One Embryo As Likely To Yield Birth As Two, Study Finds

Main Category: Fertility
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 02 Nov 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Women undergoing in vitro fertilization who receive only one embryo are as likely to give birth as women who receive two embryos, according to a study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, Reuters/MSNBC reports. The study is a follow-up to a similar 2004 study.

For the study, a team of researchers led by Ann Thurin-Kjellberg of Sweden's Gothenburg University initially gave 661 women with either one or two embryos. Each woman was given up to four IVF attempts to become pregnant, using one or two embryos implanted per attempt. The researchers found that 53% of women receiving one embryo on the initial attempt gave birth, compared with 57% of women who received two embryos, a difference that researchers say is insignificant.

However, the multiple birth rate was almost 28% for women receiving two embryos, compared with 2.3% for women in the single-embryo group. Women receiving two embryos were also twice as likely to give birth to a premature infant than women receiving a single embryo.

The new findings come amid growing concerns about the risks associated with multiple births, Reuters/MSNBC reports. Richard Kennedy, a spokesperson for the International Federation of Fertility Societies, said, "This research adds further evidence confirming the value of elective single embryo transfer in assisted reproductive technologies" (Emery, Reuters/MSNBC, 10/28).

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