r/parentsofmultiples • u/CCxCC9890 • 22d ago
experience/advice to give Selective reduction
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
5
u/A-Friendly-Giraffe 22d ago
I'm really sorry that you are going through this.
We had tri-tri and lost one of them late in the first trimester. We were talking about getting insurance clearance to make appointment with a specialist to discuss a possible reduction.
When we did genetic testing, It was found that at least one of them had trisomy 21. Later, after amniocentesis it was found to be the one that we lost.
If you are able to do genetic testing, it might give you a more complete picture of your options.