ABSTRACT

One of the results of the development of medically assisted reproduction – more particularly in vitro fertilisation (IVF), gamete intra Fallopian transfer (GIFT), and controlled hyperstimulation – is the increase of multifetal pregnancies and multiple births. The usual practice in IVF is to transfer more than one embryo, as this increases the chance that at least one will implant. As a consequence, often more than one embryo implants and develops. According to the international literature, approximately 25 per cent of IVF-pregnancies are multifetal pregnancies. In order to avoid the risks involved in larger multifetal pregnancies, two strategies have been developed. The first strategy is multifetal pregnancy reduction (MFPR), which involves the killing of one or more fetuses while retaining the desired number of fetuses. Over the past decade, MFPR has emerged as a staple of infertility therapy. Since the mid-1980s, there has been a strong expansion in the number of procedures that have been performed.