Nine months in the making, the Monash IVF Fertility Clinic is celebrating the first baby born from the new Penrith full service clinic.
Monash has had consulting rooms in Penrith for several years but only opened a lab in the area last October.
Melissa and Dave Wiseman from Cranebrook used the clinic to help conceive their daughter Milla.
Not being able to ovulate naturally, Ms Wiseman said they were referred to the clinic from her gynaecologist.
“We had been trying for years naturally so we needed that little bit of help, so we started trying different procedures with Dr Peter Benny, who was amazing,” she said.
“They try to make the whole process as natural as possible and are very personalised to your body and don’t just jump to expensive $10,000 procedures.”
The only fertility lab in greater western Sydney, Mr Wiseman said the location in Kingswood made the whole process a lot easier.
“Working full-time but wanting to go support Mel multiple times a week for blood tests and monitoring could add a strain, but having it 10 minutes away from home meant I could easily be there,” he said.
“Being a smaller centre, everyone gets to know you as well so you feel comfortable to ask questions, and the doctors and nurses are great with communication throughout the whole process.”
Ms Wiseman said the clinic was there for them every step of the way until the birth of baby Milla.
“They teach you about your body, have a financial person to give you options to make it affordable, and Dr Benny even prolonged his retirement to be there with us until the end,” she said.
“I ended up having a great pregnancy and a natural birth with no drugs that gave us a perfectly healthy baby, which was such a big achievement for us.”
Now enjoying being parents for the first time, Mr Wiseman said anyone who is struggling to conceive should seek help.
“People think it is a shameful thing to say there might be something wrong with my body or to admit you can’t have a baby naturally, but they should get a referral to a fertility specialist,” he said.
“They have so much knowledge to help, make it less scary and get results, which is definitely worth it in the end.”
Emily Feszczuk
A graduate of Western Sydney University, Emily covers Local, State and Federal politics for the Weekender, as well as crime and general news.