We provide medical fertility preservation assessment, advice and preservation services for Victorian patients whose fertility is at risk from a medical or surgical condition or its management.
Services available
Eligible conditions include cancer (or other serious disease) or its treatment, genetic issues that compromise fertility or having a family, or gender-affirming care.
The service provides assisted reproductive technologies including:
- oocyte (egg) cryopreservation
- embryo cryopreservation
- ovarian tissue cryopreservation
- sperm cryopreservation
- testicular tissue cryopreservation
- ovarian protection therapy during gonadotoxic therapy (Zoladex).
The service also provides:
- fertility counselling for patients undergoing treatment
- ongoing consultation and assessments post-treatment and throughout reproductive life
- liaison with local oncology services in rural, regional and remote areas and, if eligible, arrange for the collection, transportation, processing and storage of ovarian and testicular tissue – learn more at Fertility preservation for children & young adults with cancer.
Inclusion criteria
The Fertility Preservation Service is a statewide service for patients aged 16 years and over, and any of the following:
- serious medical issue which may compromise fertility
- about to undergo surgery, chemotherapy or radiation treatment which may compromise fertility
- receiving gender-affirming care
- premature Ovarian Insufficiency, and:
- age <40 with FSH in menopausal range on two tests at least 4 weeks apart and low AMH below 10th centile for age
- Turner syndrome or Fragile X
- other groups are assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Medicare requirements
For egg/embryo preservation, the patient must be a Victorian resident with a Medicare card. Only the person who is undergoing egg collection needs to provide evidence of Medicare eligibility (for example, a sperm-producing partner does not require Medicare).
Patients undergoing testicular or semen fertility preservation do not require a Medicare card. If Medicare-ineligible, there are fees involved. Please contact us for more information.
Urgent referral
- Phone the Fertility Preservation Nurse on (03) 8345 3227 or email: rsu.fps@thewomens.org.au
- Phone the on-call Reproductive Services Fellow via the Women’s switchboard on (03) 8345 2000.
Exclusion criteria
- Egg freezing for non-medical (social) reasons
- Patients under 16 years of age – please refer to the Royal Children’s Hospital or phone our Fertility Preservation Nurse to discuss.
Referral instructions
Essential information
All referrals from health professionals must include essential demographic details, medical history and relevant information about their situation as per the Fertility Preservation Referral Form – jump to Downloads). This includes:
- diagnosis
- relevant past gynaecological and medical history
- planned/current treatment including dates and location
- estimated risk of permanent fertility impairment.
Investigations
For Premature Ovarian Insufficiency
- Pelvic ultrasound (performed within last 6 months)
- Two FSH tests at least 4 weeks apart; and
- AMH test, plus other relevant investigations or history
For oncology/all other patients
- No specific tests required
Send referral
GPs and other specialists can refer directly to the Fertility Preservation Service. Please fax referrals to:
- Fast Fax: (03) 8345 3036 (non-urgent)
- Urgent fax: (03) 8345 3259
Use our Fertility Preservation Referral Form – jump to Downloads.
For more information: How referrals are processed
Sperm preservation referrals
All patients are encouraged to have a consultation with the Fertility Preservation Service. The service will arrange referral to Andrology after the consultation.
If the patient does not wish to have a consultation with the Fertility Preservation Service, and is freezing sperm prior to medical treatment or gender affirming-care, they can be referred directly to Andrology.
If the patient chooses to go directly to Andrology and an urgent appointment is needed, please send a referral and instruct your patient to phone the Andrology Unit directly on P: (03) 8345 3992.
Send referral
- Complete the Andrology form – jump to Downloads.
- Please use the clinical indications to describe the situation and urgency.
- Email or fax the slip to the Andrology Department:
- Phone: (03) 8345 3992
- Fax: (03) 8345 3990
- Email (Laboratory): andrology@rch.org.au
- Address: Andrology Unit and Sperm Bank (The Royal Women's Hospital)
321 Cardigan Street
Carlton VIC 3053
If your patient has difficulty or is unable to provide a semen sample by masturbation, please phone the Fertility Preservation Nurse: (03) 8345 3227.
The patient may need to have an invasive procedure to extract sperm. This procedure is known as a fine needle testicular biopsy and involves local anaesthetic.
This will need to be evaluated by our Reproductive Service Unit clinicians during a consultation. The procedure can be completed at the Women’s and there is no cost associated with the procedure itself.
Currently, there are no storage costs associated with storing eggs or embryos. However, this may change in the future.
There are storage fees associated with testicular/semen storage. For estimated costs, view Andrology, The Royal Children’s Hospital.
The Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Storage Funding Program aims to reduce the costs of cryostorage. This program is for Medicare-eligible patients affected by a cancer diagnosis or the results of genetic testing (undergone PGT and notified of being at risk of passing on genetic conditions). Eligible patients can access cryostorage funding for up to two types (eggs, sperm or embryos), for up to 10 years.
More information: Eligibility for the ART Storage Funding Program, Department of Health and Aged Care
Appointments
Patients requiring fertility preservation services are seen as urgently as required. This is triaged by our Fertility Preservation team.
Face-to-face and telehealth options are available.