Fertility treatments can be expensive and for many people the procedure is out of reach but now a new clinic is offering an alternative to the traditional method that is less expensive.
Effortless IVF opened in February and uses a medical device called INVOcell that acts as a natural incubator.
The eggs and sperm are collected and placed inside the plastic cell, which is then placed inside the patient.
The embryos develop over the next five days and then the best are transferred to the uterus.
Sara Hesse and her husband started trying to have a baby in 2014, soon after they were married, but were unsuccessful.
They tried a variety of options and were pleased to learn about the new clinic and what it offered.
“Then this popped up to offer a little bit of a price break for people who really want to have kids and it’s not really financially there yet,” she said. “It’s quite expensive for in vitro of any type and it’s not ever a guarantee but if you can do this procedure, more than once, it’s still cheaper than the other options that were available to us.”
Conventional IVF techniques create the embryo in the lab and several sonograms, appointments and blood tests are required to determine the optimal time for harvesting the eggs.
The INVOcell method relies on a single sonogram on the 10th day of the patient’s cycle to determine their trigger day and does not require blood work.
“It’s not so many drugs, it’s not so many blood tests and all of that stuff that sort of goes along with it. It’s a little bit more relaxing,” said Hesse.
“The process we're doing is much more natural and having the idea of conception actually taking place in the woman is really tantalizing to a lot of people,” said Dr. Lyle Oberg, president and CEO of Effortless IVF.
Traditional IVF treatments can be invasive and cost prohibitive for some at about $14,000 per cycle.
The INVOcell system cuts lab costs and monitoring fees and costs about $6500, which is a significant saving for those who are struggling to afford a family.
“Sometimes it works on the first go and sometimes it doesn’t so at least this option we get to try more than once and not having to go and reevaluate our financial situation, trying once with other options,” said Hesse. “This is another option for people that want to have the family that they want and they don’t have to go into debt even more for those options.”
The clinic is set to start cycles on patients in May and studies show similar birth rates for both types of IVF treatments.
“We have 160 people on the waiting list already. We feel we can get through these pretty quickly within the next couple of months. It’s certainly gratifying and shows the need that’s out there,” said Dr. Oberg.
The INVOcell system has been used in Canada before but Effortless IVF says it is the first clinic in North America that only uses this method.
For more information on Effortless IVF, click HERE.
