IVF is regarded by many infertile couples as the answer to their dreams, their last desperate chance of becoming parents, especially as many today are leaving parenthood until later in life.
Tragically, infertility affects one in six people in the UK, about 3.5 million, with 125,000 couples diagnosed infertile each year, and this can even cause women mental health problems, according to researchers.
However, a revolutionary fertility device is now available which was proven in a peer-reviewed study to be as successful as IVF at a fraction of the price - and without being invasive for women. It is to be trialled by GPs in Lancashire later this year and will soon celebrate its 500th baby. The chubby-faced baby pics on the office wall on the Cambridge Science Park are a testament to the success of DuoFertility whose job it is to make babies! And lots of them!
The temperature monitor, which fits under the armpit, can help 85% of infertile couples who do not have medically identified conditions, such as a women with two blocked fallopian tubes.
While Bourn Hall in Cambridgeshire pioneered IVF treatment 44 years ago and has just celebrated its five-millionth baby, there is a good chance that if the trials in Lancashire prove successful, DuoFertility could be rolled out around the country, transforming the present fertility treatment on offer by the NHS. IVF costs £4,500 - £7,000 in the private sector, while makers of the £495 ovulation detector are so confident of their product that they promise to give women their money back if they do not become pregnant within 12 months.
Does IVF offer the same cash back if it fails? There is nothing to lose with DuoFertility, and everything to gain.
The innovative technology was created by Dr Shamus Husheer, CEO of Cambridge Temperature Concepts, and his personal interest in infertility stems from his parent's difficulty in conception, the combination of which directly resulted in DuoFertility. He is partnered by Dr Oriane Chausiaux, who has a PhD. in infertility from the University of Cambridge.
DuoFertility is a revolutionary temperature monitor which shows women with 99% accuracy when they are at their most fertile. Its device uses temperature monitoring by placing a small sensor under the armpit and takes 20,000 readings every day, about one every four seconds. The sensor picks up tiny variations in temperature to build an overall picture that is then interpreted on CTC's computers, as well as being read by fertility experts there, who scrutinize the data and indicate when fertility is at its highest. It was recently launched in America after being granted FDA approval and Shamus and Oriane are confident they will be able to help thousands of childless couples there too.
Oriane, who has been researching infertility for over a decade in Paris and Cambridge, recently led a clinical study which suggested that six months with DuoFertility could give the same pregnancy outcomes as a circle of IVF for couples suffering from unexplained infertility. The study followed the first 500 couples using DuoFertility, including 242 who qualified for IVF treatment, of whom 90% had previously had the procedure. It concluded that DuoFertility has the same clinical pregnancy rate as IVF for about half of all couples that would otherwise use IVF.
The study was published in the journal European Obstetrics & Gynaecology and reports that the 12-month pregnancy rate was 39%, which compares more favourably to the average pregnancy rate from a cycle of IVF, which is only 28%. Additionally, when broken down by female age, the DuoFertility pregnancy rate was higher than IVF for every age group below 45.
Oriane was naturally very encouraged by these results:
"We were delighted with the findings of this study, the first of its kind with sufficient statistical power to meet the stringent criteria of the peer review process. It showed that for couples suffering from unexplained infertility, as well as a variety of other factors, six months using DuoFertility is as effective as a cycle of IVF and 12 months using DuoFertility yields a higher clinical pregnancy rate than a cycle of IVF.
"The impact of the study is clear. For many couples, not only is IVF invasive for the woman and demeaning for the man, DuoFertility is a proven alternative method of helping childless couples which would save the NHS millions of pounds. We are very much looking forward to our trials starting soon with GPs in Lancashire with the hope and expectation that it will produce equally outstanding results and later become established by the NHS and used around the country by its GPs and infertility consultants.
"It's because we are so confident of our results that we offer a full money back guarantee if couples have not achieved pregnancy after a year of using DuoFertility."
There are many glowing testimonials from delighted new parents on the DuoFertility website which you can view here, including the touching story from Helen and David Egen in this video who had been trying for two-and-a-half years to have a baby without any luck, suffering two early miscarriages, taking prescribed medication, ovulation tests and nutritional supplements which they hoped would boost their chances. Then they heard about DuoFertility and, as you can see, their happiness is a joy to behold.