IVF patients' attitudes toward multifetal pregnancy reduction.

OBJECTIVE

To determine attitudes of in vitro fertilization (IVF) patients toward multifetal pregnancy reduction before and after embryo transfer.

STUDY DESIGN

Women seeking IVF consultation were surveyed before and after embryo transfer regarding their attitudes toward multifetal pregnancy reduction.

RESULTS

Thirty-one of 36 subjects completed the initial survey. The mean age was 32.9 years, 93% of subjects were Caucasian, and 61.3% were nulliparous. Most subjects described themselves as "pro-choice" (20 of 31, 64.5%). Overall, 22.6% (7 of 31) stated that they would never consider fetal reduction in a multifetal pregnancy and 77.4% (24 of 31) stated that they would consider multifetal pregnancy reduction. The threshold to consider fetal reduction was triplets. Prochoice subjects were significantly more likely to consider multifetal pregnancy reduction when compared to "prolife" subjects (p <0.01). Twelve of the 31 subjects underwent embryo transfer and completed the second survey. Patient attitude did not change significantly from the time of initial IVF consultation to after embryo transfer.

CONCLUSION

Overall, women undergoing IVF would consider multifetal pregnancy reduction, and this view did not change after embryo transfer. Pro-choice subjects were more likely to consider multifetal pregnancy reduction.