Higher Pregnancy and Birth Rates with SET

Two studies recently reported in Human Reproduction found the transfer of a single embryo during IVF may result in both better pregnancy and birth rates. As multiple births is an undesirable consequent of IVF, this is heartening news for couples going through the assisted reproductive technologies. The practice of elective single embryo transfer (eSET) could reduce the problems impacting the infants who result from multiple births such as prematurity, low birth rate, longer hospital stays, as well as those that may impact the woman who carries the pregnancy, i.e, the mother or GC, such as a greater likelihood of gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, and being confined to bed rest.



This information could reassure patients who seem afraid to transfer fewer than two or three embryos per IVF cycle. Hoping for a bigger "bang for the buck," many IVF patients do not believe the potentially devastating problems will happen to them. However, it is also more cost effective to do a SET, especially if there is the ability to cryopreserve any untransferred embryos for future use in future cycles.