IVF patients' attitudes toward multifetal pregnancy reduction

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Medicine
• Medical Ethics

Background:

• Multifetal pregnancies resulting from in vitro fertilization (IVF) carry increased risks.
• Multifetal pregnancy reduction (MPR) is an option to mitigate these risks.
• Patient attitudes toward MPR are crucial for informed decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the attitudes of IVF patients towards multifetal pregnancy reduction (MPR).
• To evaluate how these attitudes change before and after embryo transfer.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to women seeking IVF consultation before embryo transfer.
• A follow-up survey was conducted after embryo transfer for a subset of participants.
• Attitudes towards MPR were analyzed in relation to demographic factors and stated ethical viewpoints.

Main Results:

• A majority of IVF patients (77.4%) would consider MPR, with triplets as the common threshold.
• Pro-choice individuals were significantly more likely to consider MPR than pro-life individuals (p <0.01).
• Patient attitudes toward MPR did not significantly change after embryo transfer.

Conclusions:

• IVF patients generally express willingness to consider MPR.
• Patient perspectives on MPR are largely stable throughout the early stages of the IVF process.
• Ethical viewpoints, specifically being pro-choice, correlate with a greater likelihood of considering MPR.