LifeQuest Centre for Reproductive Medicine

Fertility therapy can be associated with a greater chance of having a multiple pregnancy. These days, twins tend to be relatively safe for both mother and babies. But triplets and higher multiples can come with far more risks.

Often, when a couple is having trouble getting pregnant, the prospect of having their family all at once may have some appeal. However, a fertility centre should consider triplets and higher to be a failure in treatment. It has been estimated that in a triplet pregnancy, any one of the triplets, if not all, have as much as a 15% chance of having cerebral palsy.

A study in France interviewed mothers of triplets five years after the babies were delivered. Over 50% of these mothers said at five years that they would rather not have been pregnant. If you are contemplating fertility investigation and treatment, you should ensure that you’re being treated at a fertility centre that acts responsibly and minimizes these risks. This could include:

• Gentler medication protocols
• With IVF, Day 5 transfers
• Transferring only one or two embryos

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