Can you choose to have twins with IVF via the NHS?

[RDT144]

Sorry - don’t wanna trigger anyone! I’m curious as I’ve seen this happen in the States. Is this an option in the UK or with the NHS?

[MakingbabyN]

I think the question is can you choose to transfer 2 embryos on the NHS. The answer is: it depends. It depends on the quality of your embryos, your age, how many transfers you’ve had and the outcome. Generally if you have high quality embryos and aren’t approaching 40+ you will not be permitted to transfer 2 embryos. Some clinics will offer double transfer if low quality and you’ve had a number of unsuccessful transfers or time isn’t on your side.

My NHS clinic is very strict and only allows single transfers unless exceptional. Private clinics do tend to be more flexible I believe.

Transferring 2 embryos doesn’t guarantee twins, but there is a chance.

Don’t forget the amount of strain pregnancy puts on your body. Having lost a baby at 16 weeks I don’t think my body could cope with carrying two babies. So whilst the thought of twins when going through infertility seems like a solution to all problems, it can raise its own risks.

[Ivfgotadream]

Agree with previous post - you can’t “choose” twins. Clinics in the U.K. get fined if they don’t keep their rate of multiple births below the naturally occurring rate of multiples and it’s quite strictly controlled as it all gets reported to the governing body the HFEAA. If you are in the USA You’ll be well aware of how much even basic healthcare costs and a multiple pregnancy does cost the NHS a lot more time, resource and money as well as being higher risk for mothers and babies so there is also that consideration here which you wouldn’t have in the USA - free healthcare comes with it certain trade offs I guess? . I had twins via a private clinic but I was age 37 and on my 4th transfer. Many clinics also flat out refused to Transfer more than one due to covid. I’d have twins again tomorrow if I could but for me the pregnancy was brutal and we all nearly died. Many of us going through fertility treatment consider having twins as the IVF jackpot but there really are a lot of things to consider

[Pupster83]

I’m currently pregnant with one baby after a double egg transfer on the nhs. We had 1 private round while we waited for nhs treatment where we didn’t get any usable eggs but would have only been recommended a single egg transfer if we had got anything. We then had 3 rounds on the nhs and we only had 1 usable egg round 1 which was transferred and miscarriaged, round 2 we got no usable eggs and round 3 we got 2 usable eggs and as it was our last nhs cycle they recommended transfering both at day 3. I would have been delighted to have twins but it’s definitely not as simple as “choosing” to have them and having waiting 6 years I am over the moon to be carrying even 1 baby. As the others have said, most clinics, private or nhs (though definitely nhs),won’t allow you a double egg transfer unless there is good reason or you have already had a number of cycles and even if they agree to a double egg transfer you need to have sufficient good eggs to transfer 2. Good luck.

[CJohns]

We were simply told that if they were average/not great embryos that weren’t worth freezing, then they’d put a max of 2 in (due to my young age). It was never a discussion about whether we had the choice to put two in as I was expecting very low egg numbers due to AMH. But I’d certainly echo what other users have commented above, and there is ALOT in consent forms and brochures about reducing multiple pregnancies xx

[Peonie100]

Our CCG offers 3 embryo transfers. We got 3 embryos - 2 excellent grade, 1 not as great. After our first failed transfer we asked if we could put 2 back in because they were our last embryos (1 excellent and 1 lower grade). If we didn’t do that and our 2nd round failed we would be left with the lower graded embryo for our final transfer which we didn’t want to take a chance on. If the double transfer fails then it would give us another chance at egg retrieval on NHS and one more transfer with hopefully more high graded embryos. If we had more than 2 embryos left after our first failed transfer then I don’t think they would have let us put 2 back.

Agree with the others that NHS will let you but it is at your consultant’s discretion and in exceptional circumstances.

[Megrumpy]

You cannot choose to have twins, says someone who is pregnant with twins through IVF after having 3 single transfers and 3 double transfers. Only the last double tranfer worked. It was an NHS clinic, but we paid privately. To be honest whether to transfer 2 or 1 is really a decision to be made depending on your circumstances and a discussion between you, your consultant and the embryologist. Because a double transfer does not double your chances of getting pregnant and there are theories out there that if a high and low quality embryo are transferred together, the low quality embryo may cause the high quality embryo to fail. Also to consider, double transfer would give you fraternal twins, but what if one of the embryos or even both decide to split and you end up with triplets or more?But if you want to be able to make that decision with no strings attached you cannot do this on NHS. Because NHS guidelines are not built to give you the best chance to have a baby, but to give you the best chance of having the baby WHILE costing the NHS the least amount of money. The two are not the same.

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I agree with what everyone has said. I also want to add (and I don’t mean to state the obvious) but IVF really isn’t a case of look at a menu and decide what you want. There are many people who have endless transfers and never have their longed for baby. I think you should set your expectations as ‘we hope for a child’ to start with rather than expecting to order how many you want and getting it. I’ve transferred 16 embryos in total including two double transfers and four triple transfers and sadly not got my longed for family. I am sure you will have heaps more luck than me but don’t expect to fix everything in one round. Good luck x