Dr Petra Wale, President of the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) has announced a major initiative to commission a comprehensive review of governance and standards within the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and IVF sector across Australia and New Zealand. This review will culminate in the development of a detailed 10-year roadmap aimed at establishing uniform national legislation …

The Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) has thrown its support behind moves to establish a national sperm donation register. The peak Australasian body representing scientists, doctors, researchers, nurses, fertility counsellors and patients in the field of assisted reproduction warns of dangers associated with unregulated on-line sperm donations and home insemination. FSANZ President, Professor Luk Rombauts, said there …

The Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) has cautiously welcomed the launch of the Your IVF Success website as a tool to help patients seeking or undergoing in vitro fertilisation to predict their chances of having a baby. FSANZ President, Professor Luk Rombauts, said the website would hopefully help patients to make more informed choices about IVF treatment …

Recently the Fertility Society of Australia was asked by the Reproductive Technology Unit (Western Australia Department of Health) if RTAC was intending to issue advice to clinics on direct to consumer genetic testing.  In Australia, any person born as a result of the use of donated gametes may, upon reaching the age of 18 (or younger in some states), obtain …

In June 1980, Candice Thum (nee Reed) was born as Australia’s first IVF baby and the third in the world. Since then, more than 200,000 Australians have been born from assisted conception, the equivalent of one child in every classroom across the country, while the global population of IVF individuals now exceeds 7.5 million Over the past four decades, Australia …

How can COVID-19 affect my mental health? For some individuals the constant updates in developments regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary disruptions to life routines can be overwhelming. In particular living with uncertainty and social isolation can present challenges to individuals living with pre-existing conditions such as anxiety/depression and stress related disorders. If you are feeling emotionally affected by …

Frequently Asked Questions The mission of the Fertility Society of Australia (FSA) is to help create families. The urgency of controlling the COVID-19 outbreak however now requires extra-ordinary measures from every individual in order to save families. For this reason, the FSA supports the Federal Government instructions to reduce risks of person-to-person transmission to an absolute minimum. In doing so, …

What does the suspension policy mean for our licence? Under this policy, all audits have been postponed until 2021 and licences have been automatically extended for 12 months.  If your licence expired on 30th June 2020 it will now expire on 30th June 2021.  There are some exceptions to this policy which will be dealt with on an individual basis. Do I …

Updated Statement of the FSA COVID-19 Response Committee COVID-19 is a respiratory illness caused by a novel strain of coronavirus, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2. This virus is considered to be genetically related to the virus that caused the 2003 SARS outbreak and the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in December 2019 in the city of Wuhan, Hubei …

Australia’s peak fertility body condemns IVF births to 73-year-old Indian woman as ‘reckless medical and social practice’ The Fertility Society of Australia (FSA) today condemned the overseas practice of providing assisted reproductive technology to women over the age of menopause. This follows the birth in recent days of twin girls to a 73-year-old woman in India, making her the oldest …