Does IVF increase The Chance Of Twins?: IVF Specialist Dr Rohan Palshetkar Gives An Insight

Does IVF increase the chance of twins? While this is a common belief about IVF, how far is it true? IVF Specialist Dr Rohan Palshetkar gives us insight.

IVF is an assisted reproductive technology. The procedure involves either using a couple’s own sperm or eggs and sperm or sperm, eggs, or embryos from a known or anonymous donor. 

A gestational carrier is also used sometimes. A gestational carrier is someone who has an embryo implanted in their uterus. The chances of having a healthy baby using IVF depend on factors such as the cause of infertility and age.

Dr Rohan says, “The biggest problem that we are facing today in infertility treatment is awareness. Even today we have couples coming at a much later age for treatment saying that we weren’t aware of it.” 

Does IVF increase The Chance Of Twins?

Speaking to BabyChakra, Dr Rohan Palshetkar says, “Earlier what we used to do in IVF is think about transferring two to three embryos at a time. So when we are transferring two to three embryos, there’s an increased chance of having a twin gestation because we’re transferring multiple babies at a time. But now we’ve come to a point where we are looking at only a single embryo transfer, we’re reducing the chances of twinning.”

“We always discuss with parents what kind of transfer they want. As per Indian law, we are not allowed to transfer more than three embryos at a time. Couples these days are also looking at single pregnancy to avoid any complications, so we transfer only a single embryo so as to make sure we give them a good chance of pregnancy and also a single pregnancy.” adds Dr Palshetkar.

He says that there are chances that the embryo may split into two and result in identical twins. However, the chances are less. When it’s one embryo then it is mostly a singleton pregnancy, except for some rare cases where it may result in identical twins. When we transfer two or more embryos most of the time it is fraternal twins.

What Are The Complications Of Twin Pregnancies Via IVF?

When we are looking at twin pregnancy then it has the complications of twin gestation such as:

• Increased blood pressure during pregnancy.
• Increased risk of diabetes during pregnancy.
• Risk of pre-term delivery.
• Heavy bleeding during delivery.
• Heavy bleeding post-delivery.

“However, with the kind of health care system we have in place today, all of these issues are anticipated early and we try and catch them on time,” says Dr Palshetkar.

As for the babies born via IVF pregnancies, they have the genetics of the parents, therefore whatever predisposed genetic factors are present, will be the only risk the child will have irrespective of IVF pregnancy or natural pregnancy.

He mentions that most Indian families are looking for a family of two. “They want two babies and are excited about the fact that they are having two babies at the same time. But what they don’t understand is that there are complications which can affect the pregnancy, like one twin being smaller than the other. As for triplets the chances are rare, it’s less than 5%,” adds Dr Palshetkar. 

Cover image source: feepik