ABSTRACT
When Louise Brown was born in 1978, there was widespread anxiety
about the risks and implications of in vitro fertilization (IVF) but few
expected what has proved to be the greatest risk, that of an epidemic of
multiple pregnancies. Even now it appears that there are many couples
embarking on treatment for their infertility who are unaware of the risks
and implications of a multiple pregnancy let alone what is entailed in the
care and upbringing of multiple-birth children. Many imagine that twins
would be an ideal outcome and some may well believe they would be for-
tunate to have triplets: an instant family.
