Despite similar demographic variables, the clinical pregnancy rate for women who undergo elective single embryo transfer (eSET) was lower for non-Caucasian patients than it was for Caucasian patients, according to results presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) Annual Meeting in Baltimore.
Tag: single embryo transfer
The American Fertility Association Educates Patients About Elective Single Embryo Transfer
NEW YORK, Nov. 5, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ — The American Fertility Association (The AFA) recognizes the significance of the report released November 1, 2012, by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noting the relationship between Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and the finding that “…women who undergo ART procedures are more likely to deliver multiple-birth infants than those who conceive naturally.”
The report highlights the “significant risks” that multiple births pose to both mothers and infants, and lists “pregnancy complications, pre-term delivery, and low birth-weight infants” as some of the major problems which can occur.
The report notes “the promotion of elective Single Embryo Transfer (eSET),… where feasible, is needed to reduce multiple births and related adverse consequences of ART.” Read full article.
8 Things We Learned From Octomom
Dr. Edward Dourron / For THE CURRENT
A year ago, the Medical Board of California revoked the license of Dr. Michael Kamrava, finding he “did not exercise sound judgment” in transferring 12 embryos to Nadya Suleman, who already had six children at home. The ruling, while not surprising, was illuminating, and it’s worth reflecting on the eight things we learned from Octomom:
1. Know How to Say No: There is a point where physicians have to make a judgment call. Pregnancies with triplets – let alone eight infants – put the mother at high risk of serious medical complications and put unborn children at risk for developmental disabilities. Doctors need to rely on their professional expertise and experience to know when to turn a patient down.
2. Beware the Patient with Tunnel Vision: Often when a patient comes to a fertility doctor, unsuccessful pregnancy attempts have made her anxious and determined. She might want to get pregnant even if she has underlying conditions that could put her or her baby at risk. Doctors have learned to be vigilant about preconception counseling and medical testing to determine whether patients are healthy enough to pursue pregnancy.
3. Less is More: In 1999, 35 percent of all transfers involved four or more embryos. In 2009, only 10 percent had four or more. And those high-number transfers are generally reserved for patients with significant fertility challenges. In contrast, Octomom already underwent multiple successful IVF (in vitro fertilization) procedures and had given birth to six children when she had her 12-embryo transfer.
4. Less is Sometimes Really More: Single embryo transfers are gaining popularity. Why? During IVF, the rate of monozygotic (identical) twinning is 10 times the rate in nature. Though Octomom didn’t experience this, it is not uncommon for a single embryo transfer to result in twins – or a double transfer to become quads.
Single-Embryo IVF Cuts Risk to Baby: Study
WEDNESDAY, July 4 (HealthDay News) — Transplanting just one embryo during assisted reproduction treatments reduces the risk of preventable infant deaths that occur just before or shortly after birth, which is termed perinatal mortality, Australian researchers report.
“The number of embryos transferred per procedure is the major determinant of multiple pregnancy and multiple delivery, which contribute to an elevated risk of preterm birth and low birth weight, and its [health consequences],” said Elizabeth Sullivan, from the perinatal and reproductive epidemiology research unit of the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
“These are risks in addition to those already faced by women being treated for infertility,” Sullivan said in a news release from the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.
For the study, researchers examined more than 50,200 births resulting from in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment. IVF involves removing an egg from a woman, placing it with sperm in a test tube, then transferring the resulting embryo to the woman’s womb. With ICSI, a form of IVF, sperm is injected directly into the egg.
The babies were born at more than 20 weeks’ gestation and/or weighed more than 14 ounces (400 grams) at birth. They found 813 perinatal deaths overall, which included 630 stillbirths and 183 deaths within the first 28 days of life.
More choose single-embryo transplants for IVF
As in vitro fertilization has become an increasingly common fact of life for those seeking to start a family, so have twins, triplets – or more, thanks to the transplantation of multiple embryos. The CDC reports that the twin birth rate rose 76 percent from 1980 to 2009 while triples and higher-order multiple births rose a whopping 315 percent.
But the tide of multiple births may be ebbing as an increasing number of women are opting to transfer a single embryo during IVF.
According to experts, women usually have two or more embryos transplanted in order to boost the chances for a baby. (In the rare case of “Octomom” Nadya Suleman, eight embryos were implanted, resulting in eight live births.)
Thanks to better technology, though, single-embryo transplants are now almost as effective as multiple-embryo transplants – with far fewer health risks to both mom and baby. High-profile cases like Suleman’s have also raised awareness about the risk of implanting too many embryos.
“It’s something that will contribute to healthier pregnancies,” says Dr. Louis Weckstein, owner of the Reproductive Science Center, a fertility clinic operating in the San Francisco Bay area for 30 nearly years. “We educate patients that transferring one embryo in select situations is almost equally as successful as multiple transfers, and there are a number of studies largely confirming this.”