Embryo Transfer Policy
To reduce the risk of multiple births, MFS adheres to the HFEA code on embryo transfers which was implemented in 2001 to achieve a balance between reducing multiple births and maximising a woman’s chance of having a healthy baby. The Code makes a distinction based on age and states that in a single treatment cycle, a maximum of:
- two embryos can be transferred to a woman of less than 40 years of age, with no exceptions
- three embryos may be transferred to a woman aged 40 and over if she is using her own eggs
Embryo Transfer
In IVF or ICSI with a two embryo transfer, the chance of twins is currently 25%.
In addition, MFS also adheres to the elective single embryo transfer (eSET) policy implemented by all fertility clinics in the West Midlands in January 2009 to reduce the number of IVF and ICSI multiple pregnancies in the UK to 10% by 2012. To achieve this, some patients will be offered only a single embryo transfer if:
- she is less than 37 years old, AND
- she is undergoing her first IVF or ICSI treatment, AND
- she has at least one top grade embryo (assessed on the day of embryo transfer by an MFS embryologist)
- she has a history of multiple pregnancy (independent of her age)
- a multiple pregnancy creates particular risks to the woman
OR
OR
Other factors may also be taken into account and the risks will be discussed with the patient by MFS clinical and/or scientific staff. A single embryo transfer may be recommended to any patient if clinical or scientific staff consider that the woman is at high risk of having a multiple pregnancy based on her medical history and the quality of her embryos.
Research from other countries that use single embryo transfer more widely than the UK, such as Sweden, shows that success rates per egg collection do not fall when a single embryo is transferred, particularly when a future frozen embryo transfer may be available from the same treatment cycle.