When people think of in vitro fertilization, they may remember tabloid headlines and reality TV shows about families with whole litters of kids after they chose to implant five or more embryos. Turns out those cases are extremely rare, as most clinics will not let you implant more than two embryos unless the mother is above the age of 35 or has other pre-existing fertility issues. Although, since the odds of having identical twins through IVF inexplicably is 30% higher than those for a normal pregnancy, the chance of having multiple babies is still extremely high.

The Ralstons never intended to have multiples when they began the IVF process, but circumstances just sort of fell into place. Their initial cycle yielded two embryos of marginal quality, which they chose to implant, but neither managed to take hold. When a second cycle resulted in six good embryos, the couple once more decided to double their chances. “We thought we were more likely to get pregnant with two than one,” says Nicole. “I will say that we did not think we would actually have twins. Though, it was quite the amazing surprise!”

Transferring two embryos was also the standard procedure at the Suhrs clinic. The couple had eight viable embryos and chose to have two of them implanted. “We were OK if we had twins if it doubled the odds of the procedure working,” says Suhr. “Daniel and Conor were born in July 2004.”

Watching his teammate’s family effectively double overnight served as a cautionary tale for Max Woodbury. Babysitting the infant boys a week prior to their own embryo transfer helped the couple solidify their decision. “I was holding one, and Tali was holding the other, and I said, ‘This could be a lot of work,’” he remembers. “We decided to transfer one embryo, just to be on the safe side.” The universe apparently had other plans, as identical twins Noah and Levi were born in July 2005.

Suhr jokes that there must’ve been something in the Portland water supply at the time. “We had three guys that got IVF and in all three cases it worked first shot,” he says. “So, we actually had three sets of twins on the rugby team.”

See Also:

Our In Vitro Fertilization Journey to Parenthood
The Great Sperm Hunt