You're probably aware of the controversy over moves to reduce the number of multiple births after IVF, but now the deep disagreements on the subject have been highlighted at a European fertility conference in Barcelona.
An American fertility specialist, Norbert Gleicher, claimed that doctors have been exaggerating the risks of twin pregnancies to try to mislead patients who will end up having more treatment if they put back one embryo at a time. His speech at the conference was immediately condemned by many leading fertility specialists, including the chair of the European conference, who are adamant that the claims are at odds with all the evidence.
Here, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has called on clinics to cut the twin rate in order to ensure babies, and mothers, do not face unnecessary risks. One of the problems with trying to do this successfully is that not all fertility doctors are behind the move and some, like Norbert Gleicher, believe the dangers are not so great.
For most patients, it is difficult to assess what any of this means in relation to your individual situation and how many embryos you should be choosing to put back in an IVF cycle. The reality is that single embryo transfer is never going to be the right thing for everyone, but for women who have a high chance of having a twin pregnancy, it can cut out the risks without having a great impact on the chances of success. How we view the risks as patients may be largely governed by how our doctors see them and if you're treated by Norbert Gleicher you're unlikely to be insisting on a single embryo transfer. If your doctor spends time explaining what the risks might mean for you, you may be happy to give it a go. If you want to find out more about single embryo transfer, there's lots of information on the oneatatime.org,uk website.
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