For years and years, it has been common knowledge that couples who conceive via alternative methods like In Vitro Fertilization were more likely to have twins or multiples than other couples who conceived naturally. It was always theorized that the IVF increased the chance of twins, but now, a new study is showing that it’s not actually the IVF that causes twins to develop, but that it is actually the fertility drugs! Claim Your 20 Free Pregnancy Tests – Click Here
The news comes from a brand new study, done by the Centers For Disease Control and Brown University. The study shows that by the year 2011, more than 35 percent of twin births and more than 77 percent of triplet (or higher multiple) births were the result of fertility treatments.
So if you were ever wondering about how to have twins, here’s your answer. “We were surprised that non-IVF approaches were more culpable than IVF here,” said Dr. Eli Adashi, a professor of medical science at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. So what exactly do these new findings mean?
The study found that the levels for twin and multiple births peaked in 1998, the same year that new guidelines were announced about the number of embryos that should be transferred. This has resulted in a 33 percent decrease in the number of twin or multiple births as a result of IVF.
However, the study shows that non-IVF treatments such as fertility drugs, which are often a more affordable choice for families, have been yielding higher rates of twin and multiple births. This goes to show that it’s not soley IVF that is responsible for twins and multiples. It’s actually about the fertility drugs also! This is a huge development in the fertility world, as Dr. Adashi explains:
“By and large, human reproduction is designed for singletons, and the optimum outcome we hope for is a singleton birth to term,” Adashi said. “When you get into a situation with multiple and higher number births, all kinds of concerns creep in. We wanted to make a deliberate course correction as opposed to flailing indiscriminately at the problem. We didn’t really have the hard numbers and we certainly did not have the kind of detailed insights into what’s driving the increase in the number of multiples. There are clearly ways by which these non-IVF technologies can be modified and there are more prudent approaches that result in less in the way of multiples,” Adashi said. Dr. Adashi also said that he believes education is key to help doctors and their patients understand the negative health impacts of giving birth to multiple children.
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