Hello, I hope I do not offend anyone with what I want to know. I am the mother of two girls. Savannah age 7, and Ahlaura age 5. I had my tubes tied (clamped) after the birth of Ahlaura. My husband passed away a year later. I have since re~married. We both want more children. I was doing a search for IVF when I found this site. My question's are:::::::
Has anyone here done IVF with clamps on?
Has anyone talked to their Dr. about "wanting" twins or triplets?
If so was it a "NO" from the Dr. or did they do it?
I guess my questions are simple. Did anyone want a twin/triplet pg? If so was your Doc ok with it? I have called 2 diffrent doctor offices. Both said the same thing "We don't do that here". Well I wanted to know if anyone does. Sorry to go on and on. If I have offended anyone. I am sorry! If you think you can help me please e mail me or post here. I will be checking back!
Thank You,
Emily

PS, I live in Oregon but we will go to either CA or WA for a Doctor!!!

Emily

I don't think very many of us on this board went into the journey of getting pregnant planning on having multiples. Maybe a few hopes for twins ----- 2 arms, 2 breasts, not tooo difficult. With Higher order multiples you are talking a entirely different ballgame! Prematurity is a HUGE concern. Even in the BEST HOM pregnancy, you will not go full term.

I love each and every one of my children, however if I could of had them as singletons I would have.

What I tell people who tell me "oh they are so cute, I wish I had triplets". You don't understand what you are wishing for.

Shannon
momofamultitude of Blessings!
Jodi 18, Jacob 12, Sarah 7 and
Paige 6, Madison 6 and Anna 6
born @ 27 weeks

"Before you were conceived, I wanted you. Before you were born, I loved you. Before you were a minute old, I would have died for you.

Emily,

I can't answer your question about having IVF done with clamps on but, the Doctor's office that I used for my infertility issues was phenomenal. I stared out with 4 IUIs and one of them ended up being a chemical pregnancy, had a miscarriage after two weeks. Anyway, we moved on to having an IVF done and yahoo, the first one was successful and we are now expecting triplets (I’m only 11 weeks today, but this is the farthest I’ve ever been in any pregnancy).

Anyway, the Doctor’s office is called The Reproductive Science Center (website: www.rscbayarea.com) they are located in San Ramon, California (this is their main office). My doctor was Louis Weckstein. Hope this information helps.

Happy New Year!

Carrie

Hi,

I just wanted to add some thoughts...I know some people who have had their falopian tubes removed for various reasons, and have gone through IVF and had success. Given that I know NOTHING about having yoru tubes tied, I am ASSUMING you mean falopian tubes, so my GUESS is that if they have been removed and pg can still work then they can do it if they are "tied"

Now, I hope that I don't offend you, but since you are thinking about "choosing" triplets, I have to warn you that HOM pgs are high risk. I don't think you will likely find a dr. office who strives for a HOM pg in their patients. On this bb you will find so many successful outcomes and it is so great. I am happy for these families and I wish I was one of them, but I'm not. You need to know that a triplet pg puts you at high risk for preterm labor/premature birth. Preterm labor and premature birth CAN mean that your babies die. I love my babies more than anything in this world. I am unbelievably sad because they are only in my world in spirit

I was an ideal patient/pg woman. I was fit prior to pg. I had male factor inferlity so there was no reason I shouldn't be able to carry a pg. I gained the right amount of weight, ate right, drank more water than I care to remember and did exactly what I was supposed to do. I was unlucky. I went into PTL. I had PROM. My children were born prematurely and they died.

Think long and hard before you "choose" a HOM pg.

April
Mom to ^i^ Hannah, ^i^ Ryan and ^i^ Abby. My 3 little birds in Heaven.

Joey, born 5/8/05 (Mother's Day!)
Laura, born 5/26/07
^I^, ^i^

A butterfly lights beside us, like a sunbeam
And for a brief moment, It's glory and beauty belong to our world..

Hi Emily,

We did IVF and once I found out my REs stats I actually did want multiples though that was not our original intent. When we had our first ultrasound we found out it was twins and although I was extremely happy to have twins I had secretly hoped for triplets. Three days later a third sac showed up on ultrasound and I was so happy! Maybe my feelings are more in the minority?

Anyway, I'm 33, soon to be 34, and have been married for 14 years. Our problem was male factor so I can't help with the tubal issue. I knew that I didn't want to have a child after the age of 35 just for my own personal reasons so this may have contributed to my desire to be a mother of multiples.

As the poster above noted though, there are many concerns with multiple pregnancies and not all good outcomes. My DH and I resolved early on that whatever God gives us is what we will be happy with. We also have a huge support system - lots of friends and family that live close by.

I am currently 24 weeks and really starting to feel the stress of the pregnancy physically. It is definitely something to think about. Your life is no longer your own and as I've learned, most of us end up on some sort of bedrest before it's all over.

I don't have any other children to take care of and I have excellent health insurance so this has not been too overwhelming for me. There are many considerations but I think you are starting out in the right place. Do tons of research to keep yourself as informed as possible.

My RE transferred 4 embryos and told me that we would most likely end up with twins. A lot depends on your age, health and your doctor's policy as to how many embryos they put back and to your chances of multiples. I've not heard of anyone going into IVF with the specific intentions of a multiple pregnancy. I had hopes for multiples but was mainly interested in a successful singleton pregnancy.

Best wishes to you,

julie
___________________________

1st IVF with ICSI - success, BBB triplets

32 weeks, 2 days - February 23, 2004

Truitt Curtis - 3lbs. 15 oz.
Porter Thomas - 3 lbs. 14 oz.
Jonas Taylor - 2 lbs. 8 0z.

I think I came off wrong! I did not mean I wanted triplets! I added that because this site is The Triplet Connection. (triplet being the key word) I was just wondering if anyone was in the same boat as me. "IE: wanting more then one!!!"

"I would hope for twins!"

The cost of having my clamps taken off would cost me over 8K. Even then its only 45%. IVF is really the way to go in my case.

Thank You All For Your Help!

Emily

Emily

I would have been perfectly pleased with twins and expressed this to my doctor, but I was assured early on that no fertility treatments were ever geared towards accomplishing a multiple pregnancy. Twins are a high-risk pregnancy, as are triplets.

We transferred two embryos, giving us something on a 60% chance of my becoming pregnant with a singleton. And there was the up side, since I would not have been displeased by twins -- that allowed us to transfer three healthy embryos rather than limiting it down further.

My doctor was wonderful -- his name is Dr. Paul Zarutskie at the Zarutskie Reprodoctive and Endocrinology Center, and I became pregnant with my first IVF. He is a kind and compassionate person, and very good to work with. His office is in Laguna Niguel. He has a web-site.

I wish you the best of luck.

Cat

Cat w/3 Kittens
Caidan, Carina and Caeleigh
Born at 31 weeks, 1/8/04.

I only have one Fallopian tube (don't know why), and IVF was going to be our next step except that injections alone worked (guess my remaining tube is quite operative). My ovary that has no tube produced twice as many follicles (7) as my other (3). So we were planning to go IVF to be able to harvest the eggs from both sides.


I have some research links that might be helpful.

http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/ART2001/clinics01.asp is the CDC's website that has stats on all the fertility clinics state by state. In the stats (mostly on IVF) you can find out how many embryos are implanted on average with each transfer as well as statistics on the DRs success rates. It can be a little daunting on first glance, but if you compare a couple of clinics, you start to see what kind of statistics you are looking for.

http://www.socrei.org/ is the society for reproductive endocrinologists and infertility. They also list REs by state, but they don't post statistics. Their list is not comprehensive.

You said you would be willing to go to CA for an RE. Let me recommend mine Dr. Mark Surrey who works out of Beverly Hills, Santa Barbara and Ventura. His stats on the CDC site are quite impressive http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/ART2001/clindata01.asp?SARTNumb=0489 as is his resume -- he got into IVF on the ground floor -- Late 70s early 80s in England. He is head of Reproductive/Infertility at Cedars Sinai. I would trust the man and his staff with my life.

On thinking about the whole process though, I'm guessing you realize that you would probably need to be wherever the DR was for 2-3 weeks while you do injections, get regular u/s and labs, harvesting, transfer, etc. If you still are able to be down this way, I would highly recommend him, although I'm sure the CDC site would help you find a qualified RE near you.

IVFs will generally have 2-3 embryos transferred (if they were able to harvest at least that many eggs). I know in my dealings with the infert process, dr's are very concerned about your health and the health and viability of the babies. I was told straight out that my cycle would be cancelled if we had too many follicles (4+). My RE gave us "warnings" that we could be looking at multiples, and talked to us (as most will) about the whole process of "selective reduction" -- it can be an offensive topic but you should know that is a topic that will be discussed and if you end up with multiples it is a topic that will be discussed with your perinatalogist as well.

Best of luck to you and your new husband.

Stephanie
West Rogers ^i^ b
Keaton Edward ^i^ b
Rebecca Joy ^i^ g
1/6/04 19w5d

Stephanie's given you lots of great advice. But I'd like to add a few things.

First, I worked with Dr. Zarutskie "long distance" -- he was in Laguna Niguel and I was in Illinois. So, I know that it is possible to work things out if someone is willing to work with you on your scheduling, particularly a helpful, knowledgeable, OB in your area who has additional training and/or experience. My local doctor and Dr. Z worked in tandem, and had a very nice working relationship. The harvesting/transferring are the matters that definitely require your presence. The injections and u/s and labs can be worked around if people are willing.

The "too many follicles" pertains to over-stimulating the ovaries, and that is not only a matter of being very painful, but can harm the ovaries.

The discussion pertaining to multiples occurs prior to the transfer of embryos and further assists the doctor in determining how many embryos to transfer. For example, you will also probably be required to meet with a psychiatrist of the doctor's choosing, and during that meeting you will be asked about your feelings in the event there were multiples; also, re brain damaged children; also, other rationales for terminating a pregnancy.

When I spoke with my doctor, and the psychiatrist, I made it clear that I would not reduce the pregnancy. My fertility specialist mentioned it a couple of times (glancing blows) once we knew I was pregnant with triplets, but my perinatologist never encouraged it. The risks involved with a twin pregnancy are just about the same as those associated with a triplet pregnancy. Where sr becomes a touchier subject for some is at the quad stage, although there are some doctors who are getting excellent results on these babies, too.

In any event, though, I feel VERY comfortable that no ethical professional would transfer more than three strong, healthy embryos in an effort to create a multiple pregnancy. If someone is transferring embryos created by use of extremely old, tough eggs, even with IXSI, they are unlikely to implant in the uterus and you could toss in a dozen slow-growing embryos and not have a viable pregnancy. Most doctors are kinder than to do this to women whose eggs are not truly viable.

The standard of care appears to have leveled upon a transfer of either two or three healthy, strong embryos, with a possible fourth transfer under certain medical circumstances. Transferring three embryos occasionally results in triplets, but more frequently results in a singleton pregnancy -- which should be what you are seeking. It is what your doctor will be seeking -- one fine, big, healthy, strong baby incubated en-utero for the full 40-43 weeks.

If that's not what you're seeking, you need to stop and re-consider. Most of us wound up here because we were unable to conceive a child at all. Our fertility treatments gave us the child we longed for, plus two, and we gratefully accepted and welcomed them all. You already have children. Since you're able to become pregnant and able to carry a pregnancy, why would you prefer to have three at one time rather than having three, one at a time? As an outsider, I really can't judge your reasons, but I would point out that the pros in favor of this are very few, and tend to be more related to sensationalism, and less related to the wellbeing of the children. The cons can be extreme, and are also related to the wellbeing of the cildren, including such things as medical expenses, permanent damages, and funerals.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck, and will pray that God will give you lots of wisdom and insight into what you are suggesting.

Cat

Cat w/3 Kittens
Caidan, Carina and Caeleigh
Born at 31 weeks, 1/8/04.

The "goal" of most "reputable" infertility specialists is to help you achieve a healthy, successful pregancy. They do not set out to produce HOM and with the advancements in IVF, I believe that triplets resulting from IVF are actually declining.

I have 4 1/2 year old b/g/g triplets and wouldn't trade my situation for anything! However, I must say that I do not recommend it either. Again, statistically, I believe that the gestational outcome between twins and triplets isn't significant at this point; however, there is a big difference between raising twins and triplets. Don't get me wrong, the rewards are phenominal, but the toll is exponential, too.

Best of luck to you in your journey!

Robin

Emily, I'm sorry that your husband died, but glad that you have found a new love.

I can answer your tubal questions.... I had my tubes tied in 1991. At the time I had a 7 year old and a 6 year old and a dead end job with little chance for advancement, dh was also in a job that while great in the long run isn't all that great in pay (firefighter). We wanted to be able to provide a nice life for the two boys, and to do so, the future didn't include other children.

But things change, I started a business that was successful, and our incomes went up, and we started getting those longings for another child, hopefully a little girl.

I went straight to IVF because I didn't want to spend the money on a reversal that was likely to fail, and produce a high rate of ectopic pregnancies, and then require additional birthcontrol.

First of all, even if your only fertility issue is that your tubes are tied, IVF doesn't always work. And its expensive. I did two rounds of IVF, paid out of pocket, since only small insignificant portions of your procedures will be covered by any insurance plan. The first round did not work, the second one worked, I transferred 4 embryo's, 2 implanted, 1 divided and I gave birth at 32 weeks to a set of identical boys and a fraternal girl.

You didn't mention your age, but this will factor into the success rates. If a fertility clinic is touting 45% as the success rate, they must be involved in some pretty aggressive treatments, or they only do day 5 or higher blastocyst transfers. The problem with the first is an unacceptable disregard for HOM, the problem with the second is, you could go all the way through stimulation, retrieval, fertilization and have none of your embryo's make it to day 5/blast stage. So the numbers get skewed because they only give you the percentage of pregnancies resulting from TRANSFERS. They can disregard cycles that get cancelled.

Either way, I'd be a bit leary of any claim of 45%, the national rate is somewhere between 25-35 depending on the category. While twins are, to most, a perfectly acceptable outcome in IVF, certainly triplets are not and neither is anything higher. While all of us here love our children dearly, and wouldn't give them up for anything, we can say that because we managed to come out on the "favorable" side of the statistics. 30-50% of triplet pregnancies end before viability.

Twins were "okay" with us too, but we didn't want more than one, we just were okay with the risk of multiples in our IVF case. I think you will probably be discouraged by any reputable RE if you were to come right out and state that you WANTED multiples.

I can't help you with the doctor referral because I live on the east coast. Good luck!

MTM - mom to Michael(84),Stephan(85), Thomas, Matthew and Kathryn - born 12/27/99 at 32w 0 days

Emily,
I live in Montana and went to Dr. Edwin Robbins in Spokane, WA. He is great, and I'll bet he won't think your questions are dumb or your desire for multiples silly. He is "aggressive" with his IVF. For example, I was 40 and he put back 6 embryos in me because of the odds and my age. Hence, my triplets. But I am happy he took that risk.
It's not that far from Oregon, and he's got a GREAT record for success.
You can email me if you have more questions at jeanie.gentry@sjlh.com.
Good luck!

Jeanie, happy mom of Elizabeth, Daniel & David born 8/27/01 at 31+ weeks

I am in the Portland area. We used the RiverPlace Fertility Clinic (or some name like that), an offshoot of OHSU. They are downtown in the RiverPlace area. We got pregnant with our first IVF/ICSI. I do NOT recommend the Northwest Fertility Center, or some name like that, because I feel their goal is to stuff you with as many embryos as possible and then have you abort the "extra". Also, I do not believe they are as current with the latest fertility advancements like RiverPlace.

To answer your question, yes, I have always wanted three children, and when we transferred the three embryos yes, I did have a secret prayer that they would all "stick". I was 40-years old, this would be my one & only chance at becoming a mother, and I was willing to risk a triplet pregnancy. My prayers were answered because all three embryos DID stick! Yesterday was their 1st Birthday!!!!

I urge you not to discuss with a doctor that you "want" twins or triplets. This will scare them away from you, they might not want you as a patient because they will legitimately question your motivations & thought processes. I'm not saying that you have a mental problem, NO! Heck, I wanted multiples! What I *am* saying is that RE's don't like multiples in their stats, particularly triplets or more, so they are leery of people who might inadvertently come off "the wrong way" about multiples in the first place. Anyways, just a word to the wise... Yes, we certainly discussed that a multiple pregnancy was a possibility, but that was something that had to be discussed as a risk factor to transferring multiple embryos. But NO, I did not go in dreamy-eyed cooing about a multiple pregnancy.

Tulip & The Three Amigos
Born at 35w5d on December 31, 2002 - Happy New Year's Eve!!!
Aimee, Let's bump heads!
Edward, Rollin' Rollin' Rollin', Got to keep on rollin'!
Hope, Bouncy! Bouncy! Bouncy! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

YES! You *can* breastfeed triplets!!!
http://www.tripletconnection.org/dcforum/forum1/14349.html

Tulip & The Three Amigos
GBG born at 35w5d on December 31, 2002 - Happy New Year's Eve!!!

YES! You *can* breastfeed triplets!!!

I am a Velveteen Rabbit, and the birth, love, kisses & magic that are my children has made me Real.

I can not offer any advice on IVF with a tubal but I would caution you about what facility you chose! My DH and I went to a place that had such horrible people skills. This is an emotional venture and you will be spending a lot of time and money so you want to make sure they fit your emotional needs as well as offer the best medical care possible. They should also inform you of the risk involved with multiple pg's and inform you of their policy if multiples are conceived AND make sure you get the proper care if that occurs. Once I was PG they pretty much left us on our own after we declined reduction. I think I understand where you are coming from, I too secretly wished for more than one because we knew we could never afford to try IVF again. It is not easy and because you already have children you may need to find care for them during your pg and during a NICU stay if you deliver prematurely. It is not easy and I would not wish it on others but I would not change a minute of it either. That said, if you do IVF the odds of triplets or higher may not be that great depending on your health, age, etc. IVF is not easy, all the shots, possible failed attempts, and financial costs. Not to mention the emotions from your desire to have a baby and the horomones you are injecting. Yikes!!! Now that I have rambled on just do your homework and make the decision based on as much information you can find. Visit several clinics if you can.

Kim, Mom to
Logan Kenneth "I wish I were an only child"
Erin Louise "I love my brothers!"
Connor Andrew "I've gotta keep moving"
12/12/02 33w5d

Kim, Mom to
Logan Kenneth - Our future bull rider
Erin Louise -Our future ballerina/cowgirl
Connor Andrew - Our future artist

Hi,

I went through IVF to conceive because my tubes were removed, so that is one reason to do IVF. However, I feel I need to warn you that it is not possible to choose ahead of time how many babies you will conceive. I tried four times with the following results:
1. nothing- no babies, out of 3 embryos transferred
2. out of four embryos transferred, 1 fetus. However, I lost my baby at 19 weeks, do to a deveolpmental defect.
3. no babies, out of four embryos transferred.
4. out of five embryos transferred, three babies. I am currently 21 weeks pregnant.
So, what I'm trying to say is, you can't choose how many babies you will conceive, and sometimes you can't even conceive at all. It isn't an exact science by any means, and the success rates are still pretty low, so be prepared. In fact, according to my doctors, most triplets and HOM's are conceived through use of Clomid or fertility drugs, and very few are through IVF.

Good luck on your journey,
Kendra