Fertility and Sterility
Volume 88, Issue 2 , Pages 354-360 , August 2007

A mandatory single blastocyst transfer policy with educational campaign in a United States IVF program reduces multiple gestation rates without sacrificing pregnancy rates

Received 14 December 2006 ,Revised 2 March 2007 ,Accepted 2 March 2007.

References 

  1. ESHRE Campus Course Report. Prevention of twin pregnancies after IVF/ICSI by single embryo transfer. Hum Reprod. 2001;16:790–800
  2. Practice Committee of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Guidelines on the number of embryos transferred. Fertil Steril. 2004;82:773–774
  3. ESHRE Task Force on Ethics and Law. 6. Ethical issues related to multiple pregnancies in medically assisted procreation. Hum Reprod. 2003;18:1976–1979
  4. Kissin DM, Schieve LA, Reynolds MA. Multiple-birth risk associated with IVF and extended embryo culture: USA, 2001. Hum Reprod. 2006;20:2215–2223
  5. Jain T, Missmer SA, Hornstein MD. Trends in embryo-transfer practice and in outcomes of the use of assisted reproductive technology in the United States. N Engl J Med. 2004;350:1639–1645
  6. Pinborg A. IVF/ICSI twin pregnancies: risks and prevention. Hum Reprod Update. 2005;11:575–593
  7. ASRM Practice Committee Report. Multiple pregnancy associated with infertility therapy. Birmingham, AL: American Society for Reproductive Medicine; 2000;
  8. Schieve LA, Peterson HB, Meikle SF, Jeng G, Danel I, Burnett NM, et al. Live-birth rates and multiple-birth risk using in vitro fertilization. JAMA. 1999;282:1832–1838
  9. Ryan GL, Zhang SH, Dokras A, Syrop CH, Van Voorhis BJ. The desire of infertile patients for multiple births. Fertil Steril. 2004;81:500–504
  10. Child TJ, Henderson AM, Tan SL. The desire for multiple pregnancy in male and female infertility patients. Hum Reprod. 2004;19:558–561
  11. Pinborg A, Loft A, Schmidt L, Andersen AN. Attitudes of IVF/ICSI-twin mothers towards twins and single embryo transfer. Hum Reprod. 2003;18:621–627
  12. Murray S, Shetty A, Rattray A, Taylor V, Bhattacharya S. A randomized comparison of alternative methods of information provision on the acceptability of elective single embryo transfer. Hum Reprod. 2004;19:911–916
  13. Pinborg A, Loft A, Schmidt L, Andersen AN. Morbidity in a Danish national cohort of 472 IVF/ICSI twins, 1132 nonIVF/ICSI twins and 634 IVF/ICSI singletons: health-related and social implications for the children and their families. Hum Reprod. 2003;18:1234–1243
  14. Glazebrook C, Sheard C, Cox S, Oates M, Ndukwe G. Parenting stress in first-time mothers of twins and triplets conceived after in vitro fertilization. Fertil Steril. 2004;81:505–511
  15. Scher AI, Petterson B, Blair E, Ellenberg JH, Grether JK, Haan E, et al. The risk of mortality or cerebral palsy in twins: a collaborative population-based study. Pediatr Res. 2002;52:671–681
  16. Pharoah PO. Neurological outcome in twins. Semin Neonatol. 2002;7:223–230
  17. ESHRE Capri Workshop Group. Multiple gestation pregnancy. Hum Reprod. 2000;5:1856–1864
  18. Rutter M, Thorpe K, Greenwood R, Northstone K, Golding J. Twins as a natural experiment to study the causes of mild language delay: I: design; twin-singleton differences in language, and obstetric risks. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2003;44:326–341
  19. Olivennes F, Golombok S, Ramogida C, Rust J Follow-Up Team. Behavioral and cognitive development as well as family functioning of twins conceived by assisted reproduction: findings from a large population study. Fertil Steril. 2005;84:725–733
  20. Ellison MA, Hotamisligil S, Lee H, Rich-Edwards JW, Pang SC, Hall JE. Psychosocial risks associated with multiple births resulting from assisted reproduction. Fertil Steril. 2005;83:1422–1428
  21. Dokras A, Baredziak L, Blaine J, Syrop C, Van Voorhis BJ, Sparks A. Obstetric outcomes after in vitro fertilization in obese and morbidly obese women. Obstet Gynecol. 2006;108:61–69
  22. Gardner DK, Schoolcraft WB. In-vitro culture of human blastocysts. In:  Jansen R,  Mortimer D editor. Towards reproductive certainty: fertility and genetics beyond 1999. Carnforth: Parthenon Press; 1999;p. 378–388
  23. Criniti A, Thyer A, Chow G, Lin P, Klein N, Soules M. Elective single blastocyst transfer reduces twin rates without compromising pregnancy rates. Fertil Steril. 2005;84:1613–1619
  24. Gardner DK, Surrey E, Minjarez D, Leitz A, Stevens J, Schoolcraft WB. Single blastocyst transfer: a prospective randomized trial. Fertil Steril. 2004;81:551–555
  25. Pennings G. Multiple pregnancies: a test case for the moral quality of medically assisted reproduction. Hum Reprod. 2000;15:2466–2469
  26. Kassirer JP. Incorporating patients’ preferences into medical decisions. N Engl J Med. 1994;330:1895–1896
  27. Montgomery AA, Fahey T. How do patients’ treatment preferences compare with those of clinicians?. Qual Health Care. 2001;10:i39–i43
  28. Secker B. The appearance of Kant’s deontology in contemporary Kantianism: concepts of patient autonomy in bioethics. J Med Philos. 1999;24:43–66
  29. Schieve LA. The promise of single-embryo transfer. N Engl J Med. 2006;354:1190–1193
  30. Jain T. Socioeconomic and racial disparities among infertility patients seeking care. Fertil Steril. 2006;85:876–881

 Supported by an Obermann Center for Advanced Studies Spelman Rockefeller grant.

PII: S0015-0282(07)00528-6

doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2007.03.001

Fertility and Sterility
Volume 88, Issue 2 , Pages 354-360 , August 2007

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution