Our embryologists are key members of your IVF support team, playing a critical role in every stage of your journey with us here at City Fertility.
They are the scientific staff who specialise in the development and care of your precious eggs, sperm, and embryos, giving you the best chance of achieving your dreams of parenthood. They are responsible for variety of important tasks including, but not limited to:
- maintaining the laboratory’s optimum conditions
- insemination
- monitoring each embryos’ development
- selecting the embryos for transfer
- genetic testing
- preserving eggs, sperm, and embryos
Our embryologists also have direct contact with their patients throughout their journey, including at egg retrieval, during their cycle to update them on their embryos’ development and on embryo transfer day.
In honour of International Embryologist Day, we caught up with one of our wonderful embryologists, Jessica Morris, to give you an insight into her role as an embryologist and Laboratory Supervisor at our Brisbane Southside clinic.
Why did you become an embryologist?
After I had finished my science degree, I had the opportunity to visit an IVF clinic. I didn’t know much about IVF back then but instantly fell in love with the idea of becoming an embryologist. It’s a career that embodies all aspects of what I wanted in a career – it’s scientific, medical, requires a lot of patience, good problem solving, lots of patient contact and a constant need for research as technologies progress.
What does the day of an embryologist involve?
Every day is different which is all part of the fun. Some days you may start with egg collections in the morning, embryo transfers in the middle of the day, and inseminations in the afternoon. On other days you may focus on embryo warming and embryo vitrification. We have a lot of patient contact at City Fertility as well, so we spend time each day updating patients on their results or talking to patients before their procedures.
What do you love about your job?
I love finding out that a patient is pregnant! We have a bell at the clinic that is wrung every time a positive result comes through. It’s heart-warming and is a constant reminder of why we do what we do.
What is one piece of advice you wish your patients knew?
Everyone’s journey is so different, and unfortunately, not everyone will get pregnant on the first round of IVF. But perseverance is key, and there are lots of things we can try or explore to achieve your pregnancy dream. Our whole team is always here to help and provide reassurance and support when you need it.
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.
