Infertility treatments like IVF come
with a higher risk of twins or triplets, because women generally get a few embryos implanted to increase the odds that one will take. However,
some doctors are now encouraging single-embryo transfers, since twins have a higher risk for health problems and complications. For some reason, many of the IVF patients aren't on board. Why? As the article points out, IVF costs an obscene amount of money per cycle, and lots of insurance plans won't cover any of it. And for some people, having twins seems like a good way to expand the family all at once, without having to
risk future IVF treatments.
Some of the doctors in the article seem shocked and disapproving that couples wouldn't just want to go for the safest pregnancy possible, even if it meant spending a bajillion dollars and risking a smaller family. Here's a nice quote about people who want multiple embryos even with the increased risks of multiples: "'It's kind of a teenage mentality. They underestimate their own risk and attribute all the risk of the adverse outcomes to someone else,' said David Grainger, president of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology... 'With some of these studies on patients, the temptation is to say, 'Well they're not informed about the risk of twins,' and that's not true.'"
Wow, have these doctors ever spoken to their patients about what it's like to go through infertility? Because by the time you've made it to IVF, chances are you've experienced one heartbreaking disappointment after another, and know that if IVF doesn't work, you'll probably never be pregnant. I mean, you don't go and spend anywhere from $7,000 to $12,000 a month because you think it might be kinda nice to have a baby. I'm sure many people are feeling that they only have one or two shots left, and they'd rather have a risky pregnancy or a chance at a two-child family than a greater possibility of no pregnancy at all. And often this is after miscarriages, months of testing, injecting drugs into the stomach, sobbing at baby showers, pining like crazy for a baby... Crap, now I wanna go slap these doctors who can't understand that being super-rational about risks is a little hard when you are feeling desperate.
