What Is Multiple Ovulation? Definition & Causes
Some women may release more than one egg in a menstrual cycle, i.e., have several ovulations in the same month. In addition, all of these eggs are susceptible to fertilization during this menstrual cycle, which would explain the births of twins.
The origin of multiple ovulation is due to several causes, which are grouped into two types: hereditary and acquired.
In fertility treatments such as artificial insemination (AI), a woman may develop and ovulate more than one egg as a result of ovarian stimulation.
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What is multiple ovulation?
Normally, at the beginning of the menstrual cycle there is an increase in follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) that causes the development of various ovarian follicles. Only one of these follicles will predominate and reach the final stage of maturity. At this time, the predominant follicle will release an egg by the action of luteinizing hormone (LH), known as the ovulation phase.
However, some women may have several ovulations in the same menstrual cycle. This means that more than one predominant follicle will develop and, therefore, several eggs (usually two) will be released in one month. This phenomenon is called multiple ovulation.
The result of two ovulations in the same menstrual cycle of the woman is the reason for the birth of non-identical twins. In these situations, the two released eggs are fertilized by two different sperm, called superfertilization.
Causes of multiple ovulation
Fundamentally, there are two main causes of multiple ovulations:
- Hereditary causes: due to the inheritance of genes whose expression favors multiple ovulation. These are genes that intervene in the regulation of follicles and/or in the increase of progesterone levels.
- Acquired causes: as a consequence of overweight, advanced age, ovarian stimulation in assisted reproduction treatments or the use of hormonal contraceptives, there may be a greater risk of multiple ovulation in women.
What are the symptoms of multiple ovulation?
In principle, there are no differences in the symptomatology of women with multiple ovulation compared to women with normal ovulation.
Some symptoms during ovulation that women describe are as follows:
- Pain in the lower belly area
- Changes in body temperature
- Increased amount and texture of vaginal discharge.
- Alterations in the cervix.
- Gas and abdominal swelling.
- Muscle pain.
- Bone pain.
It should be noted that every woman is different and some women do not suffer any change in their body during ovulation.
Multiple ovulation and pregnancy
Women who have multiple ovulation have a greater risk that both released eggs will be fertilized by two sperm.
When this multiple egg fertilization occurs, the result will be a pregnancy of two non-identical babies or twins.
Assisted reproduction treatments
In order to achieve gestation through assisted reproduction techniques, it is necessary to follow several stages and one of them is ovarian stimulation in women through the administration of drugs. In this way, the growth of several ovarian follicles is guaranteed.
Therefore, ovarian stimulation in artificial insemination (AI) or timed intercourse makes 1-2 eggs available for fertilization. In this type of technique, multiple pregnancies occur when the woman is stimulated with high doses of hormones or for more than a few days and, therefore, there is greater development of eggs.
On the other hand, the objective of ovarian stimulation in in vitro fertilization (IVF) is to obtain various eggs that will be fertilized in the laboratory to obtain embryos. Therefore, the woman is given higher hormonal doses than for AI. In these cases, the reason that there is a higher percentage of multiple pregnancy is because most people decide to transfer two embryos generated by IVF to increase the chance that at least one of them will implant in the uterus.
For more information on multiple pregnancy, read on in the following article: Multiple pregnancies in assisted reproduction: pros and cons.
FAQs from users
Is it possible to ovulate twice in the same month during AI treatment?
Artificial Insemination (AI) is an assisted reproduction technique where once the moment of ovulation has arrived, capacitated semen is deposited in the vagina to achieve gestation. The result obtained is little more than a directed coitus.
If we are dealing with AI without ovarian stimulation, we have no way of controlling whether ovulation is unique or not. In most cases, treatment is prescribed to achieve ovarian stimulation and this does encourage multiple ovulation.
In AI only sperm is deposited at the right time. Therefore, answering the question of whether it is possible to ovulate twice in an AI cycle and if ovarian stimulation is performed for it, double ovulation may be more frequent.
The only alternative to avoid this circumstance is to perform in vitro fertilisation (IVF) in the laboratory and culture the embryos until the blastocyst stage. In this way, we control the embryos generated in the laboratory and we always transfer - unless expressly indicated by the patient - a single embryo. In conclusion, AI does offer the possibility of multiple gestation, IVF does not.
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How common are spontaneous multiple ovulations?
Natural double ovulation is studied by the rate of spontaneous twin pregnancies that occurs in 1 out of 80 pregnancies.
In Spain the incidence of multiple ovulation in women is approximately 1.25%. However, there are countries, such as Nigeria, where the incidence is higher and others, such as Japan, where it is lower.
How can multiple ovulation be detected?
The only way to detect multiple ovulation is through an ultrasound test, that is, through an ultrasound scan in which the presence of two luteal bodies in the ovaries will be seen.
Can you ovulate twice in the same month?
Yes, although it is rare for two ovulations to occur. Sometimes, some women may release two or three eggs in a single menstrual cycle, which would explain the birth of twins.
Can Omifin produce multiple ovulation?
Yes. Omifin is a drug used for ovarian stimulation. Therefore, the function of this drug is to increase the production of mature eggs, improving fertility and the chances of achieving a pregnancy.
However, it should be remembered that when a large number of eggs are generated, there is a greater risk of multiple pregnancy.
Suggested for you
Want to know in more detail how the menstrual cycle works? Read on in the following article: The different phases of the menstrual cylce.
We have also commented that assisted reproduction treatments are responsible for numerous multiple pregnancies, but can have risks for the woman and the baby. More information here: Multiple Pregnancy Risks for Mother and Babies.
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References
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Roser JF, Etcharren MV, Miragaya MH, Mutto A, Colgin M, Losinno L, Ross PJ. Superovulation, embryo recovery, and pregnancy rates from seasonally anovulatory donor mares treated with recombinant equine FSH (reFSH). Theriogenology. 2019 Oct 29. pii: S0093-691X(19)30484-4. doi: 10.1016/j (View)
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