Three under two - advice please

[Claraa2018]

Hi, we have a lovely 13 month old DD. I am 38 (almost 39) and have endometriosis and we are starting fertility treatment to try for a sibling. The clinic is giving us a choice of whether to transfer 1 or 2 of our frozen embryos. We know there is a chance we may end up with twins. However, I also had a long journey to have our DD (including cancelled cycles and losses) so I also am nervous about it succeeding at all. This will almost certainly be my last pregnancy and we are open to twins as we'd love to meet as many of our embryos as we can (we have more frozen we won't use). We'd also like to maximise our chances in this cycle (for emotional and financial reasons). I thought I'd check if anyone has had twins and a toddler. Was the transition of adding twins to a family hard on the older child (our DD would be 22-23 months old around the due date if it's successful) and was a twin pregnancy difficult for you? How did you cope as parents? Were your twin pregnancies healthy? I feel like this is such a tough decision. Thanks so much.

Not really answering your question but honestly, if they're already frozen I'd go for single transfer every time. It maximises your overall odds of success while minimising the risk of a multiple birth. I've done double transfers with lower-quality day 2/3 embryos which wouldn't have been likely to make it to freeze, but if your embryos are already frozen then that's not in play. Plus, don't forget that some fertility treatment techniques can also increase the odds of identical twins... meaning a double transfer could result in more than two developing.

It took me four transfers, totalling six transferred embryos, to get to the point of having my son. I do have more embryos frozen and if I'm able to try again I'll definitely go one at a time.

Best of luck, whatever you decide!

Hi, sorry I don't have the experience you are after but I am medical and have actually just been researching IVF for a talk. The NICE guidelines are for transferring one embryo unless you are over the age of 42. This is because having twins increases your rate of complications much more than a singleton pregnancy. They are also more at risk of premature birth. Clinics often push for two as it increases their positive pregnancy stats but the chances of getting pregnant are the same for you if you use another of your frozen embryos-although this process will take longer. Hence why it is recommended for women over 42 where time is of the essence.

Lots of luck with whatever you decide to do.

This thread may help you a little, as it talks about the same things.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/parenting/4019746-7-month-old-twins-just-will-not-nap