IVF can be used to help both couples and individuals facing a wide variety of fertility situations to have a baby.
IVF is a form of assisted reproductive technology (ART) used to treat infertility caused by a variety of conditions as well as enable individuals and same-sex couples to experience parenthood.
For couples facing infertility, IVF has demonstrated success in overcoming various fertility conditions. These include sperm abnormalities, recurrent miscarriages, endometriosis, blocked or damaged fallopian tubes, ovulation disorders, and unexplained causes.
At your first review appointment, Dr Parmar will discuss the results of your fertility tests with you. If IVF is recommended, she will explain the process in full, and you will have a chance to ask questions at any time during the process, so you have a good understanding and feel confident about the proposed treatment.
As you prepare for IVF, you will also:
Your ovaries are stimulated with hormone injections to produce multiple eggs within one cycle for a better chance of conception. Dr Parmar will monitor your response closely during the period to ensure the right timing of the final trigger injection to prompt the release of the eggs.
In a simple procedure, Genea’s embryology team will collect the available eggs directly from your ovaries. This procedure is usually performed under sedation and takes 20-30 minutes.
On the same day as your egg collection, your partner will produce the sperm sample. If you are undergoing treatment with donor sperm, this will be thawed on the day. This sperm is combined with your eggs in a dish for fertilisation and the resulting embryos are transferred to Genea’s purpose-built Geri® incubator over the next five days under constant monitoring.
The Geri® incubator, exclusively used by Genea in Australia, has delivered a 12.2% increase in the number of live births compared with traditional systems.1 This piece of technology is designed to mimic the natural womb environment, while offering time-lapse imagery of your embryos’ development.
Each chamber within the incubator is independently climate controlled to maintain optimal humidity and temperature conditions at all times without disturbing the growing embryos inside.
Preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) may be performed on these embryos if you choose this procedure.
The healthiest embryo is transferred into your uterus using a slim catheter passed through your cervix. This may feel similar to a cervical screening test and is typically well tolerated, with no anaesthetic required.
Around two weeks later, you will have a blood test to confirm whether your treatment was successful at establishing a pregnancy.
There are a range of factors that might affect your chance of conceiving with IVF, such as:
The right type of support and care also makes a difference. Dr Parmar has chosen Genea as the clinic for her IVF procedures, and with Genea’s pioneering IVF technologies and protocols, their success rates are consistently higher than the national average.
