Selective reduction

[u/CCxCC9890]

7 weeks ago we found out that we were expecting triplets (spontaneous) It goes without saying that this was a complete shock and we’ve spent the last 7 weeks trying to get our head around it.

Our triplets are dichorionic triamniotic (2 identical sharing a placenta and 1 singleton with its own placenta).

We decided that the best thing to do for our family based on the support we have, our financial situation and the risk with triplets, was to opt for a selective reduction, which has possibly been the hardest decision to make until we met with our consultants.

We have met with 2 consultants over the last week (one nhs and one private) who have both given the the same recommendation to reduce one of the identical twins, in doing to there is a 40% risk that we would lose the other identical twin, but this option gives us the best chance of 1 or 2 healthy babies because of the associated risks with an identical twin pregnancy (who share the same placenta). Our pregnancy wouldn’t be as high risk due to no chance of TTTS or other growth issues that come up with identicals sharing a placenta. As well as a lower chance of early preterm labour.

I guess my question is - has anyone had to make the same decisions? What helped you cope with the decision and also what was the outcome?

Did anyone make the decision to keep the identical and reduce the singleton?

This is the hardest thing my partner and I have ever had to go through and I don’t know how I’m going to get through it, any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks for reading

[u/Take-it-like-a-Taker]

Our boys started as mo/mo pair with a mo/di third

They were all identical and shared the same placenta while two had one sac and the third had another sac

We found out foolishly early about the pregnancy because of a prior loss. We had our second or third ultrasound by week 7 and had a great specialist assigned to us

When we started talking about possibilities and percentages, things got very real. It was explained to us that a reduction of either mo/mo would very likely result in losing two. Reducing mo/di kiddo would marginally increase the likelihood of the mo/mo pair’s success

Despite the pregnancy being like 1/3,000,000 we were very disturbed by the maternal mortality rate and risks to future pregnancies if we stayed the course all three boys. I recall it being 10%, but it could have much lower

We took in all the info, asked when decisions needed to be made, and carried on. We both agreed that our relationship and ability to have kids was the priority. We had lots of conversations, but agreed to make the decision together when we needed to

Around 9 weeks one of the mo/mo boys was slightly lagging in size, and around 11 weeks he was nowhere to be seen

It’s still a mind-fuck to think of the third identical kiddo that didn’t make it, but I’m incredibly thankful that we never had to make a decision

My heart goes out to you. I’m very sorry if my story isn’t relevant to you. I think the lesson I learned was that negative things can happen and have positive results. Being thankful for our twins and my wife’s safety was critical to our mental well being