Specialists’ Attitude toward Appropriate Number of Transferable Embryos in Assisted Reproductive Technology in Iran

BACKGROUND: In recent years, the high likelihood of the implantation of transferred embryos has led to an increase in the number of multiple pregnancies and consequently an increased risk of complications in fetuses and mothers. Since the aim of infertility treatment is the birth of a healthy child while preserving the mother's health, therefore, attempts should be made to avoid multiple pregnancies as much as possible besides maintaining the women's chance of pregnancy by transferring an appropriate number of embryos. METHODS: The population under study consisted of specialists (gynecologists and embryologists) who worked in ART clinics across the country and had attended an infertility congress in Tehran in 2008. The devised questionnaire enquired about the infertility specialists’ attitude towards the appropriate number of transferable embryos. The questions were designed on a Likert scale of strongly agree, agree, indifferent, disagree and strongly disagree. The scores of the questionnaire ranged from 0–60 which were later scaled up to 100 for ease of data analysis. Accordingly, scores below 50 were considered as “negative”, 50–75 “moderate” and greater than 75 as “positive”. RESULTS: Overall, 9.9% of the specialists gained a score less than 50 (negative view), 67.3% between 50–75 (moderate) and 22.8% greater than 75 (positive view). CONCLUSION: The infertility specialists in Iran are relatively reluctant to transfer a high number of embryos for infertility treatments.