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Fertility treatment is physically and emotionally demanding, and depending on your needs it can be expensive, so it’s important to find a clinic and doctor that’s right for you. You can ask your GP for advice about choosing a fertility specialist but you can also do your own research before committing to a doctor and clinic. Here’s some information to consider.

Changes to legislation governing donor conception in Victoria mean that on 1 March 2017, the state’s donor conception registers moved from the Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) to VARTA. From that date, VARTA is managing both the Central Register and the Voluntary Register.

New regulations made under the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008, the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Regulations 2019 (the new regulations), start on December 13, 2019, and replace the earlier regulations which will no longer operate.

Over the last few decades many thousands of people have been born as a result of donor sperm or eggs in Victoria.

There are many opportunities in Victoria for people to find local egg or embryo donors. There are also people in the state who have eggs or embryos in storage who would like to find a person or couple to whom they would feel comfortable donating.

Since the first IVF baby was born some 40 years ago, more than 7 million people have been born as a result of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) such as IVF. Studies over the years have shown that babies born after ART are more likely to be born prematurely and to weigh less at birth, and they have a slightly greater risk of birth defects. However, by the time they become adults, research has previously shown that they are just healthy as other people.

IVF has come a long way since the first baby was born more than 40 years ago. In the early days of IVF doctors waited for the one egg that a woman releases every month to mature before they tried to retrieve it and fertilise it in the laboratory. Needless to say, the chance of a pregnancy was extremely low.

Fertility specialists are constantly looking for ways to improve your chance of getting pregnant through IVF or other assisted reproductive techniques (ART) to have a baby. In the last few years a number of so called ‘add-ons’, or ‘adjuvant’ therapies, have been offered by IVF clinics.

If you’re planning to have a baby, quitting smoking sooner rather than later will lower your chance of having a “low birth weight” baby. And the longer you smoke during pregnancy, the greater your baby’s risk. That’s the conclusion of a large study looking at the timing of smoking cessation and the risk of low birth weight or LBW (weighing less than 2.5kg).

Highlights from VARTA Annual Report 2019.