A new ‘significantly’ lower cost fertility treatment has helped a Sydney couple realise their dream of becoming parents.

Leanna and Theo Loutas welcomed their daughter Bonnie last week, who became the first Australian baby born using CAPA-IVM (Capacitation in-vitro maturation), a new clinical procedure to treat infertility.

The couple had struggled to fall pregnant for two years, trying various other treatments, including a round of IVF. Then Leanna was offered CAPA-IVM, which involves retrieving eggs at an immature stage, and bringing them to maturity in a cell culture. Developed by University of New South Wales (UNSW) researchers, it eliminates the need for patients to undergo two weeks of hormone injections.

“Many years of blood, sweat and tears have gone into this. Countless hours of research over two decades, so this is a very proud moment,” Professor Robert Gilchrist from UNSW Medicine & Health explained.

“To be able to take a discovery from the lab into a clinic and make a real difference for Leanna on her fertility journey and other women who will follow is very special.”

Baby Bonnie was born at Royal Hospital for Women, where her arrival has been celebrated.

“We’ve all been looking forward to seeing this baby come into the world. The Royal Hospital for Women is one of only six locations in the world to offer CAPA-IVM and this is the first baby conceived here in Australia through this method,” said The Royal’s head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Professor Bill Ledger.

“While this is a special time for Leanna and Theo as they enter the journey of parenthood, it’s a big moment for everyone involved, as we close the loop from research to the arrival of a baby.”

While standard IVM has been a treatment option outside of Australia for many years and in Perth, researchers say CAPA-IVM is a step forward due to its new technique and the higher pregnancy rates per cycle.

“The problem has been when you take an egg out of the human body it matures very quickly, even when it may not be ready to, but the CAPA method switches off the progression of the egg for 24 hours. So it grows more slowly, and it matures more healthily,” Prof. Ledger said.

And, according to Professor Gilchrist, taking the egg out of the ovary before it’s reached maturity means the process is easier on patients.

“The principal advantage of CAPA-IVM is that it uses only two days of hormone treatment compared to two weeks of hormone treatment in an IVF cycle. So the burden is much less on the patient,” Prof. Gilchrist said.

“We’ve got quite a special treatment here because these women have only two days of hormones and have a reasonable prospect of getting pregnant.”

For new mum Leanna, it meant she was able to travel and celebrate Christmas last year.

“I was going to take a break before trying IVF again as I didn’t want all of the side effects of the hormones while traveling. When I was offered CAPA IVM, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I would only need to do two days of injections. It made the whole process seem a lot less daunting,” Leanna said.

“The treatment was a success and we were able to freeze two embryos. It was the best Christmas present we could have possibly had. We feel hugely privileged and grateful to have been given this opportunity. Hopefully we’re the first of many to come and when other people hear about our story it will give them encouragement.”