cavity before IVF, not after. It is important to remember that without an individual approach, it is difficult to know in advance which measure will be more effective.
Risks of multiple pregnancy
Multiple pregnancy is a hard challenge for a woman’s body. In this case, there are risks for both the mother and the fetus. It is much harder to carry multiple embryos.
Multiple pregnancy is often accompanied in women by:
- high blood pressure;
- risk of bleeding;
- severe toxicosis;
- complications in childbirth.
If we talk about the risks to the fetus, then there are even more of them, and first of all, they are associated with preterm birth. Multiple pregnancy is a high risk of giving birth to premature babies, which means that from the first seconds of birth, they will need medical assistance and special rehabilitation, not to mention possible pathologies.
Doctors more and more often decide to transfer one embryo to avoid problems with gestation: the risk of premature birth increases by 17%, cerebral palsy in a child is 13% higher, low birth weight, congenital defects.
To date, the number of twin births in the IVF program has dropped dramatically. Modern pre-implantation genetic diagnostics makes it possible to select a high-quality embryo, therefore we transfer only one in order to avoid complications. The main thing for us is the health of the mother and child.