UK women having IVF treatment may be limited in the future

UK’s fertility treatment regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), said it was reviewing whether the UK should follow other European countries which regularly only transfers one embryo back to a woman instead of transferring two or even three embryos after IVF treatment. Clinics in the UK regularly perform multiple embryo transfers.

Experts have raised concerns over the risk of multiple births, and having just one embryo implanted at a time could reduce the likelihood of it occurring as frequently. Although the chances of becoming pregnant increases with more embryos implanted, multiple births are more likely to be premature and have low birth weight.

Premature and low birth weight births can have a serious impact on the children’s health and development in years to come. In addition, twins or triplets are much more likely to have cerebral palsy, a permanent condition affecting the part of the brain that controls movement.

Last January, the HFEA launched a policy limiting clinics to transferring two embryos to women under 40 and a maximum of three to those over 40. Figures for 2002 to 2003 show that for IVF births, 75.9 percent resulted in a single child, 23.6 percent were twins and 0.5 percent were triplets. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said it welcomed the HFEA review of embryo transfer.

There are no cures for cerebral palsy, but there are various treatment methods to help manage the condition.