A new alternative to IVF has arrived in Australia and it could dramatically change fertilisation treatment for would-be mothers worldwide.
The product being trialled in Sydney has been labelled revolutionary.
After three long rounds, fertility treatment is an uncomfortable but everyday part of Kylie Haraldsson’s life.
“It’s definitely a hard journey that I wish upon no woman,” she said.
For many, a new treatment on trial in Sydney could end the gruelling process.
“Instead of two weeks of injections, two or three injections a day which is what conventional IVF is, this would be literally a few days of tablets and maybe two injections,” Dr Gavin Sacks from IVF Australia said.
An IVM technique was first borne in a rented apartment in New York by US startup Gameto.
Australia is the third country to test the approach.
“You have no side effects, so your ovaries are not enlarged, so you’re not bloated, no pressure, nothing like that,” Sacks said.
“They’re just women, like they wouldn’t know they’re in any kind of IVF cycle.”
The process gathers eggs before they’ve matured, placing them in a dish containing a newly developed stem cell product called Fertilo.
Those cells mimic ovary cells, creating an environment in which the eggs can quickly grow.
Requiring no injections could slash the cost.
One in 18 children born in Australia are conceived using IVF.
Four women in Sydney are being treated as a part of the trial and experts are calling it a game changer.
“I really think that this would be one of the great steps in reproductive medicine,” Sacks said.
It’s hoped the Sydney trial will expand to 20 women.
Fertilo’s efficiency is on par with traditional techniques.
A baby was born in December to a mother in Peru.
