In vitro fertilization or IVF is a procedure that involves implanting fertilized eggs into a woman’s uterus in order to encourage pregnancy for those women who find it difficult to conceive. But as any specialist will tell you, in vitro fertilization can cause multiple births because several eggs are often implanted together to increase the chance of a woman becoming pregnant. The transfer of 2 or more embryos into women older than 35 years old is also the recommended technique of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets and sextuplets are often the result of in vitro fertilization in women who are 35 years and above. Multiple births and the added factor of age make this kind of pregnancies very high risk. Women are willing to take the gamble of having multiple births, even if they do not prefer to have two or more babies at the same time.
Researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine have found a technique of how in vitro fertilization can be done without the risk of potential multiple births. The technique is called the single blastocyst transfer, which involves planting just one embryo into the uterus. The technique was first practiced in Europe, where reproductive specialists were already implanting single embryos with some success in women of younger reproductive age. But as the age of the woman increases, the chances of single embryo transfers being effective are decreased.
Dr. Amin Milki, the senior author of the study, explains that the integration of traditional techniques and modern ideas and equipment like the compound trinocular microscope, which is a normal high definition compound microscope which hooks up to a laptop computer or LCD screen. The compound trinocular microscope allows a broader audience, as the image that is being seen by the person viewing with the microscope can be seen by others as well. The compound trinocular microscope is fast becoming a popular teaching and research tool. Dr. Milk describes that at some stage in the procedure, the embryo is allowed to be immerse in a medium composed of nutrients for about 5 days until it reaches its blastocyst stage. The best embryos, the ones that exhibit the potential to thrive in the womb will be planted into the womb.
The research yielded optimistic results. Out of the 45 patients whose ages ranged from 35 to 43, Dr. Milki and his research team discovered that 28 of their subjects were able to conceive with the single embryo transfer. 23 of these pregnancies were able to reach beyond the first trimester. However, Dr. Milki stressed that the embryos implanted were good quality embryos and the women, although above the age of 35, had good chances of becoming pregnant. This technique of single embryo transfer can give women the option of becoming pregnant without having to risk multiple births. But the success rate does not apply to all women over the age of 35 years old. Dr. Milki states that the triumph depends significantly on the quality of the embryos. If low-quality embryos are used, the transfer of two or three embryos might still be the best technique for the woman to achieve pregnancy with IVF.