# Can doctors split embryos to make twins?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-split-embryos-to-make-twins/79952
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 5, 2001, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-split-embryos-to-make-twins/79952 "2001-09-05T23:50:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@chinstroker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chinstroker)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2001, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-split-embryos-to-make-twins/79952/1 "2001-09-05T23:50:37Z")
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### Author:  [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2001, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-doctors-split-embryos-to-make-twins/79952/2 "2001-09-06T00:23:23Z")
I don’t know for sure, but would imagine they could relatively simply. The IVF procedure (In-Vitro Fertilization) is incredibly common these days. That’s where the doctors remove eggs from the woman, fertilize those eggs, wait until they have divided to contain between 5 and 10 cells, and then implant back into the woman (or into another woman). A related procedure is called ICSI (I don’t know what the acronym stands for). In that procedure they actually choose one healthy sperm (they actually have a “beauty contest”, and try to pick the best one they can find), and inject that particular sperm directly into the egg. I would imagine that, because they are so easily able to manipulate the eggs and sperm to such a degree, they would be able to manually split the two cells of an embryo immediately after they first divide.