One Healthy Baby at a Time
| Author | Lila Newberry Bradley |
| Pages | 40-40 |
40 FAMILY ADVOCATE www.shopaba.org
When hopeful parents must use
assisted reproductive technolo-
gies to grow their family, they
face signicant costs—both
nancial and emotional. As they
consult with the doctors,
lawyers, psychologists, nancial advisors, and agencies who
will assist them in building their family, the intended parents
wonder how long it will be before they will have a child in
their arms. It is therefore understandable when intended
parents consider asking their IVF physician to transfer two
embryos in the hope that a twin pregnancy will result. What
a joy to be able to complete their family with one pregnancy!
And for families who are already stretching their budget, the
allure of two surrogacy journeys for the price of one is strong.
Multiple-Embryo Transfers
In the early decades of IVF, research data was interpreted to
indicate that transferring multiple embryos in one IVF cycle
increased the rate of pregnancy. As a result, the use of assisted
reproductive technology resulted in a seventy-percent
increase in the number of twins born in the United States in
the late twentieth and early twenty-rst centuries. See Joyce
A. Martin et al., Nat’l Vital Stats. Syst., U.S. Dep’t Health &
Human Servs., Births: Final Data for 2016, 67 N’ V
S. R (2018).
Due to the number of twin births in the past thirty-ve
years, most people know at least one family with happy,
healthy twins. Celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker and Neil
Patrick Harris are proud parents to twins born via gestational
surrogacy. While some of these twins are perfectly healthy,
what most do not see, however, are the pregnancy complica-
tions, losses, and special needs that so many of those
beautiful children have.
Sadly, most twin pregnancies result in preterm or prema-
ture delivery—more than half of twins are born before
thirty-seven weeks gestation. A full-term pregnancy for a
singleton is between thirty-nine and forty weeks, while a
full-term pregnancy for twins is just thirty-seven weeks. It
has been well established that premature birth increases the
probability of a child having special needs. Premature infants
One Healthy Baby at a Time
are at higher risk for breathing problems, brain bleeding,
feeding disorders, and inadequate immune defense. e
conditions associated with premature birth can result in
cerebral palsy, learning disabilities, and chronic health
conditions for the children.
e average birth weight of twins born full term is around
5.5 pounds, which is still considered a low birthweight.
Infants with low birthweight have lower oxygen levels, have a
dicult time maintaining body temperature, and are at
higher risk for infection—all conditions associated with an
increased probability of special needs over the course of the
child’s life.
Now Encouraged: Single-E mbryo Transfers
ankfully, the success rate of pregnancy from single-embryo
transfer has increased substantially in recent years. In
addition, the increasing use of genetic screening of embryos
has resulted in higher success rates for IVF. e American
Society for Reproductive Medicine promotes elective
single-embryo transfer based in large part on the increased
success rates for IVF and the signicant complications and
risks to children from premature birth and low birth weight.
Parents using assisted reproductive technology, by
denition, face signicant challenges to their dream of
having a family. ART lawyers should work with other
ART professionals to educate the intended parents on the
risks associated with twin pregnancy and the chances that
the twins will struggle with special needs throughout their
lives so that parents will elect single-embryo transfer and
seek the higher likelihood of giving birth to a single
healthy child. fa
art: law & practice
By
Lila Newberry Bradley
Lila Newberry Bradley (lila@gababylaw.com), a partner
at Claiborne | Fox | Bradley | Go ldman LLC in Atlanta,
Georgia, represents clients who are creating and growing
families through adoption or assisted reproduction.
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NMM_Journal_ad_JanFeb2019_110619.indd 1 11/13/19 2:14 PM
Published in Family Advocate, Volume 42, Number 3, Winter 2020. © 2020 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof
may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.
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