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Find out more about the latest news at Melbourne IVF, including scientific breakthroughs, growth within our network, and research papers.

30th Anniversary of IVF in Australia

23/06/2010

Today marks 30 years since the birth of Australia's first IVF baby Candice Reed. On this special day, pioneering embryologist Alex Lopata reflects on a brief history of IVF.

In Melbourne, the history of IVF began in 1971 when Professor Carl Wood, the head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, at Monash University, appointed me to start an IVF program at the Queen Victoria Medical Centre. Before the end of 1971 we started collecting eggs from women and made our first attempts to fertilize human ova in a laboratory set up at the back of my office.

Children of a Fertile Revolution

19/06/2010

Melbourne IVF's founder the late Ian Johnston, and current Melbourne IVF Director and leading fertility specialist Dr John McBain, were part of the Melbourne Egg Project the collaborative team responsible for the pioneering work that conceived and delivered Candice Reed on 23rd June 1980, Australia's first and the world's third IVF conceived child.

The leftover pituitary gonadotrophin for my use in in-vitro fertilisation patients was stored in an old shoebox in a laboratory at Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne.

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Latest News

30th Anniversary of IVF in Australia

Today marks 30 years since the birth of Australia's first IVF baby Candice Reed. On this special day, pioneering embryologist Alex Lopata reflects on a brief history of IVF.

Children of a Fertile Revolution