O-241 ESHRE guidance on embryo transfer: when to do DET?

More than four decades have passed since the birth of the first infant conceived through the use of assisted reproductive technology (ART). During this time, ART has increased the chance for millions of people who have trouble conceiving to achieve a healthy pregnancy and birth. In the early years of IVF/ICSI, clinicians may have transferred all available embryos into the uterus because of the low overall treatment success at the time. However, with medical and technical improvements in ART, the transfer of multiple embryos led to a greater number of multiple pregnancies, compared to spontaneous pregnancies. Multiple pregnancies are associated with a wide range of maternal and neonatal complications. This is why at present, the transfer of one embryo is considered the preferable route towards the key objective of ART and at present this is recommended by several international and national professional organisations such as ESHRE and ASRM. However, these recommendations are not followed in many countries, as can be observed in annual reviews. Double embryo transfer (DET) remains a viable alternative to elective single embryo transfer (eSET) in many clinics. The aim of the presentation is to highlight the place of double embryo transfer in the current practice of ART while taking into account best evidence from clinical studies. The presentation will present results from ESHRE’s guideline on the number of embryos to transfer in IVF/ICSI as well as some results from the surveys of the guideline development group (GDG), the most important of which is the survey to European infertility patients performed together with Fertility Europe, Europe’s patient organisation.