The Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney now offers cheaper and faster IVM

A major Australian hospital has become just the fifth place in the world to offer a new fertility treatment that is cheaper and faster than IVF.

A groundbreaking new fertility treatment has been launched at a major Australian hospital that is around half of the cost and four times faster than IVF.

The Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney has become just the fifth place in the world to offer in vitro maturation (IVM), with a new change to the process from an Australian university creating noticeable benefits for patients.

IVM costs around $2000-$4000 as opposed to the $8000 price tag attached to IVF.

The treatment also only lasts three days or less and consists of just two hormone injections because the eggs are matured in a lab compared to the arduous fortnight of needles associated with IVF.

A new fertility treatment is faster and cheaper than IVF. Picture: iStock

The hospital’s head of obstetrics, Professor Bill Ledger, explained that despite the hassle associated with IVF, IVM had not caught on in the past due to its low pregnancy rates.

“IVM has been around for years, but it’s never been very successful because it’s hard to replicate what the ovary does in a laboratory,” he said.

“The problem has been when you take an egg out of the human body it matures very quickly, even when it may not be ready to.”

But that all changed after Professor Rob Gilchrist and Belgian researchers developed the CAPA-IVF system at the University of NSW.

This improved process means IVM has the same pregnancy rate as IVF, according to a recent trial in Vietnam.

“This new method called CAPA switches off the progression of the egg for 24 hours so it grows more slowly and it matures more healthily and it’s more fertile when you introduce it to the sperm. It’s giving us a longer window of time to work with the egg,” Mr Ledger said.

“A woman can walk into the clinic on Monday, have two doses of hormone shots to prime the ovary and then her eggs can be collected on Thursday.

Professor Bill Ledger helped develop the CAPA-IVM method. Picture: John Appleyard

“Regular IVF is expensive because there’s lots of drug costs involved. IVM uses around 80 per cent less hormones and is cheaper, around half the cost.”

While this makes IVM a good alternative to IVF, Mr Ledger did clarify that it was only for younger woman.

“This is not a fertility treatment for everybody. IVM is suitable for younger women ideally under the age of 38 and they need to have a good egg count,” he said.

It is estimated around 15 per cent of women who experience fertility issues will be eligible for CAPA-IVM, with two people already treated with IVM at the Royal Hospital for Women.

The announcement coincides with the hospital’s Heart for Her campaign, which is aiming to raise funds to drive advancements in areas like fertility research.