Queensland Fertility Group: How pioneers created our state’s first IVF success
Queensland Fertility Group was behind the state’s first successful IVF treatment almost 40 years ago – and since then they’ve helped thousands become parents, including some big stars.
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Queensland Fertility Group has been helping childless Queenslanders have a baby for more than 40 years – including creating the state’s first IVF baby in 1984.
The fertility giant was thrust into the spotlight last year as the star of Channel 9’s popular prime time TV show Big Miracles which followed families on their emotional journey to have a baby.
The show, which has locked in a second season, follows Australians with fertility problems highlighting the highs and lows of having a baby. QFG promoted that the program presented remarkable stories of “hope, heartache and triumph”.
Australian of the Year and Paralympic hero Dylan Alcott and his partner Chantelle Otten featured in the series, revealing that they were freezing eggs for the future.
QFG on their website reports that they are “the exclusive clinic of the groundbreaking documentary series”.
QFG’s parent company Virtus Health has more than 50 clinics across Australia with 11 of those clinics under the name of Queensland Fertility Group.
According to their website more than 60,000 families have sought their help in conceiving a child.
The business has always maintained a high profile in the baby making world with pioneering doctors like Dr John Hennessey, who founded QFG, hitting the headlines when he gave the state its first IVF baby in 1984.
The first baby conceived using a frozen embryo arrived in 1996. His donor conception program continues today.
Last year The Courier-Mail ran a series of articles dubbed Secrets of the Baby Factory in which it was claimed that the record keeping at QFG’s pioneering clinic was very limited, making it near impossible for those born from sperm donations to find their biological fathers.
A staff member from the early days revealed that medical students left specimens on a shelf in the Wickham Terrace clinic carpark and a $10 payment was waiting for them in an envelope in exchange.
The processes were antiquated, raw and highly unusual by today’s standards.
One woman told of how she spent years trying to find her father who was one of the medical students in the $10 specimen scheme. She revealed how the clinic’s flaws caused her heartache.
The Groups also sells themselves as the best “with more experienced fertility specialists offering many treatment options in more locations to create more babies than any other fertility group”.
The company prides itself on its donor program.
“We have been helping single women, same sex couples and hetero couples to access donor sperm, eggs, embryos through our extensive donor program for over 30 years. Our dedicated team of donor co-ordinators, counsellors and nurses will support you throughout the process, from choosing a donor to navigating legal requirements,” their website states
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