For some women, the act of getting pregnant is a simple a matter of having intercourse at just the right time and receiving positive test results a couple of weeks later. For others, however, getting pregnant can be a challenge, with factors such as age and preexisting conditions playing a role in the overall process. Fortunately, a number of fertility treatments are available for women who are unable to conceive without a bit of outside help.
In most cases, the first step in addressing the issue of infertility usually comes in the form of fertility medications designed to increase ovulation, which can improve one’s chances of getting pregnant. The good news about fertility drugs is that in many cases, they can be extremely successful. The problem, however, lies in the fact that fertility drugs are sometimes too powerful for their own good. Anyone familiar with the Jon and Kate characters from reality TV fame will remember that they didn’t wind up with eight children by accident; they took fertility drugs to add to their family and wound up with far more than they bargained for. Therefore, those faced with the prospect of using fertility drugs to help with the pregnancy process often find themselves wondering “just how many babies am I going to have?”
Dr. John Nichols is an infertility specialist at South Carolina’s Piedmont Reproductive Endocrinology Group, P.A. (PREG), a facility that caters to couples facing infertility and reproductive issues, and according to him, such concerns about fertility drugs are certainly not unfounded. Depending on the strength of the drugs at hand, those who do take fertility medication are indeed at risk of having multiple births. While drugs such as Clomid will generally only increase one’s chances of having more than one baby by about 10%, stronger fertility drugs (the types that are injected) can increase these odds by a whopping 30%.
Given these statistics, it’s understandable that fertility-challenged patients faced with such prospects might be hesitant to take the risk – and yes, it is a risk. After all, fertility drugs can increase one’s chances of not only having twins, but of having triplets, quadruplets, or more. And while twins are not considered high-risk pregnancy material from a medical standpoint, triplets and anything higher in the way of fetuses certainly are.
In fact, Dr. Nichols always likes to remind patients that when it comes to situations of women getting pregnant with three children or more, the odds of successfully carrying all of the fetuses to term are alarmingly low. As much as the media tends to eat up stories of women having babies in the “five at a time or more” range, it doesn’t tend to report on the tragedies of multiple birth miscarriages and premature delivery complications. As a result, many women tend to walk around under the false impression that the act of bearing three children or more is as simple as popping out one or two. And while there are procedures for reducing a medication-induced pregnancy down to a mere set of twins, many women faced with the prospect of carrying three, four, or more fetuses to term would, from a moral and emotional standpoint, rather just take their chances. Therefore, before agiving any type of fertility treatment, Dr. Nichols feels obligated to warn his patients not only of the possibility of multiple births, but of the significant risks involved.
Of course, for some people, the idea of having twins or triplets is actually a blessing; after all, what better way to increase the size of one’s family in nine short months? However, not everybody is so quick to embrace the notion from a logistical and financial standpoint. Therefore, if you’re considering fertility medication to improve your chances of conceiving, then you ought to be aware that by doing so, you could be increasing your chances of having two children or more at the same time. On the other hand, two or more children at the same time might be a better option than having no children at all.
The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
