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Doing what comes naturally does indeed come naturally to most of us. But, for the one in six Australian couples with significant fertility problems, Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) can be an answer.
Australia has been at the ART forefront for decades: the world’s first in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) embryo was conceived here in 1973 and the first successful Australian IVF baby was born in 1980. Leading ART provider, Virtus (which includes Melbourne IVF), estimates that over 12,000 Australian babies were born thanks to IVF in 2010 alone.
While costs of around $9000 per IVF cycle are underwritten significantly by Medicare and private health insurance, costs are still prohibitive. Although Medicare places no limits on the number of IVF cycles a couple – or, in Victoria, a single woman – can attempt, typical out-of-pockets for just a single cycle are well over $3000. That doesn’t include expenses for preliminary specialist consultations, testing and related medical and surgical procedures.
IVF is arduous, protracted and invasive. Collecting and implanting eggs involves time, hormones and drugs, surgical procedures and severe emotional stresses that...