Latest news with #QueenslandFertilityGroup
The Age
16-07-2025
- Health
- The Age
IVF nurses walk off the job at Queensland clinics
Specialist IVF nurses walked off the job at clinics in Brisbane and Mackay on Wednesday afternoon over failed pay negotiations with one of Australia's largest fertility treatment providers. Clinics operated by Queensland Fertility Group, including the Spring Hill Specialist Day Hospital, were among those affected by the planned four-hour strike, which was due to begin at 2pm. QFG managing director Melanie Sibson assured patients and their families 'that the proposed industrial action will not impact patient care and outcomes in any way'. The Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union criticised Queensland Fertility Group owner Virtus Health for offering what they said amounted to a pay decrease for nurses at the company's eight IVF clinics and two day hospitals across the state. 'We believe Virtus Health and Queensland Fertility Group can afford to pay their skilled nurses a fair wage,' QNMU secretary Sarah Beaman said. Loading 'While Virtus Health and Queensland Fertility Group continue to increase charges to clients, they are adamantly refusing to offer their highly skilled nurses the wage increase they deserve and need during an ongoing cost-of-living crisis.' The QFG website lists the cost of an initial round of in vitro fertilisation (IVF), before Medicare rebates, at $11,090. An initial round of Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), a procedure used to assist the fertilisation process in cases attributed to male fertility issues, costs $12,420. Sibson said 'we believe the offer is fair and reasonable', adding the group 'remain committed to continuing negotiations in an open and constructive manner'.
Sydney Morning Herald
16-07-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
IVF nurses walk off the job at Queensland clinics
Specialist IVF nurses walked off the job at clinics in Brisbane and Mackay on Wednesday afternoon over failed pay negotiations with one of Australia's largest fertility treatment providers. Clinics operated by Queensland Fertility Group, including the Spring Hill Specialist Day Hospital, were among those affected by the planned four-hour strike, which was due to begin at 2pm. QFG managing director Melanie Sibson assured patients and their families 'that the proposed industrial action will not impact patient care and outcomes in any way'. The Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union criticised Queensland Fertility Group owner Virtus Health for offering what they said amounted to a pay decrease for nurses at the company's eight IVF clinics and two day hospitals across the state. 'We believe Virtus Health and Queensland Fertility Group can afford to pay their skilled nurses a fair wage,' QNMU secretary Sarah Beaman said. Loading 'While Virtus Health and Queensland Fertility Group continue to increase charges to clients, they are adamantly refusing to offer their highly skilled nurses the wage increase they deserve and need during an ongoing cost-of-living crisis.' The QFG website lists the cost of an initial round of in vitro fertilisation (IVF), before Medicare rebates, at $11,090. An initial round of Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), a procedure used to assist the fertilisation process in cases attributed to male fertility issues, costs $12,420. Sibson said 'we believe the offer is fair and reasonable', adding the group 'remain committed to continuing negotiations in an open and constructive manner'.
Daily Mail
22-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
I'm a donor baby and wanted to find out if I had any siblings... nothing could have prepared me for the result
A donor-conceived woman has discovered she has at least 77 siblings after uncovering her biological father donated over 300 times. Lyndal Bubke, 33, from Brisbane, was told she had dozens of brothers and sisters across Queensland, NSW, Victoria and around the world after carrying out a DNA test through a genealogy company in 2022. The 33-year-old woman had been told by her parents that she and her brother had been conceived via a donor at Queensland Fertility Group when she began looking into her ancestry. Genealogy results revealed Ms Bubke also had 11 half-siblings, and this number has now risen to 77. Her biological father was able to donate sperm a total of 325 times. Ms Bubke has said she believes it's likely she has even more siblings and the figure is likely to be in the hundreds, if not thousands. Queensland Fertility Group told the 33-year-old woman's parents they were unable to provide any information on her donor conception or details about the donor. The clinic explained the records were lost in a flood. Ms Bubke had to contact the clinic herself to tell them she was the biological daughter of the donor. She revealed she suffers from anxiety and fears every day she will be told she has another sibling. 'I go around and I look at people on the street and I think, I wonder if you could be my sibling, you look like my sister, you look like my brother,' she told The Daily Telegraph. 'I can confirm my husband and I are not related … but in those (first) few weeks, there were the horrible thoughts of, what if my husband is donor-conceived and we didn't know? 'What if one of my ex-boyfriends is a sibling? I'll only be happy once I know all of my siblings, and I'll die unhappy then, because I'll never get that. There's just no way for me to ever find them all because the records were … destroyed.' Ms Bubke has understandably been left horrified over the practices of Queensland Fertility Group and clinics across the country. The Brisbane woman's parents felt betrayed by the fertility clinic, who were told each donation would only be used for a small number of families. Her parents were not told who the donor was or the number of times he donated. Ms Bubke has been campaigning for improved regulations for fertility clinics and the creation of a database for donor conceived people, donors and recipient parents. A Queensland Fertility Group spokesperson said they strongly support IVF reforms and stated that previously the law emphasised the importance of the donor's right to anonymity. 'Today's donor conception legislation prohibits anonymous donation, and newly introduced Queensland legislation now includes a 10-family limit for sperm donors,' they said.
ABC News
16-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Couple ask Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls to intervene in dispute with Queensland Fertility Group
A couple who conceived three sons through invitro fertilisation (IVF) wants Queensland's health minister to intervene in their dispute with the fertility giant involved, claiming a donor sperm mix-up involved two of their boys. Anastasia and Lexie Gunn said their two younger children were conceived using a different sperm donor to their eldest boy, even though they requested the same donor be used in all three cases. The couple, from northern NSW, are suing Queensland Fertility Group (QFG) saying they submitted DNA test results to the company in January 2023, showing their eldest son shares no biological link to the two youngest boys. Their boys were conceived between 2006 and 2014. The women have written to Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls asking for his "support and advocacy" in their ongoing struggle for "truth and accountability" from QFG and its parent company Virtus Health. In the email, seen by the ABC, they said while they were grateful for the passage of Queensland's Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Act in September last year, they could not rely on it because the legislation is not retrospective. "QFG continues to receive federal Medicare funding while facing no legal, licensing, or professional consequences for what they have done to our family," the Gunns wrote. They have requested QFG publicly acknowledge their children's DNA does not match and want a commitment from the fertility company to stop publicly denying their involvement. "We also believe there is a significant broader public health concern. If we received the wrong donor semen — and each donation typically produces multiple vials — then other families may also have received incorrect gametes without ever knowing," their letter read. The two youngest boys live with connective tissue disorders and neurodevelopmental conditions. However, the Gunns said QFG has never provided them with updated medical information for their children's biological fathers. "The refusal to acknowledge the profound psychological harm they have caused to our children and family compounds the injury," they claim. "Our children have had their genetic identify and affinity stolen. The erasure of that connection, and the ongoing denial of basic information about their own health and family origin, is an ethical and emotional injury that cannot be undone — but must be addressed." Their anguish continues amidst the latest revelations of Monash IVF's two embryo mix-ups — one in 2023, the other this month. "While recent attention has focused on the Monash IVF incidents, QFG has offered no such transparency," the Gunns claim in their letter to Mr Nicholls. "Unlike Monash (IVF), they have not issued a public apology … or demonstrated any willingness to acknowledge wrongdoing — despite having committed similar or worse breaches." In a statement, QFG said it could not comment on the specifics of the Gunns' case because it 'involves an ongoing civil claim'. 'We continue to work towards a resolution,' a spokesperson said. 'Today, QFG clinics use an electronic tracking and witness system – for identifying and digitally tracking eggs, sperm and embryos in the IVF lab – as well as verification by two scientists.' On Friday, Australia's health ministers agreed to undertake a "rapid review" of the nation's assisted reproduction sector, with a view to creating an independent accreditation body for fertility providers. Commenting after the meeting, Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said it didn't "pass the pub test that the people that provide the service are also the ones that determine who provides the service". Currently, the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee (RTAC), a sub-committee of the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ), issues licences to assisted reproduction providers. RTAC is comprised of a chair appointed by the fertility society's board, members nominated by various FSANZ professional groups, and a consumer representative. A spokeswoman for Mr Nicholls last night referred the ABC to the communique from last week's health ministers' meeting. She said that Mr Nicholls, like all the health ministers, had agreed to a three-month review of the IVF sector.
