Single-Embryo Transfer Babies Born Healthy
Reported June 23, 2005
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Two new studies provide further evidence babies born after a single-embryo transfer do better than babies born after multiple-embryo transplantations.
During infertility treatments, doctors sometimes implant more than one embryo to increase a womans chances of becoming pregnant. However, if a woman becomes pregnant with two or more babies, the odds of delivering healthy babies decreases.
In Belgium, researchers conducted a research study to compare the health problems of babies born from a single-embryo transfer to babies born after the implantation of two or more embryos. The investigators also looked at the birth outcomes of children born after a natural conception.
Upon conclusion of the study, the researchers found very little difference between babies born after a single-embryo transfer and babies conceived naturally. Birth weight, gestational age, and stillbirth statistics were very similar in both groups.
Another study conducted in Denmark looked at the health risks for babies born as the surviving twin after a dual embryo transfer. Data were examined from births where a spontaneous reduction (vanishing twin) occurred during pregnancy.
The study data showed as a surviving twin, babies had an increased risk of having neurological problems, especially when the spontaneous reduction occurred later in the pregnancy. Study authors stress the need to inform patients that vanishing twins is a considerable risk factor and a relatively common consequence of dual-embryo transfer.
SOURCE: The 21st Annual Conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Copenhagen, Denmark, June 19-22, 2005