Miracle baby born after IVF breakthrough

Little Bonnie Loutas is not only a blessing for her parents.

The technique is called CAPA-IVM, and it is 15 years in the making by Australian researchers and their counterparts overseas

Bonnie isn’t fussed about being in the spotlight.

But her arrival six days ago heralds an evolution in fertility treatment, and her parents couldn’t be happier.

Leanna and Theo Loutas said they were “over the moon” and “unbelievably happy, it’s so special”.

She’s the first in Australia to be born using a breakthrough technique.

That breakthrough is thanks to the work of UNSW Professor Robert Gilchrist and his colleagues in Belgium and Vietnam.

Professor Robert Gilchrist said “the principal benefit or principal advantage of the technique is for the patient herself”.

The technique is called CAPA-IVM.

“The woman’s eggs are immature when they’re collected and are grown in the lab for two days using a special solution to mimic ovulation,” Gilchrist told 9News.

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It significantly reduces the number of hormone injections required from two weeks to two days.

Leanna Loutas said she “didn’t feel like I was taking medication”.

Gilchrist explained that because she had less hormones, “there’s less side-effects, less risk from the hormones”.

“There’s also less monitoring, ultrasounds, blood tests … about the half the cost of an IVF cycle,” he said. “It’s a cost saving for Australian taxpayers.”

Up to 20 per cent of women needing IVF will benefit, particularly those with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Gilchrist said it had been a very long journey “but we got there in the end”.

He said this breakthrough had the potential to shake up the field of IVF. 

Next year, the hospital is aiming to do the procedure without using hormones.

The Royal Hospital for Women is one of only six locations in the world to offer this new treatment.

Leanna Loutas said: “All the things we thought were important in our lives, we used to complain about are now completely insignificant.”

Her dad Theo agreed: “She’s everything now.”