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History and development of London Fertility Centre
London Fertility Centre was founded by Ian Craft FRCS FRCOG, a pioneer in the field of infertility and reproductive medicine. His team was responsible for Europe's first IVF twins in 1982. The Centre is responsible for many innovative assisted conception techniques now used by fertility centres worldwide.
Ian Craft's interest in in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) commenced in the late 1960's with research into the environment of the Fallopian tube which assists human embryo development. It was with his appointment as Professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in 1976 that he was able to develop the clinical aspects of this research culminating in his team's pioneering work which resulted in the birth of Europe's first IVF twins on 29th April 1982.
Later that year Ian Craft and his team moved from the Royal Free Hospital to the Cromwell Hospital where a unit was built to his specifications in order to concentrate on the development of assisted conception.
The demand for IVF treatment continued and in 1985 Ian Craft and his team moved from the Cromwell Hospital to the Wellington Hospital. Here, the most modern purpose-built Assisted Conception Unit in Britain, dealing with various types of fertility problems on a day-stay basis, was set up. Ian Craft and his team moved to their own location at Cozens House, 112A Harley Street, London in August 1990.
2008 has been a key year in the continuing development of London Fertility Centre. The most exciting change at LFC has been the development of our additional procedural premises at 53 Portland Place which opened for treatment on 16 September 2008. 53 Portland Place provides state of the art facilities for egg collection, embryo transfer, patient recovery and embryology procedures. We have seen an increase in success rates and patient satisfaction since the introduction of 53 Portland Place.
Pioneering Achievements
Ian Craft and his team have been true innovators, introducing new drugs and assisted conception techniques, making fertility treatment more widely available to patients. Many innovations are now used in fertility centres worldwide.
Male Fertility Innovations
London Fertility Centre received the first UK ICSI licence and our team were the first to report that sperm obtained from the testis can fertilise eggs (The Lancet: 1993), - something unknown previously. This opened up the possibility of biological fatherhood for men without any sperm in the ejaculate and reduced the need for donor sperm. For men with obstructions (absent vas deferens; failed vasectomy reversal) the team pioneered sperm retrieval by needle aspiration (PESA) and testicular sperm aspiration (TESA) for testicular sampling. Our team also reported that non-motile sperm from the testis, that may be alive or dead may show motility if the tissue is kept in IVF culture for 24 hours, indicating that such sperm are alive (The Lancet: 1995). This has led us to recover sperm from some men, one day before their partner's egg collection.
Other Pioneering Team Achievements Include:
- Britain's first IVF twins (1982) and triplets (1984)
- Britain's first GIFT births
- Britain's first egg donor birth (1987)
- World's first IVF birth using LHRH analogues (buserelin, goserelin)
- Britain's first ICSI birth
- World's first PESA birth
- Britain's first embryo donor birth
- Britain's first laser assisted hatching birth
- Hundreds of births following the use of LHRH antagonists (Cetrotide/Orgalutran)
The Centre is independent and has no financial dependence on pharmaceutical companies or private hospitals. The Centre has a team of approximately 40 multinational staff members, all experienced in their various disciplines, an independent counsellor and an ad hoc Internal Review Committee that deals with the most esoteric requests for treatment relating to age, surrogacy, egg/sperm donation and welfare of the child considerations.