City Fertility is excited to be leading the way in the implementation of a new fertility treatment, CAPA-IVM, that involves less hormone injections than traditional IVF.
CAPA-IVM was developed in partnership with the University of NSW with Professors Robert Gilchrist and Bill Ledger leading the collaboration which aims to focus on improving outcomes for women struggling with fertility.
In-vitro maturation (IVM) is when eggs are matured in a lab instead of in a woman’s body which removes the need for about two weeks of hormone injections.
IVM uses around 80 per cent less hormones. “A woman can walk into the clinic on Monday, have two doses of hormone shots to prime the ovary and then her eggs can be collected on Thursday,” says Professor Ledger, fertility specialist at City Fertility’s Sydney CBD clinic.
“IVM has been around for years, but it’s never been very successful because it’s hard to replicate what the ovary does in a laboratory,” he says.
The improved IVM technique was developed by Belgian researchers and Australian scientist Professor Robert Gilchrist from UNSW’s School of Clinical Medicine.
A recent trial in Vietnam found pregnancy rates were the same with CAPA-IVM as they are in regular IVF*, although IVF patients had more embryos to freeze.
Professor Ledger predicts that around 15 per cent of women who currently experience issues with fertility will be eligible for the new CAPA-IVM treatment.
Professor Gilchrist said IVM was well suited for women who have ovarian cysts, high ovarian reserve, serious health conditions like a cancer diagnosis and require immature eggs to be removed, and/or for those women with a strong fear of needles.
The advancement has been made possible by public donations through the Royal Hospital for Women’s Foundation – with $1.6 million raised to establish the centre in 2017.
City Fertility, under the direction of the group’s National Medical Director Roger Hart and Professor Bill Ledger, and the Royal Hospital for Women will soon implement the new treatment – the only clinics to do so in Australia.
If you’d like to find out more about our fertility services or discuss how we can help contact our friendly staff at 1300 354 354 or contactus@cityfertility.com.au today.
