Eliminating Multiple Pregnancies: Should Single Embryo Transfer Be the New Standard? Presented on Your Guide to IVF and Third Party Reproduction

SAN DIEGO, CA, March 03, 2011

In almost three and a half decades, in vitro fertilization has been responsible for the birth of over three million children, bringing immeasurable joy to their parents who would not have been able to conceive without this technology. To increase the odds of success for would-be parents who pour their hopes and dreams, as well as money, into this procedure, doctors have routinely transferred multiple embryos. Often this has translated into twin and triplet pregnancies and the complications of premature birth, neonatal morbidity, and long-term medical problems. The infertility field has responded with more stringent embryo transfer guidelines, as well as the advancement of techniques like single embryo transfer (SET) for certain categories of patients.

On the next episode of The Surrogacy Lawyer: Your Guide to IVF and Third Party Family Building Theresa Erickson, Esq., will be interviewing Dr. Carolyn Givens of Pacific Fertility Center and Dr. David Kreiner of East Coast Fertility about the realities of multiple pregnancies and single embryo transfers. The program will air on Thursday, March 3 at 11AM PST/2PM EST on Voice America.

Dr. David Kreiner, medical director of East Coast Fertility in Plainview, NY, remembers when IVF was risky business in the early 1980s. Then it was routine to transfer six embryos at a time. Dr. Kreiner's experience with a couple of quadruplet pregnancies early in his fellowship opened his eyes and heart to the additional struggles his patients faced. With much increased success, Dr. Kreiner has been able to introduce innovative IVF programs such as single embryo transfer and microIVF. Dr. Carolyn Givens, a reproductive endocrinologist in San Francisco, has been working in the fertility field for over 20 years. Her group practice, Pacific Fertility Center, performs over 800 in vitro fertilization cycles per year. With its push to performing Day 5 embryo transfers and with an excellent program for freezing of excess embryos, the Center has been able to encourage the vast majority of patients with a good prognosis for pregnancy to embrace the idea of having a single baby at a time.

"Since most U.S. infertility patients don't have insurance coverage for IVF treatments, having twins can seem very enticing," says attorney Erickson. "But they may not understand the full ramifications of the medical, emotional and financial costs of multiples. Plus there has been tremendous pressure for clinics to have high success rates. But the infertility field has come under attack in recent years for being one of the major factors causing the rise of multiples and their concurrent high medical costs. Clearly the professional and patient community needs to discuss these important issues to find viable solutions."

About Theresa Erickson, Esq.
Ms. Erickson is the managing par
tner of Erickson Law and the founder and chair of Conceptual Options, The Surrogacy and Egg Donation Center. In addition, Ms. Erickson is the author of the newly released Surrogacy and Embryo, Sperm, & Egg Donation: What Were You Thinking? Erickson was motivated to write her second book so she could educate potential intended parents, as well as the women who become surrogates and egg donors, about what all parties need to know if they are going to become involved in third party reproduction.

Attorney Erickson is a globally recognized expert in this specialized area of law and is a board member of the American Fertility Association and the legal director of Parents Via Egg Donation. For more information, please visit www.ericksonlaw.net and www.conceptualoptions.com.