anyone ever been pregnant with triplets?

Question

is it true that when you are pregnant with triplets, you are encouraged to reduce the number of babies to one or two?

i read this in the NY times today. that doctors will ask women that. but i didn't know how common this was.

Answer 1

Selective reduction is usually only recommended if a multiple pregnancy puts the mother and babies at a particular risk - it is certainly NOT a routine procedure and is unlikely to be recommeded for triplets, especially those conceived naturally.

Very occasionally, fertility treatment or assisted conception (and very VERY occasionally mother nature herself) can result in a large number of embryos successfully implanting and in cases such as this then selective reduction may be recommended. However, when undergoing fertility treatment women are counselled about these sorts of possibilities beforehand, so it isn't something that is suddenly sprung upon a pregnant women without warning.

Note too that it isn't a procedure that can be forced on a women. A doctor can make a recommendation, taking everything into account not JUST the number of babies, but it is up to the mother/couple to make the decision.

In short, no, it is not normal procedure to encourage a women pregnant with triplets to perform a selective reduction, however it may happen occasionally, for a whole lot of reasons.

Answer 2

I have never been pregnant with triplets but I know someone who has. No, they do not ask you to abort one or two babies. Think of the woman who have 5 and 6 kids at one time. I have never heard of them having to chose which babies to have or which to give up. Thats just awful.

Answer 3

i thought woman only do that when they are pregnant with like 5 or 6 babies at once. i never heard it with triplets.

Answer 4

no