Attitudes of in vitro fertilization and intrauterine insemination couples toward multiple gestation pregnancy and multifetal pregnancy reduction.

OBJECTIVE

To determine attitudes regarding multiple pregnancy and multifetal pregnancy reduction in couples embarking on gonadotropin therapy.

DESIGN

Questionnaire given to couples initiating gonadotropin therapy.

SETTING

University hospital-based infertility unit.

PATIENTS: Twenty-seven couples undergoing IVF and 50 couples undergoing IUI.

RESULTS

The groups' responses tended to be quite similar, with all groups reporting declining favorability ratings as the fetal order increased. The IUI group did feel more favorable than the IVF group toward all gestational outcomes and less favorable toward multifetal pregnancy reduction. A history of live births and length of infertility had no significant impact on the results.

CONCLUSION

Couples undergoing gonadotropin therapy have an overall favorable attitude toward multiple gestational pregnancies of triplets or twins and an increased willingness to consider multifetal pregnancy reduction for quadruplets and more.