In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is the most commonly encountered assisted reproductive technology (ART). In fact, 1 in 18 babies in Australia are born through IVF. IVF is a fertility treatment recommended for many couples experiencing difficulty falling pregnant, but has also enabled many single women along their way to motherhood with the help of donor sperm.
As a dedicated fertility specialist, Dr Kate is passionate about seeing you grow your family. She is proudly partnered with Genea Newcastle, meaning she offers IVF success rates above the national average due to Genea’s innovative approach to reproductive medicine. In addition to IVF, Dr Kate provides the full range of assisted reproductive technologies, including intrauterine insemination and intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
IVF refers to the process of fertilising an egg with a sperm in a specialised laboratory – in vitro is the medical term meaning anywhere outside a living body.
Prior to recommending IVF, Dr Kate will have conducted a comprehensive examination of the underlying reason why you and your partner may be having difficulty conceiving. Not all cases of infertility are best treated with IVF, and in these situations, Dr Kate will guide you towards an alternative approach.
If Dr Kate considers IVF to give you the highest chance of a successful pregnancy, you will then meet with your Genea fertility nursing team, who will be your point of contact during the IVF process. At this meeting, you and your partner will be taken through the next steps.
To stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs
At Genea Newcastle’s state-of-the-art fertility clinic to monitor your hormone levels and progress of your follicles within the ovaries
At the optimal time as determined by your monitoring appointments, which readies the eggs for retrieval
At the clinic 36 hours later for your eggs to be collected from your ovaries using a thin needle guided by ultrasound; if you are conceiving as a couple, this appointment is also when your partner will need to provide a sperm sample
To find out how many eggs were successfully fertilised with sperm after being combined in the lab
If you have decided beforehand to go ahead with preimplantation genetic testing
Appointment at the clinic, which is when Dr Kate will place one of your successfully fertilised eggs (now an embryo) into your uterus to carry through pregnancy
With your fertility nurse to confirm whether the embryo has implanted and taken hold in the uterus
Not everyone falls pregnant after the first IVF cycle; it may take two or more tries before the pregnancy test finally shows the result you’ve been hoping for. With Dr Kate, you can be assured that you are receiving the best in IVF treatment, provided with Genea’s world-leading technology, including the unique GeriⓇ incubation system. Compared to the average rate across other fertility clinics in Australia, Genea Newcastle has approximately 10% greater success at resulting in a baby after a woman’s first ever egg retrieval cycle.
Dr Kate can perform intrauterine insemination (IUI) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for selected patients where IVF may not be the most appropriate option.
IUI involves a medical procedure to place your partner’s/donor sperm directly into your uterus to aid fertilisation. We make sure to time this for when your egg is available in the fallopian tubes for fertilisation, as guided by ultrasound scans and blood tests. IUI may be preferred over IVF if:
ICSI involves your embryologist selecting the healthiest single sperm from your partner for direct injection into your egg for fertilisation. ICSI is most appropriate for couples affected by male factor infertility. This may mean your partner’s sperm has trouble with swimming (motility) or shape (morphology), which impacts how well it can penetrate and fertilise your egg. Low sperm count or disorders relating to semen volume and ejaculation may also benefit from ICSI.
If you are unsuitable for or unable to have IVF, IUI, or ICSI, you may consider third party reproduction , which involves the use of donor eggs or sperm, or a surrogate.
