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Infertility

Chances of multiple gestation with fertility treatments

Multiple gestation pregnancy occurs when more than one egg fertilizes and the resulting embryos implant in a woman's uterus, producing "fraternal" siblings. In rarer cases, one egg may fertilize and the resulting embryo may divide in the uterus, producing identical twins. Multiple birth occurs naturally in less than 3% of births in the general population. However, about 20% of pregnancies resulting from intercourse or intrauterine insemination (IUI), in combination with ovulatory inducing or stimulating medications *, are multiple gestation pregnancies. In addition, in 1997, 31% of all assisted reproductive technology (ART) pregnancies (that is, those resulting from in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted techniques) which led to a birth resulted in multiple birth: 26% of those births were twins, and 5% were triplets or greater.^{1

* Ovulatory medications include clomiphene citrate (brand names Clomid, Serophene), which is administered in pill form, and injectable medications hMG (Humegon, Pergonal, Repronex) and FSH (Fertinex, Follistim, Gonal-f).

1 1997 Assisted Reproductive Technology Success Rates, National Summary and Fertility Clinic Reports. Figure 10. This report is produced annually by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Source: This information is used with permission and courtesy of RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association.}