Our specialist team is passionate about helping you achieve your dream of having a baby. In each treatment cycle the chances of this are very much dependent on the client’s own set of personal characteristics such as cause of subfertility, reproductive history, lifestyle factors and age.
Each and every cycle of treatment is therefore thoughtfully tailored to each client to achieve the best possible results. The live birth outcomes that are presented below, represent the most current average rates of success for IVF/ICSI fresh and frozen cycles based on all Australian and New Zealand clinics.
However, because everyone’s chance of success is different, the presentation of average rates can be misleading and are therefore best explained during a personalised consultation with your fertility doctor. You can be assured that the clinics in New Zealand are all operating to the highest industry standards, so your choice of clinic will ultimately depend on the best fit and feel for you. The four most important things you need to know about success rates are:
All clinics in New Zealand and Australia are required to report their live birth success rates to authorities (ANZARD) that analyse and publish the results so that clinics can benchmark themselves against acceptable clinical standards. The results for Repromed are assessed by our external auditors on behalf of the RTAC (Reproductive Technologies Accreditation Committee) and the New Zealand Health and Disability Standard Ngā Paerewa NZ8134.
Additionally, clinics such as Repromed who provide publicly funded treatment, are also performance monitored six monthly by their Regional Health Authority. The endorsement of these authorities provide an assurance to patients that they are receiving the highest level of quality of care and outcomes.
As we age, the quality of our gametes (eggs and sperm) decline with time.
Babies assigned as female at birth are born with a defined number of the eggs for the entire life of their reproductive life. This means that when someone is ovulating an egg, or having IVF in their 30s, the egg that is released or retrieved had been waiting dormant in their ovary.
This is why the older our eggs are, the more likely they will have been subjected to environmental and aging factors that reduce their quality and genetic normality. The graph below demonstrates how the abnormality rate of our eggs increases with age, and how this is directly related to a decline in the chance of having a live birth.
In vitro fertilisation statistics are internationally reported in age brackets of females undergoing treatment. From the table below you can see that the under 35 age group has the highest chance of a birth, while the most common age group who seek IVF treatment, the 35 to 39 year olds, has a 25% rate of having a baby.
Importantly, live birth rates in females 40 years and older, decline to 9% per treatment cycle in fresh and 22% in frozen embryo transfer cycles.
Frozen embryo transfer cycles have the same if not higher chance of pregnancy than in fresh transfer cycles. This is mainly because the woman has not taken the ovary stimulating hormones which in some people may affect how receptive the uterus is to implanting embryos.
We now know that age also impacts sperm quality. Research has shown that DNA fragmentation within sperm is increased in men over 40 and has been significantly linked to an increase in miscarriage rates.
One study has demonstrated a 4% decrease in odds of having a live birth in people undergoing IVF for every additional year of the male’s age. Read more about the latest research in male fertility.
It is important to understand there are many different ways results are being presented in the media and on clinic websites which calls for caution when interpreting them. To give you an idea of what this means, refer to the graph below which shows the progression of results that are reported based on the different stages of treatment.
Read more about understanding success rates in this helpful document from the Fertility Society of Australia’s website: How to choose an IVF clinic and understanding success rates.
The chances of success in each treatment cycle, is very much dependent on the client’s own set of personal characteristics such as cause of subfertility, reproductive history, lifestyle factors and age. However there is still a great deal that you can control regarding your lifestyle to better improve your chances. Read further about improving your fertility fitness.
Clinics in Aotearoa are all operating to the highest industry standards, so your choice of clinic will ultimately depend on the best fit and feel for you. Speak with your fertility doctor about your personal chances of success and taking home a healthy baby.
The Australian Government has launched a website called Your IVF Success that provides independent and impartial information for those considering starting or continuing IVF. Although an Australian site, it may be helpful for Repromed clients to use the calculator in order to make informed decisions about IVF treatment, with the support of your Repromed fertility doctor.
Your IVF Success Estimator uses the main factors that are known to be associated with the success of IVF treatment. The estimate generated is based on the information you enter, and the chance of a live birth based on people who have had IVF treatment in Australasia with the same characteristics as you. The prediction is derived from the annual data collected by the National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit (NPESU) of the University of New South Wales Sydney (UNSW) from all licenced New Zealand and Australian IVF clinics.
While the Estimator is a welcome innovation for those who wish to get a ballpark idea of the chance of success, there is a strong recommendation that it should be used in conjunction with your Fertility Specialist’s advice and guidance. This is because the estimate provided may not fully reflect the impact of your own individual clinical situation that would take into account such factors as your AMH (egg reserve) level.
Click here to use the Estimator.
Please note that the advice and information is not associated with Repromed, please discuss any queries with your Repromed doctor.
Book a free 15 minute phone consultation with a fertility doctor.
DipNurs
Megan leads the nursing team through the continually changing face of IVF. She works in a multidisciplinary team, providing the essential organization between the doctors and laboratory and ensuring communication between all departments.
Megan started her IVF nursing career in the United Kingdom, working in two large London clinic’s before returning to New Zealand. She is also the Secretary of Fertility Nurses of Australasia.
I love working with people and see nursing as a vocation, not a job. I usually spend my downtime absorbed in a good book and planning my next travel adventure.