fertility treatment - what are the chances of me having twins?

[miloopy]

I am nearing 40 and having fertility jabs. I am just interested to know how many of you had your twins/triplets naturally or through fertility treatment. thanks

[Sullwah]

Mine were from IVF. I was 41 when I got pregnant - 42 when I had them.

We were very lucky to have conveived them on the first attempt - especially given that the clinic gave us a 11% chance of success when we first started the treatment (the Lister). But my personal probability of success was probably much higher - 1) we had no identified fertility issues - we married late - tried for 6 months and thought that at my age we had better just get on with it 2) I had a very low FSH 3) we ended by having a blastocyst transfer at 6 days which has a much higher probability of success than a regular 2 or 3 day transfer.

So you need to talk to your clinic about your personal situation cos its not the same as every other 40 year old out there even though they clump as all together.

I remember clearly being in the embryo implantation room and discussing with the Dr and DH about how many to put back in. Given low probability of success we went for two - did not in my wildest dreams think it would work - let alone twins.

I was horrified when I found out it was twins(my sister also had IVF twins (it runs in the family ) and I remembered how huge she was in month 7 and was terrified.

But now nearly 6 months on, I know that we are truely blessed. Two babies at my age - a family on one go .

We are just having sooo much fun. Its great .

BUT .... we did have some serious chats about what would happen if it didnt work . How many attempts would we go through? - its emotionally and finacially draining. What sort of life would we have without kids? We know some lovely couples in their fifties with no children who have great lifestyles - go on holiday loads, have active social lives, have loads of interests and love each other and their companionship very much. And we talked about how much we loved each other and how we would be content with a childless life just with each other if it didnt work out.

Life with and without children is just what you make it. You have got to make the most of it whatever your situation.

So good luck in whatever fate has in store for you.

But dont be scared of having twins - its really quite wonderful.

[goingslowlymad]

I am 29 and I have had 4 FETs and had 3 failed attempts and one successful with twins. I got pregnant on my third attempt (twins born at 28 weeks in March) and had my most recent failed attempt two weeks ago.

I think there is something like a 1 in 4 chance of pregnancy and of those who get pregnant there is a 1 in 4 chance of twins.

A lot of it is down to luck, but obviously the older you are, the lower your chances. Your consultant will discuss with you how many embryos to transfer. If you are wary of twins it may be worth only transferring one if they are of exceptional quality.

Best of luck.

[moptop]

I'm 40 and started IVF at age 35. I did 4 cycles - neg x 2, miscarriage x 1, ectopic x 1. I won't lie, it was hell on earth. We then went for cycle 5 - "our last try" and conceived our now gorgeous 2 year old dd............ Never did we dream that when we decided to try with our frozen embryos we would conceive twins on our first go! It was a big, big shock and one I'm not fully reconciled with....... but that's another story.

Anyway, I think goingslowlymad is right and your odds are about 1/25 of conceiving twins if you conceive at all. One thing I do know about IVF is that, when you're in the midst of it, the numbers mean f* all.

Best of luck.

[bedfordgirl]

Totally agree with Moptop. When you're giving yourself injections every day and having appointments and scans all the time it's all consuming. You really don't think of the odds and probability, just hope that the emotional rollercoaster that you're on will be worth it.

We were lucky enough to conceive our DTs on our first cycle of IVF, but that was after 4 years of other treatment, scans etc... I am so glad we did have twins and I now feel our family is complete - all in one go!

Good luck!

[moptop]

bedfordgirl - how old are your twins? I'm near Milton Keynes, so not far away.......

[bedfordgirl]

Hi Moptop. Our twins are 6 months old next week. How old are yours? I work(ed) in MK, so pop over quite frequently. Would be good to get together if you like? Let me know.

[moptop]

Yes, it would be great to meet up. My email is; amanda j hewitt @ yahoo.co.uk (without the spaces)