The will launch on Monday funded by the federal government in response to growing calls for greater transparency in the sector.
The website’s predictor tool works like a calculator,allowing users to enter their age,the age of their partner,their infertility diagnosis,whether they have previously had children,and any previous IVF treatment to offer an estimate of their chances of success.
Heidi and Dean Stevens with their daughters Elsa Jodi,2,and Sianna,6 months.Supplied
Heidi Stevens and her husband Dean experienced a 12-year odyssey of emotional upheaval that cost them in excess of $100,000 before they had two daughters through a Genea IVF clinic in Sydney.
Such a website would have been a “game changer” that may have led them to Genea sooner and avoided some of costly experimental add-on treatments - now defunct - that she was initially given.
“This is nothing short of groundbreaking … for years I was flying blind without that information,” Ms Stevens,42,said.
“I got what I wished so hard for and I just feel there is something about these girls - that I am meant to bring them into the world.”
Heidi Stevens
The couple now has Elsa Jodi,2,and Sianna,6 months. Born via frozen embryo IVF cycles at Genea,the names of the two girls are a nod to the sisters in the Disney filmFrozen.
“I have found my purpose,” Ms Stevens said. “I got what I wished so hard for and I just feel there is something about these girls - that I am meant to bring them into the world.
“My friends now going through IVF don’t just have to rely on my experience - they’ll have the hard data to turn to to help them make the decision that is best for them and their circumstances.”
One in 20 babies are now conceived with IVF in Australia,and one in 10 babies born to women aged 35 and older are conceived via IVF,shows the Australia and New Zealand Assisted Reproduction Database (ANZARD),managed by UNSW’s National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit (NPESU).
Overall,27 per cent of embryo transfers result in a live birth,but the chances of having a baby via IVF are largely dependent on a woman’s age - as well as other individual characteristics - and the IVF clinics treating them.
Professor Luk Rombauts,President of the Fertility Society of Australia,said the fertility calculator was a “world-first and most advanced predictor tool we have”.
“It will provide unbiased,easy to understand information for patients to make a decision before they even go to an IVF clinic,” Professor Rombauts said.
“We,unfortunately,get women coming in who are already unfortunately quite old and their chances[of having a baby via IVF] are very low.”
The website also addresses a key transparency concern:IVF clinics have never before been identified publicly linked to their success rates by an independent body,despite dramatic variations in success rates between IVF providers - 7 per cent to 31.5 per cent per initiated cycle.
The website measures clinics’ success across four indicators,including the chance of having a baby per IVF cycle for all women and women who have never had IVF stratified by age.
The four measures were chosen to minimise the likelihood that clinics would try to game the system,for instance transferring multiple embryos in one cycle - which carries significant health risks for mothers and babies - or selecting younger,uncomplicated patients to boost their live birth rate.
Professor Rombauts said the data should be interpreted with caution. For instance,some clinics may specialise in second referrals for complex or older patients.
“You don’t want clinics to stop treating certain women just to protect their success rates,” he said.
The website is not designed to replace the expertise of doctors. Professor Rombauts said would-be parents should consult with a fertility specialist to better understand their unique circumstances,as well as other considerations including the cost of treatment and potential complications.
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