INVO press-statement

Vienna, January 16th 2009. The intravaginal culture (IVC or INVO – In Vivo fertilisation) is the first result of the new cooperation between the two IVF-pioneers, Prof. Wilfried Feichtinger and Ass.Prof. Peter Kemeter, for the benefit of patients. By IVC we intend a “natural” fertilization which corresponds most to the deep desire of the future mother not to be separated from her future baby, not even for one day. During the IVC procedure, the ovum is inserted into a special capsule together with the nutrient solution immediately after the fertilization in the test tube. Then the capsule is inserted into the vagina. At that state, the fertilized ovum is about 0.3 mm which corresponds to the size of a needle-point. It remains in the capsule for 2 to 3 days, the time it needs to mature and to start cell-division. When the cell has been devided into four to eight segments the capsule is taken from the vagina, opened and the pre-embryo is inserted into the uterus – the way we know from the traditional IVF.

This procedure is often combined with a slight stimulation of the ovaries but can also be applied during the normal cycle without any hormonal stimulation.
In our experience, the success rate is the same as in the traditional IVF procedure but it offers especially psychological advantages: The patients treated with this procedure are never separated from their ovum or pre-embryo. Thus we can prevent certain fears of an eventual exchange of egg-cells which arise in some patients every now and then, although such incidents can be firmly excluded due to the severe security measures we apply.

This method is especially appropriate for young women who want to start with medically assisted procreation because this procedure corresponds to their desire to be as close as possible to their future babies.

„There is no incubator like a woman“, this is what has convinced Feichtinger and Kemeter to apply IVC. The capsule inserted in the vagina is hardly perceptible, anyway it doesn’t cause any pain. It is maintained in its position by a vaginal diaphragm.

The IVC has already been applied in some of the patients of the centre for medically assisted procreation „Wunschbaby-Zentrum” and the first patients have already become pregnant. The method is very well accepted by the patients: „It was a good feeling to have my baby with me at that early stage. I felt pregnant immediately“, that is the unanimous statement of the women concerned.

For the time being, the intravaginal culture is even offered without additional costs by the IVF-fund (participation of the social security system in case of the right indication). For patients without national insurance the costs amount to 950 Euro per treatment cycle.

A new – proven – successful team

In 1982 the research-work of Ass.Prof. Dr. Peter Kemeter and Prof. Dr. Wilfried Feichtinger (at that time performed together with Prof. Dr. Stephan Szalay) led to the parturition of the first IVF-baby in Austria. Until 1991 Feichtinger and Kemeter ran the centre together, then their ways separated. The 25th birthday of Slatan Jovanovics, the first IVF-baby, was not only an occasion to recall old memories but also to make concrete plans for a united future.

This induced Ass.Prof. Kemeter to sell his own centre he had founded in the meantime, to dedicate himself to his work as a consultant of the centre of medically assisted procreation. There he is not only available for the patients to give advice from his long experience but together with Feichtinger he is trying to improve artificial insemination. The first result of their new cooperation is the IVC-procedure.

Pictures:
INVO Cell 1: IVC-Kapsel
INVO German 1: Description of the capsule elements
Cell devided into 4 segments on the second day after the fertilisation
Prof. Feichtinger – Ass.Prof.. Kemeter

Copy free of charge, Copyright: Wunschbaby-Zentrum

For further information please visit our homepage www.wunschbaby.at .
Wunschbaby-Zentrum, centre of medically assisted procreation
Lainzer Straße 6, A-1130 Vienna
01/877 77 75

For information to the press: DI Christine Richter
presse@wunschbaby.at, Tel: 0676/78 37 282