Aggregated News
Twin and triplet birth rates are set to rise as more Australian women undergoing IVF ask doctors to implant multiple embryos to reduce the cost of fertility treatment.
Specialists say cuts to the Medicare rebate have pushed up patient costs by about $1500 for each IVF cycle, forcing many to delay or abandon attempts to conceive.
They say there is more pressure from cash-strapped patients to implant multiple embryos to boost chances of pregnancy in one cycle.
Despite multiple births carrying a fivefold greater risk of death, prematurity or other complications, clinic chiefs say more couples are taking the chance.
''They're saying, we understand that it's more dangerous but we can't afford to do another cycle so we'll have two embryos put back and we'll deal with the consequences. If our [premature] baby … has to have eight weeks in intensive care, well Medicare pays for that,'' said Gab Kovacs, international medical director at Monash IVF in Melbourne.
Medical director of Fertility First in Hurstville, Sydney, Dr Anne Clark, said while some patients asked for more than a single-embryo transfer...
Specialists say cuts to the Medicare rebate have pushed up patient costs by about $1500 for each IVF cycle, forcing many to delay or abandon attempts to conceive.
They say there is more pressure from cash-strapped patients to implant multiple embryos to boost chances of pregnancy in one cycle.
Despite multiple births carrying a fivefold greater risk of death, prematurity or other complications, clinic chiefs say more couples are taking the chance.
''They're saying, we understand that it's more dangerous but we can't afford to do another cycle so we'll have two embryos put back and we'll deal with the consequences. If our [premature] baby … has to have eight weeks in intensive care, well Medicare pays for that,'' said Gab Kovacs, international medical director at Monash IVF in Melbourne.
Medical director of Fertility First in Hurstville, Sydney, Dr Anne Clark, said while some patients asked for more than a single-embryo transfer...