Aila Tiitinen
The Modern Laboratory · People
The Modern Laboratory
Aila Tiitinen
A Helsinki reproductive endocrinologist who turned single embryo transfer from a promising idea into daily clinical practice.
From placenta to the IVF clinic. Aila Tiitinen trained in medicine at the University of Helsinki and specialised in obstetrics, gynaecology and gynaecological endocrinology. Her first research, in the mid-1980s, studied a protein made by the placenta and the womb lining. By the end of that decade she was working on polycystic ovaries and infertility treatment at Helsinki University Central Hospital.
The Helsinki studies. Tiitinen was second author of the 1999 Family Federation study that opens Room 7. She then led the work at her own hospital. In 2001 she reported on 127 elective single embryo transfers in which at least one spare embryo was frozen. Counting later frozen embryo transfers, 52.8 per cent of women had a baby or an ongoing pregnancy. The twin rate was 7.6 per cent.
Making it routine. Two years later her team showed what happened when a whole clinic changed its habits. Between 1997 and 2001, elective single transfers rose from 11 to 56 per cent of cycles. Pregnancy rates held steady at about a third, while twin deliveries fell from 25 to 5 per cent. She also took part in the Finnish randomised trial of one versus two embryos.
A long career. Tiitinen is a docent at the University of Helsinki and has supervised doctoral students. She has written more than 250 papers on reproductive health, from frozen embryo transfer and miscarriage to the growth of children born after treatment. She describes single embryo transfer as her most important research area.
Also see: Sirpa Vilska, Christel Hydén-Granskog, Outi Hovatta
About the sources
- University of Helsinki Research Portal, Aila Tiitinen (docent, Clinicum; 266 research outputs; doctoral supervision), https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/aila-tiitinen (checked October 2026)
- Journal of Fertilization: In Vitro, editor biography, Tiitinen Aila (degrees and specialities; eSET as main research area), https://www.longdom.org/editor/tiitinen-aila-3075
- Terho AM, Tiitinen A, Salo J, Martikainen H, Gissler M, Pelkonen S. Growth of singletons born after frozen embryo transfer until early adulthood: a Finnish register study. Human Reproduction 2024;39(3):604–611. PubMed 38177081, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38177081/
- Tiitinen A, Unkila-Kallio L, Halttunen M, Hyden-Granskog C. Impact of elective single embryo transfer on the twin pregnancy rate. Human Reproduction 2003;18(7):1449–1453. PubMed 12832371, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12832371/
- Tiitinen A, Halttunen M, Härkki P, Vuoristo P, Hyden-Granskog C. Elective single embryo transfer: the value of cryopreservation. Human Reproduction 2001;16(6):1140–1144. Affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Helsinki University Central Hospital. PubMed 11387283, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11387283/
- Martikainen H, Tiitinen A, Tomás C, Tapanainen J, Orava M, Tuomivaara L, Vilska S, Hydén-Granskog C. One versus two embryo transfer after IVF and ICSI: a randomized study. Human Reproduction 2001;16(9):1900–1903. PubMed 11527895, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11527895/
- Vilska S, Tiitinen A, Hydén-Granskog C, Hovatta O. Elective transfer of one embryo results in an acceptable pregnancy rate and eliminates the risk of multiple birth. Human Reproduction 1999;14(9):2392–2395. Affiliation: Infertility Clinic, The Family Federation of Finland, Helsinki. PubMed 10469718, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10469718/
- Tiitinen A, Laatikainen T, Rutanen EM, et al., Seppälä M. Placental protein 10 (PP10) in normal pregnancy and cholestasis of pregnancy. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 1985;92(11):1137–1140. PubMed 4063230, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4063230/
The IVF Museum · The Modern Laboratory · People
Compiled with AI-assisted research and checked against the original sources. Not yet peer-reviewed. Corrections are warmly welcomed.
