New research suggests that twins born after IVF are more likely to be premature and to have health problems than twins conceived naturally. Although it has been known for some time that twin pregnancies carry additional risks for mother and babies, it has often been assumed that these are risks for any twin pregnancy, no matter how it began. Now it seems that the risks are greater for IVF twins although it isn't clear why this should be.
It's yet another argument for moving away from multiple embryo transfers wherever possible - I think that fertility patients have often been misled about the risks of twin pregnancies by consultants who are focused on pregnancy rates. We should be pressing for more affordable and more successful treatment so that single embryo transfer becomes the perfectly acceptable norm for younger women who are deemed to have a good chance of success.
You can read more about the research, which is published in Human Reproduction at http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org
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