IVF unit celebrates 24 years of creating life

Dundee hospital’s ACU first opened in 1994 and has helped 4,000 babies to be born since

It has helped more than 4,000 babies to be born to families from across Scotland struggling to conceive.

And the first baby born after treatment from Ninewells Hospital’s Assisted Conception Unit has just celebrated their 24th birthday.

Officially opened on August 1 1994, the unit was the first of its kind in Scotland to offer fertility treatment free of charge on the NHS.

It has one of the highest success rates in the UK when it comes to making the previously unattainable dream of having a family a reality for many who suffer from infertility problems.

Earlier this summer the world’s first person to be born from IVF, Louise Brown – born at Oldham and District General Hospital – celebrated her 40th birthday on July 25.

Anne McConnell, manager of the ACU, said: “Although we got a purposebuilt unit, which opened in 1994, we have actually been offering IVF and other treatments since 1984. The first IVF baby was born on August 12 1984.

“We just didn’t have a dedicated space and we had to make do with using space on other wards and theatres.

“We have come a long way since then. We have more staff, new technologies are emerging all the time and success rates are higher.

“The success rate now is around 36% , whereas when we started it was around 10%.”

As well as helping families in Tayside, the ACU has also helped patients from other health boards including Fife and Forth Valley.

In 2012, the unit was refurbished and extended in order to modernise it.

Despite its success, staff said that finding egg and sperm donors could be a struggle at times and have urged anyone interested to get in touch.

Ellen Drew, lead clinical embryologist at the unit, explained: “We do have certain criteria for donors, such as being under 41 for men and under 36 for women, as well as being a non-smoker and within the healthy BMI range.

“We welcome inquiries and would like to be able to recruit more donors who meet the criteria.

“It is a very rewarding thing to do, giving somebody the gift of a family.”

To find out more about how you could become a donor, email Anne at anne. mcconnell@nhs.net

Two unnamed medical staff welcome the first IVF baby born at Ninewells Hospital in 1984.

The team at the Assisted Conception Unit at Ninewells Hospital.