hi buliej,
this is an interesting issues - i chart on a US site and some of the discussions have touched on this topic - there is generally an incredible response when an Aust person posts that they are only putting one or two back!
I'm not sure of the science and stats from the US of putting back 3+ embryos, so wont even go there. However, some of the 'folklaw' points that I have picked up from the chat rooms (so take them with a large grain of salt as I can not vouch for how accurate this is), are...
1. US doctors are encouraged to put back more embryos to reduce the number of cycles that it takes to fall pg, even thought the risk of multipules is significant. This is (or at least started out being) driven by the private insurance companies who wanted to pay for less cycles as IVF is not covered by public insurance.
2. So, the downside is that embryo reductions are performed in the US (despite their oposition to abortion), as an accepted part of fertility treatment to reduce the number of living embryos at an early stage in the pg to give the remaining embies more of a chance to make it to full term.
As I said, I can not vouch for how accurate this is, nor if it applies to the 40+ age group, but it may provide some cultural context to why they may have a different approach.
In terms of what is or is not possible in Vic, I think that the source would be The Infertility Treatment Authority (the statutory body established by the Victorian Parliament to administer the regulation of infertility treatment within the State of Victoria, Australia. It has been established under the provisions of the Infertility Treatment Act 1995). It has a website. If you wanted to look at the specific legislation, working through the website of the Vic Parliment should get you to the specific Act.
I believe only two are allowable, but I could be wrong.
I read an interesting book a while ago about women & TTC over 40. I am 42 & gave birth for the first time recently so I read this whilst TTCing. My pregnancy was achieved naturally.
The book suggested that the reason US IVF clinics implant high numbers is to improve their pregnancy stats which then gives women an unrealistic view of how achievable a pregnancy is over 40. It also said that even with IVF the realistic chance of a live birth was somewhere around 5% (for the over 40's) but this statistic is not publicised. The clinics tend to give out their pregnancy rate which is far higher. Because they have more multiple pregnancies from implanting so many they also have higher miscarriage rates than countries like Australia where fewer are implanted.
It also went into detail about how common it is in the US to selectively reduce a multiple pregnancy (which can result in a loss of all the babies). It also made mention of how in the media we only see the successful multiple pregnancies. For every successful multiple pregnancy it said there were dozens of unsuccessful ones where fetuses die one by one throughout the pregnancy or they all get born but then die one by one.
I don't know how accurate this info is, but that's what the book said. It was an interesting read. I can't remember the name of the book otherwise I'd name it.
Based on that info I'd say its a good thing that we don't do things that way here. Singleton pregnancies have a lower m/c risk and are also less of a health risk for an older mother.
OP I would feel like you Yesiree I would. What a waste if it didn't survive the thaw
As for me unfortunately I never get more than 2 fertilised eggs at a time and I have to sign a consent form to say I accept and acknowledge the risks of putting two embies back
I did suspect that US health insurance had something to do with it. But I am going to talk to my FS about putting back in 3 if I do end up with 3. Given the low odds of my falling pregnant with multiples given my age (in my humble and non-medical opinion), I would rather make good use of all 3 than risk losing one in the thaw process. a
Satya - I believe that being over 40 is an exception to the law that permits only 2 ETs at a time - I think if you are over 40, you are allowed to put in 3 but from my readings of postings not all FS will agree to do this.
Future Mom - just curious as you are in the same age category as I am, if you had 3 embryos, would you push to have all 3 transferred? - feel free to Private Message me if you don't want to post
well, i just googled it, and found at least one in Au that will transfer more than 2, but only under strict circumstances. IVF Australia have a comment in their ivf risks page here about the risk of higher order multiples for transferring more than one embie
i'm guessing others would have similar processes, but it would vary from state to state. i know vic has some of the tightest ART legislation in australia
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