Welcome
This website is designed to provide nonbiased, general information on fertility treatments provided by fertility clinics in Australia. These treatments include ovulation tracking, ovulation induction, artificial insemination, IVF, ICSI, donor programs and surrogacy. Fertility clinics differ in their protocols and procedures, and therefore patients should consult their fertility clinic for specific information. However, this website can be useful in providing background information on fertility treatments, causes of infertility, fees and success rates, and other areas of fertility treatment.
Fertility Informed cannot provide individual diagnoses or recommendations. The treatment plan that is right for an individual or couple is dependant on the particular circumstances and must be discussed with a relevant health professional, in particular a specialist fertility doctor. Like all areas of healthcare, there are many differing opinions and where possible this website will use information based upon proven scientific principles to evaluate treatment options.
(Please see Intro>Terms of Use for information regarding the use of this website.)
What is infertility? What is subfertility?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, ‘Infertility is the inability to conceive children or young.’ Although very few couples have infertility as defined above, examples would be a couple where the man has no sperm or the woman has no fallopian tubes.
Most couples have subfertility. Subfertility is ‘the inability to conceive and birth a baby within an acceptable time frame when attempting conception’. An acceptable time frame varies with different cultures and also with the age of the people attempting conception.
In this website we will use the term infertility to include subfertility in line with the common usage of the term ‘infertility’.
Infertility is not clearly defined and does not imply a known diagnostic cause of the failure to conceive. The cause for many couples will remain unknown. It is important to note that some couples who have not had success when trying for a pregnancy with ART for years may then experience a surprise pregnancy naturally. This highlights that knowledge of fertility is a developing field.
What is ART?
ART is an abbreviation for the words ‘Assisted Reproductive Technology’. ART is any medical intervention used to help achieve the goal of pregnancy and the birth of a child, including ovulation tracking, ovulation induction, artificial insemination, IVF, ICSI, surgical sperm collection, donor sperm/eggs/embryo treatments, and surrogacy.
Fertility specialists and qualifications
For people seeking fertility treatment we recommend seeking advice from a fertility specialist. A fertility specialist is a doctor trained as an obstetrician and gynaecologist who has further qualifications in the areas of reproductive endocrinology and reproductive physiology. The letters CREI show that the obstetrician and gynaecologist has completed a further 3 years of learning in the area of reproductive medicine and includes both male and female reproductive physiology. Specialist obstetricians and gynaecologists who have a Masters of Reproductive Medicine have similar training to the CREI but it is less comprehensive.
Unfortunately there are relatively few fertility specialists and most are located in the larger metropolitan areas. You will need a referral to see a specialist fertility doctor and it is best to get this referral from a GP as it will then be valid for 12 months.
If patients are not ready to see a specialist then there are GPs who specialise in women’s health. Most larger practices will have one or more GPs with these extra qualifications. A GP cannot provide IVF type services but they can provide preliminary advice and treatments such as ovulation tracking. There are also a number of alternative medicine practices that offer reproductive services. Patients do not need a referral to attend one of these services.
Many fertility clinics will have patient information booklets or information sheets available upon request. Fertility treatment can be complex and confusing which is not helped by the unfamiliar medical terminology. If patients have any questions relating to treatment they should always ask the doctors, nurses and scientific staff at the fertility clinic. Most fertility clinics expect and welcome patient queries and will do their best to explain the complex medical procedures in simple terms.