The future of IVF: How Australian research is raising the chances of success

If you're on a fertility journey, you'll know that hope and uncertainty often travel together. You want to believe that treatment will work, and you want to know that the people caring for you are doing everything possible to give you the best chance.

That's exactly what's driving a new wave of Australian research aimed at improving IVF outcomes. Scientists and clinicians, including our own team here at Genea, are working on advances that could mean fewer cycles, better results, and a faster path to the family you're working towards.

Here's what's happening, and what it could mean for you.

IVF has helped millions of families around the world since the first IVF baby was born in 1978. But despite all the advances in fertility medicine, there is still real room to improve, and researchers know it.

One of the biggest challenges is that even with the best care, not every cycle results in a pregnancy. This is something that can affect patients deeply, emotionally, financially, and physically. Reducing the number of cycles people need to go through before they bring a baby home is one of the most meaningful things fertility research can achieve.

Several teams at Adelaide University's Robinson Research Institute are focused on exactly that, working on innovations in embryo selection, sperm quality, and understanding how a patient's overall health affects their chances of success. Genea is proud to be part of this work.

One of the most important decisions in any IVF cycle is choosing which embryo to transfer. Get it right, and you could be pregnant after one cycle. Get it wrong, and you could be facing another round of treatment, with all the emotional and financial weight that comes with it.

Currently, assessing embryo health requires taking a small sample of cells from the embryo, a process that, while standard, is considered invasive. Associate Professor Kylie Dunning and her team at Adelaide University are developing a gentler alternative: a technique that uses light to read an embryo's biochemistry from the outside, without touching it. Think of it like shining a torch through the embryo to understand what's happening inside.

The team has recently advanced this to three-dimensional imaging, giving scientists a full picture of the embryo’s metabolic activity. The aim is to take the guesswork out of embryo selection, which will help clinicians identify more confidently which embryo gives you the best chance of a successful pregnancy, sooner.

For patients, this could mean fewer cycles, less waiting, and more certainty at one of the most nerve-wracking stages of treatment.

For many people, sperm quality can play a significant role in IVF success. Two promising developments are working to address this.

The first focuses on ICSI, a technique used when sperm counts are very low, where a single sperm is injected directly into an egg. It's a highly skilled procedure, and researchers are developing tools to make it more consistent and precise, which could improve outcomes for patients with male factor infertility.

The second development involves a device that filters out sperm with damaged DNA before fertilisation even takes place. DNA damage in sperm can quietly undermine embryo development, often without any obvious signs beforehand. This device works by replicating the natural filtering process that happens in the female body, selecting only the healthiest sperm for fertilisation. Early findings suggest it could meaningfully improve embryo quality and pregnancy rates for couples facing this challenge.

If male factor infertility is part of your situation, these are developments worth knowing about, and worth discussing with your specialist.

Here's something that often surprises people: your broader health can have a significant impact on how your body responds to IVF, even if everything looks fine reproductively.

Research by Professor Louise Hull from Adelaide University's Robinson Research Institute has found that a pre-diabetic metabolic state, one that affects how the immune system functions, may be more common in people experiencing infertility than previously recognised. Importantly, this state can affect the uterine lining's ability to support an embryo after transfer, meaning that even a good-quality embryo may struggle to implant if this underlying issue isn't addressed.

This research opens up an important new pathway: by identifying and treating metabolic dysfunction before or during IVF, it may be possible to create a more receptive environment for an embryo, and improve the chances of a successful pregnancy.

It's a reminder that IVF success is rarely about one single factor. The clinics that achieve the best outcomes are those that look at the whole picture, and that's always been central to how we approach care at Genea.

At Genea, we've always believed that research and patient care go hand in hand. The better we understand the science, the better we can care for the people who trust us with their fertility journey.

We are committed to supporting and clinically implementing research discoveries like those coming out of Adelaide University’s Robinson Research Institute. 

We're proud to partner with Adelaide University on a practical embryology training course helping to build the next generation of clinical embryologists. The course is co-led by our own Dr Nicole McPherson, Genea's Director of Research and Diagnostic Laboratories, who brings the same rigorous clinical standards from our labs directly into the training environment. 

Students complete 100 hours of hands-on practical training using the same protocols our embryologists use every day, meaning the scientists entering our field are trained to the highest possible standard from day one.

Beyond training, Genea is actively involved in research that is shaping the future of fertility treatment. Dr McPherson is a key collaborator in the above-mentioned research study investigating sperm DNA fragmentation — work that could meaningfully improve how we select the highest quality sperm for fertilisation and, in turn, improve embryo development and patient outcomes.

Nicole also co-leads the Accelerator program ‘Assisted reproduction’ at Adelaide University's Robinson Research Institute, a program focused on advancing the next generation of fertility treatments. An area we're deeply committed to, and one where we expect to share more as this important work progresses.

Together, these commitments reflect something we believe strongly: that being at the forefront of research isn't separate from patient care, it's central to it.

You might be wondering whether any of this is relevant to your treatment today or in the future. Some of these advances are still moving through clinical trials, but the principles behind them already shape the way we practise at Genea.

Our IVF success rates already exceed national averages across all age groups, and our ongoing investment in research means we're always working to do better. We also believe in being transparent about how success is measured, if you'd like to understand how Australian clinics compare, the YourIVFSuccess website is a good place to start.

Most importantly, your journey is unique. No statistic or research finding replaces a conversation with a specialist who knows your full picture. If you have questions about your treatment, your results, or what the latest research might mean for your specific circumstances, we're here to talk it through.

This blog was inspired by research featured in Times Higher Education, March 2026.

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.