No-Frills IVF on the market Pioneering: IVF doctor John McBain. Photo: Neil Newitt Infertile Australians are being offered a new discounted model of IVF, which can be thousands of dollars cheaper but offers a lower chance of success. Australia's largest infertility treatment provider Virtus Health has launched new low-cost clinics called The Fertility Centre in lower-income suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Doctors working for the group, which is floating on the stockmarket this week, say they are offering a simpler form of IVF that cuts out the "bells and whistles" from their full-cost service in clinics including IVF Australia in Liverpool. Industry pioneer Associate Professor John McBain, who works for Melbourne IVF, said he hoped the model would make IVF more accessible to people on lower incomes. He said the services in outer Melbourne, which are not means tested, don't give people a choice of doctor or the use of more sophisticated technology such as embryo freezing as well as the use of donated sperm and eggs and surrogacy. The clinics estimate out-of-pocket costs per standard cycle will be about $1500 to $2000 compared with more than $3500 for full-cost services. The Queensland clinic is offering costs as low as $800 per cycle because it has replaced a general anaesthetic for egg retrieval with weaker painkillers such as Panadeine and nitrous oxide gas to help women tolerate the procedure. "It's just two quick stabs with a needle," said David Molloy, clinical director of Queensland Fertility Group. Some patients find it pretty rugged, but the vast majority of patients tolerate it extremely well. It's one of life's little compromises. Patients are prepared to put up with a little bit of discomfort in return for having access to a program they previously thought was unaffordable. Sandra Dill, chief executive of infertility support group Access Australia, said given many couples could not afford IVF, new models were welcome, but she said people should make sure they're not signing up for treatment without knowing their realistic chance of success. "The jury is still out on this," she said.