Ranked: Best and worst peforming Queensland IVF clinics

Your chances of having a baby are more than three times higher at the highest performing clinic in Queensland. Search and compare clinics.

Exclusive: Older women desperately wanting a baby are almost three and a half times more likely to succeed if they get help from the highest performing IVF clinic in Queensland, compared with the lowest performing clinic.

While those under 35 have double the chance of having a baby at the top performing clinic in the state than at the lowest, according to the latest figures from the Federal Government’s yourivfsuccess website.

Queensland Fertility Group Mackay in North Mackay was the highest performer in the state for the under 35s, with 64 per cent having a baby from an embryo transfer. The national average is 48 per cent.

It also had the highest result for those aged 35 to 42, with 41.5 per cent having a baby. The national average is 26 per cent.

Queensland’s best and worst performing IVF clinics have been revealed. Picture: Mark Stewart

Queensland Fertility Group Sunshine Coast in Birtinya had the lowest rate of success for both age groups, with 31.2 per cent of those under 35 having a baby per egg retrieval and implant, dropping to 12 per cent for those aged 35 to 42.

Our analysis found that Monash IVF clinics was featured the most in the top 10 performers in the state, while Genea did well nationally.

“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 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.”

Looking at the national picture, in the under 35s, Genea Liverpool in Sydney’s south west had the best birth rates in the country, with 65.8 per cent of embryo implant procedures producing a baby, while Monash IVF Mildura in Victoria had the poorest results in that age group, with a success rate of 16.7 per cent. However, there were only 27 egg retrievals in that sample. The national average is 48 per cent.

The smaller the sample, the more likely it is that just a few negative or positive results can skew the figures.

In older women, those aged 35 to 42, Queensland Fertility Group Mackay, Queensland, had the best results in the country, while with 41.5 per cent of those who had an embryo implanted having a baby, compared with IVF Australia – Wollongong, NSW, where 11 per cent achieved a live birth. The national average is 26 per cent.

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 yourivfsucess 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 Ranked: Best and worst peforming Queensland IVF clinics