FAQs

IVF4family offers IVF, ICSI and FET procedures. Other services, such as ovulation induction, access to donated sperm, oocytes and embryos, preimplantation genetic testing and time-lapse culture are not offered at IVF4family.

IVF (also known as in vitro fertilisation) where the fertilisation of an egg occurs outside the body.

ICSI (also known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection or microinjection) is the process by which the scientist injects sperm into the egg.

ICSI was developed in 1992 and therefore many of the children are still quite young. Some recent studies have suggested there may be a slightly higher risk of a birth defect after ICSI. It is uncertain whether this is related to the procedure or to whether the population of people requiring ICSI are at increased risk of having a baby with a birth defect.

IVF4family has a policy that ICSI should only be used where necessary and with the full understanding and consent of the couple.

FET (also known as Frozen Embryo Transfer) is when a frozen embryo is thawed/warmed and then transferred to the uterus.

IVF4family has made IVF affordable by billing any major costs and consultations with nurses and doctors to Medicare, so there are no out of pocket expenses. There are some fees involved for medications and for surgery if you do not have private health insurance. To understand what costs will be incurred during your IVF journey, visit our What to expect page.

To have a frozen embryo transfer (FET) the cost of the transfer is approximately $1442 with a medicare rebate.

No, most costs are covered by the Medicare rebate. However, if you don’t have private health cover for hospital, you will have to pay Greenslopes Private Hospital a fee for egg collection and the procedure room. As the hospital determines the cost, please speak to the IVF4family team about the cost.

There will also be an anesthetist’s cost, which is at the discretion of the anaesthetist.

As freezing eggs, embryos and sperm is not covered by Medicare, there is a cost involved which is paid to Care Fertility. These costs are:

• Freeze embryos: $360
• Freeze semen: $309
• Storage fee: $463 (with no limit on type or number of samples) per 12 months.

To have a frozen embryo transfer (FET) the cost of the transfer is approximately $1442 with a medicare rebate.

When you attend day surgery for egg collection there is a fee that needs to be paid to Greenslopes Private Hospital. As the fee is determined by the hospital, please speak to our team to get an estimate of the cost. You can call your private health insurance to see how much of the cost is covered.

Other costs include medication costs, the anaesthetist and procedure room fee. To understand the costs during your IVF journey, visit our What to expect page.

To be able to make IVF affordable, we haven’t reduced key staff costs, that way you’ll have access to experienced doctors, nurses and scientists. Additional services such as contact options and having a paperless office is how we make IVF affordable.

When you become a patient of IVF4family you must agree to communicate by email (both receive and send), sign all consent forms electronically and return the completed forms by emails. You also agree to assist IVF4family in obtaining necessary electronic pathology and ultrasounds results which may have been performed by your general practitioner or gynaecologist.

To make IVF affordable, the female patient of IVF4family must:

1. be under the age of 40 and have a BMI of under 35 kg/m2.
2. AMH result is between 5 pmol/l and 50 pmol/l.
3. not require a donor or preimplantation genetic testing.

This will be discussed further at your first appointment with a gynaecologist.

Yes, to be a patient of IVF4family the female partner must be under the age of 40.

Yes, IVF4family offer telemedicine appointments to those living in rural areas. However you will need to travel to the consultation room at IVF4family for your first visit as a trial embryo transfer needs to be performed. For any subsequent appointments (following a second referral, Medicare specifies the locations that are available for telemedicine appointments.

The entire IVF4family journey is explained here.

At IVF4family we want to ensure we are giving the right people treatment. Sometimes other methods can help you conceive a baby, where IVF isn’t needed. When you see a gynaecologist, they will ensure you require IVF.

Here is a list of genealogists at Greenslopes Private Hospital whom can refer you to IVF4family:

Dr Amy Arnold
Dr Amie Hanlon
Dr Ken Law
Dr Brad Armstrong

Even if you’ve had IVF treatment at another clinic, as long as you are eligible for IVF treatment with IVF4family, you will be able to have treatment. You will be asked to complete a questionnaire where you’ll need to provide previous medical records, which can be obtained from your previous treatment doctor.

After your consultation with a gynaecologist, you’ll be asked to get a few tests before your appointment with an IVF4family nurse to ensure you’re eligible for treatment. These tests include:

• a pelvic ultrasound
• a cervical screening test
• blood tests
• a semen analysis from the male partner.

The gynaecologist will request these tests and they may incur an out of pocket expense.

Certain drugs are required to help all treatment cycles at IVF4family. These will be discussed with you at your nurse interview.

Once you see the nurse at IVF4family they will give you a prescription for the medications. It is recommended that you have scripts filled at the Greenslopes Hospital Pharmacy (open 24 hours, 7 days a week) as many pharmacies don’t stock medication for fertility treatment, however you do have the option to receive the medication at your pharmacy.

The cost is generally $43 per prescription, however it depends on the pharmacy.

Once the treatment cycle is complete the nurse will notify you when you should do a home pregnancy test and blood pregnancy test. It is important to have a blood pregnancy test after an IVF cycle even if you have bleeding in order to detect ectopic pregnancy which occurs in 1-2% of IVF cycles. Ectopic pregnancy is not increased after an IVF cycle but should be detected early.

Please email the nurses to discuss your pregnancy test result. You may be asked to have another blood test at Sullivan and Nicolaides 2-4 days later to confirm that the pregnancy hormone is rising appropriately.

If your pregnancy test is negative and you have menstrual bleeding, your cycle has been unsuccessful and you should contact your referring gynaecologist to arrange an appointment as other options may need to be considered. If you and your gynaecologist decide to proceed with another cycle with IVF4family your gynaecologist will refer you for another cycle with IVF4family.

If you wish to proceed to another treatment cycle through IVF4family it is important that the past unsuccessful treatment cycle is reviewed to determine how a subsequent cycle should be conducted. This is called a cycle review consultation or planning consultation and should be performed in the days between treatment cycles to avoid increased out of pocket expenses. In particular the use of the contraceptive pill for less than two weeks is sometimes necessary to allow a treatment cycle to be performed, particularly between frozen embryo transfer cycles.

It is not advisable to proceed to a full IVF/ICSI cycle immediately after a full IVF/ICSI cycle, as the ovaries need to recover from the effect of the FSH injections for a full month.

If you’re a patient, you will be given appropriate contact information.

If you're not a patient, you can contact us via our web form and we will respond as soon as we can.