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I’ve always been an advocate of transferring two embryos, statistically it has been shown to increase chances, albeit by a small percentage. My own experience shows that I get pregnant transferring 1 or 2 embryos – though slightly more successful when transferring 2 (by successful I mean positive pregnancy test rather than actually having a baby).
Transfer 1 – 2 poor quality embryos transferred – chemical pregnancy
Transfer 2 – 1 excellent quality hatching embryo transferred – chemical pregnancy
Transfer 3 – 1 ok quality embryo transferred (frozen cycle) – negative
Transfer 4 – 2 good quality embryos transferred – miscarriage (1 embryo)
Transfer 5 – 1 normal PGS tested hatching embryo transferred – negative
Transfer 6 – 2 normal PGS tested embryos transferred (1 hatching) – miscarriage (1 embryo)
With my latest cycle I have 2 normal PGS tested embryos of good quality. My gut feeling is to transfer both as I have never got pregnant with twins when transferring 2 and I think it gives me marginally more chance of success this cycle. Also I’m so sick of taking drugs and if it failed with 1 would find it hard to psyche myself up for a second cycle, though if it fails and I’ve transferred both then I’m out of options.
Also, new research is now suggesting that transferring 2 embryos could have a detrimental impact on your changes of getting pregnant. I need to look into this a bit more but it does read as if the detrimental impact accrues if you have different quality embryos transferred – eg 1 good quality and 1 poor quality – as the body focusses on the poor quality embryo and rejects implantation. I’m not sure how robust this study is – I’ll be looking into it a bit more. I will also raise it with my clinic (though they only want me to transfer 1 embryo so will probably seize on my hesitation). Both my embryos are good quality which the study seems to suggest wouldn’t increase my chances of pregnancy by transferring two but neither would it decrease my chances. And perhaps the fact the embryos are normal could be relevant – the study doesn’t mention PGS tested embryos. Ah, all so confusing just when I had made up my mind!!
A life without peas 
So this is obviously a very personal decision and I am sure you will make the right choice. I always wanted to transfer two because I want to increase my odds of each cycle since it is so hard and awful to have to do them over and over. My husband and doctor convinced me to transfer one (PGS tested) because their thought is it is better to put one in for 1. Healthy singleton pregnancy 2. It is better to transfer one since you never know the perfect uterine conditions and better to do it one at a time 3. If an embryo is going to stick and grow it will. Putting in two doesn’t increase your odds any higher than two cycles in a row one embryo each time. Long winded answer but my own opinion is you transfer one. Best of luck!
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You just gotta go with your instincts rather than hoping science will make the decision for you. I was hardcore one-at-a-time for the first 3 rounds but by #4 I said fine, let’s do two, and I can always do selective reduction if the concept of twins overwhelms me too much. Ironically this is the one that I did get pregnant on, where one made it 9 weeks before my miscarriage, so who the hell knows. We decided to purely do 2 simply because we don’t have the energy to go through more transfers. Seems like the science says twenty different things (as do the clinics) and the only thing I’ve read about two is, of course, if you actually get pregnant with both and have a higher risk pregnancy etc.
Oy vey! My question/food-for-thought would be, how many transfers do you think you have left in you emotionally/financially/etc.?
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A very good point! I’m not sure I want to do another transfer after this physically or emotionally – I’m getting very concerned about the amount of drugs I’ve pumped into my body. Also if I transferred 1 and had another miscarriage that would be miscarriage 5 so I very much doubt I’d transfer the final 1. We put down 2 to transfer on our consent form. It’s weird as I’ve always been up for two before. I don’t mind twins either (I have 3 friends with healthy twins – all ivf!) though I think chances of them aren’t that high for me! Of course all this assumes both defrost OK!
I’ll see how I feel nearer the time. I have 2 weeks to mull it over.
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Im not overly swayed by this study. Its very small. Ive have multiple embryos transferred multiple times and of three multiple embryo transfers ive had 2 bfps and 1 bfn.
It is of course personal but from a numbers point of view i dont think the study is big enough.
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I heard of that study the other day and it left me feeling totally confused! I’d always heard that transferring two embryos gives you the best chance but it does make me wonder. Since both your embryos are good quality though I wouldn’t think that study would apply in your case. Good luck whatever you decide!
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