Welcome
This website is designed to help couples considering undergoing any Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) procedures such as IVF or GIFT at the Canberra Fertility Centre.

By the time patients actually get to the stage of reading this, most will already have discussed a wide variety of treatment options with their doctor and have a broad understanding of some of the aspects relating to their own problem of infertility. You will probably have undergone prior investigations and treatments and now look to ART as the treatment most likely to succeed.

The aim is four fold. Firstly to enlighten you as to what is involved in a treatment cycle. Secondly to allow you to become more familiar with the various stages and procedures you will be involved in whilst on the program. Thirdly to introduce you to some of the team who have a major role in assisting you in achieving your goal of having a baby and finally to ensure you are aware of the legislative requirements.

For IVF/Infertility treatments you need to be referred to the Canberra Fertility Centre by one of the specialist gynaecologists (see Introduction > Specialists). You must maintain a current GP referral with this specialist gynaecologist for the duration of any treatment coordinated by the Canberra Fertility Centre. Prior to attending the Canberra Fertility Centre your specialist may organise some preliminary investigations. These will be organised through your specialist's rooms and they will tell you what is required. Your specialist gynaecologist will then plan and supervise all of your treatment through the Canberra Fertility Centre. Whenever possible, you will have procedures attended to by your own specialist, however for some parts of your treatment, it may be one of the other specialists that attends to your procedure on your own specialist's behalf (for example, a weekend roster of the specialists currently operates for embryo transfers).

A patient information booklet is available upon request. This booklet provides detailed information on all aspects of fertility treatment offered by the Canberra Fertility Centre. Available upon request it can also be downloaded from this website. A series of information sheets are also available on a variety of fertility related subjects and these are available on request.

Newsletter downloads
Regular newsletters are available to be downloaded.

Information sheets, books and videos
There is also a book list and video library which as a patient, you are welcome to use and borrow any item for a short period of time. Currently there is no charge for this service. The library forms a valuable source of reference information for couples who are interested in learning more about the procedures they are about to embark upon. For further details, please ask the Coordinating nurse for the list of books and tapes available.

Download our booklet (pdf—with book & video list)