Editing Multiple birth (section)

===Selective reduction (procedure)===
[[Selective reduction]] is the practice of reducing the number of fetuses in a multiple pregnancy; it is also called "multifetal reduction".<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 2017 |title=Opinion Number 719: Multifetal Pregnancy Reduction |url=https://www.acog.org/Clinical-Guidance-and-Publications/Committee-Opinions/Committee-on-Ethics/Multifetal-Pregnancy-Reduction |publisher=American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' Committee on Ethics.}}</ref>

The procedure generally takes two days; the first day for testing in order to select which fetuses to remove, and the second day for the procedure itself, in which [[potassium chloride]] is injected into the heart of each selected fetus under the guidance of ultrasound imaging.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Evans |first1=MI |last2=Andriole |first2=S |last3=Britt |first3=DW |date=2014 |title=Fetal reduction: 25 years' experience. |journal=Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=69–82 |doi=10.1159/000357974 |pmid=24525884 |doi-access=free}}{{open access}}</ref>  Risks of the procedure include bleeding requiring transfusion, rupture of the uterus, [[retained placenta]], infection, a miscarriage, and [[prelabor rupture of membranes]]. Each of these appears to be rare.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Legendre |first1=Claire-Marie |last2=Moutel |first2=Grégoire |last3=Drouin |first3=Régen |last4=Favre |first4=Romain |last5=Bouffard |first5=Chantal |year=2013 |title=Differences between selective termination of pregnancy and fetal reduction in multiple pregnancy: A narrative review |journal=Reproductive BioMedicine Online |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=542–54 |doi=10.1016/j.rbmo.2013.02.004 |pmid=23518032 |doi-access=free}}{{open access}}</ref> There are also ethical concerns about this procedure, since it is a form of [[abortion]], and also because of concerns over which fetuses are terminated and why.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 January 2012 |title="Selective Reduction Abortions" On the Rise. |url=https://www.christian.org.uk/news/selective-reduction-abortions-on-the-rise/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=31 August 2011 |title=US article exposes trend to abort half a twin pregnancy |url=https://www.christian.org.uk/news/us-article-exposes-trend-to-abort-half-a-twin-pregnancy/}}</ref>

Selective reduction was developed in the mid-1980s, as people in the field of assisted reproductive technology became aware of the risks that multiple pregnancies carried for the mother and for the fetuses.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mundy |first=Liza |date=May 20, 2007 |title=Too Much to Carry? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501730_pf.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405010648/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501730_pf.html |archive-date=April 5, 2015 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] Magazine}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Padawer |first=Ruth |date=August 10, 2011 |title=The Two-Minus-One Pregnancy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/magazine/the-two-minus-one-pregnancy.html |magazine=New York Times Magazine}}</ref>