Grow - Redefining the IVF patient experience

Being the first app of its kind in Australia, there’s no wonder there are quite a few questions flying around about exactly how Grow by Genea^® works and how it will affect the experience of Genea IVF and ICSI patients.

There are two important points to make straight away:

Grow is not intended to replace our patients’ discussions and interactions with their Fertility Specialists, Embryologists and Nurses. All information about the progress of a patient’s embryos will happen first over the phone. Your embryologist will explain the status of each embryo, what they’re seeing and potentially what they expect to see in the following 24 hours. The beauty of Grow is that when you log into the app, you’ll be able to see exactly what they were talking about.

The second point is that Grow by Genea^® is all about evolving the patient experience for people coming to us for IVF and ICSI. We’re not making any claims that Grow gives patients a better chance of success. The app is intended to take you behind the scenes and give you greater insight into what happens in the lab as well as allowing you to build a stronger connection with your developing embryos.

When we launched Grow, many past patients took the opportunity to give their thoughts on the app. Across our social media accounts the response was huge and many comments were posted along the lines of:

"Wish they had this when we were having IVF.
How amazing to watch your embryos grow".

And this week we received our first bit of feedback from a patient using Grow during their cycle. These comments reflect exactly what we hoped the app would deliver to our patients:

"Grow allows you to feel more connected with the IVF process and the embryos. We were really excited and intrigued watching the embryos grow and develop. It’s another amazing touch point that Genea have created so you are more informed and involved".

"Getting to see the videos of our embryos was the most magical experience. It personalised a process that can feel quite medical and helped us and our family to understand what exactly was going on each step of the way. I felt so much more connected and aware having the videos to watch - what a beautiful service to offer".

However, others have questioned whether watching their embryos through Grow would make them more stressed or worried and that’s a valid point. Accessing Grow and being able to see embryo development firsthand won’t be the right choice for everyone. Grow is free and available to every Genea patient having IVF or ICSI but we make the point through all of our Grow documentation that everyone should decide for themselves whether it suits them or not. Even if you have opted in for Grow you can opt out at any time. And our embryologists and counsellors are available to talk with you about what you’re seeing on the app and the affect it’s having on you.

That leads us to how the app works. Essentially the arrival of the Genea ideated and created Geri incubators means we are capturing time lapse footage of every single embryo that develops in Genea’s labs.

Each Geri has six individual chambers so your embryos have their own personalised space. Each of those six chambers has its own camera, working continuously to capture incremental growth of your embryo. Developed by embryologists, Geri is a state of the art incubator, designed to be the optimal environment for embryos outside the womb.

So once you’ve had your egg collection and your eggs have fertilised in the Genea lab, the resulting embryos will be placed into Geri and your embryologist will let you know when the photos and videos are ready to be sent to Grow.

We’ve also put together a short video to walk you through the functions of Grow. Watch it below to see the Australian first app in use.

If you would like to use Grow during your next cycle or just want to talk a little more about how it works, you can call us on 1300 361 795.


 
Disclaimer: Please note that this is a Genea Group blog and as such information may not be relevant for all clinics. We advise that you consult clinics directly for further information.