Revealed: South Australia’s highest and lowest performing IVF clinics

New data shows which South Australian IVF clinics performed the best and worst. Search and see the full list.

Exclusive: IVF clinics in South Australia are being outperformed by centres in other states, according to the latest national data.

In South Australia, Repromed Adelaide in Dulwich, was not represented in the top 10. It had the 16th best result in the country for women under 35, with 54.2 per cent having a baby from an embryo implant.

Genea Liverpool in Sydney’s south west had the best birthrate in Australia with 65.8 per cent of embryo implants producing a baby.

The national average is 48 per cent.

South Australian IVF clinics are falling behind other states. Picture: Mark Stewart

Repromed Adelaide was also the top performer for those aged 35 to 42, with 31.1 per cent having a baby, compared with Queensland Fertility Group Mackay, where 41.5 per cent of those who had an embryo implanted had a live birth.

The national average is 26 per cent.

Family Fertility Centre in Ashford had the lowest rate of success for both age groups, with 41.4 per cent of those under 35 having a baby per egg retrieval and implant, dropping to 17.3 per cent for those aged 35 to 42.

Nationally, Genea clinics dominated.

“The results show that IVF clinics that have invested in the quality of service and scientific innovation, consistently provide better outcomes,” Dr Myvanwy McIlveen, from Genea Medical Advisory Committee, said.

Independent University of NSW experts, who were behind the data, looked at five performance measures.

From their results we produced two league tables of IVF success rates.

The first table shows Measure 1, the number of live births that resulted from the eggs (fresh or frozen) collected from women in 2020 that were fertilised and implanted as embryos in 2020 and 2021.

A second table shows Measure 5, a new measure introduced this year which looked at the number of pregnancies per treatment, using data from 2022.

Chief Scientific Officer at Monash IVF Prof Deirdre Zander-Fox said Measure 5 confirmed an embryo had been implanted and there was a sac, but did not confirm there was a foetal heartbeat.

“This measure gives results from 2022, while the other measures are from 2020 or 2021,” Prof Zander-Fox said. “Technology is moving so fast, so this measure is more relevant for couples.”

New mum Marilyn Sendeckyj was 34 when she and her partner Jesse Higginson were diagnosed with unexplained fertility and chose Monash IVF Clayton in Melbourne based on their doctor’s recommendation and the results on yourivfsuccess website.

“IVF is so taxing mentally and physically and when you’re investing that much, every percentage point counts,” Ms Sendeckyj, now 35, said.

The software consultant said she got pregnant on the first embryo transfer, producing Reynold, born a month ago, and they have three frozen embryos if they wanted to try for a second.

Meanwhile, Gita Smith, 35, and her husband Thomas, 38, from Maroubra, Sydney, chose Monash IVF Bondi based on different reasons; because it was close to home and the “warm feel” they got from the staff.

She said gynaecologist Dr Jenny Cook was like her “guardian angel” who encouraged her to try a third round of IVF with their last frozen embryo, just weeks after she underwent a second endometriosis operation.

“I was mentally and physically exhausted, but she said the time was now if I wanted the best chance of success and she was right,” Ms Smith said.

“James wouldn’t be here without her encouragement.”

Originally published as Revealed: South Australia’s highest and lowest performing IVF clinics