IVF Athens Center

Welcome to IVF Athens Center

The IVF Athens Center was opened 6 years ago, with one mail goal: to help as many couples as possible to experience the miracle of birth of their own child. The center is fitted with excellent infrastructure, the doctors and medical staff are highly trained and the patients are welcomed in a familiar and friendly environment.

We are committed to the developments of science. Our duty is the incomparable respect to the infertile couple. We are proud that so far more than 3,000 children have been born as a result of our efforts! All these years we have managed to pore over the problems of infertile couples having as principle the provision of real, honest, and qualitative help to those in need, without any ”discount” in the scientific consistency and ethics. The constant adaptation of the IVF Athens Center to the continuous developments of science, the excellent infrastructure, the familiar and friendly environment as well as the highly trained manpower – doctors and staff – give us the pleasure to lead safely and responsibly the infertile couples who come to us to the achievement of their goal. A goal that every day in the majority of cases becomes a reality.

With regards,

Dr. Vasilios Athanasiou MD, Ph.D
Obstetrician – Gynaecologist Surgeon

Treatments offered by IVF Athens Center:

• Observation of Ovulation / Ovulation monitoring in a natural cycle
• Recommendation of sexual intercourse
• Ovarian Stimulation with the necessary pharmaceutical treatment – ovulation induction
• Intrauterine Insemination (homologus or heterologus)
• In vitro Fertilization / Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD)
• Fertility Preservation / Gonadal Tissue Cryopreservation
• Gestational Surrogacy  and Donation of genetic material according to the law 3305/2005, article 1458 of the Greek Civil Code, article 8 of the Law 3089/2002 and the new provisions of L. 4272/2014

IVF: In Vitro Fertilization is a technology that permits the manual fertilization of the female egg (oocyte) by the sperm outside the woman’s body and more specifically in a controlled laboratory environment. IVF consists of the following steps:

• Stimulation of the ovaries with the necessary pharmaceutical treatment
• Egg collection – Oocyte Aspiration / Sperm Collection
• Fertilization

1. Classic IVF
2. ICSI

Improvements of ICSI : IMSI / PICSI

• Embryo / Blastocyst Hatching
• Laser assisted Hatching
• Embryo Transfer
• Outcome of the attempt / Pregnancy test

INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES

• Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)

Thanks to Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis embryos with chromosomal aberrations and genetic diseases can be detected and precluded so that only the healthy ones will be transferred in the woman’s uterus. The procedure is not very different from a cycle of In Vitro Fertilization with embryo transfer at the stage of blastocyst, except that it includes the biopsy of the embryos in the embryologic lab. With the process of biopsy, blastomeres (cells) from the embryos are isolated and analyzed in an appropriately trained genetic lab.

The training of the embryologists of our Center in the techniques of the Pre-implantation has already started since 2000 and continues until today with the most sophisticated techniques. Besides, this is also confirmed by the high success rates in many cases of thalassemia and sickle cell anaemia as well as in rare diseases like neurofibromatosis, Stargart Syndromes, XLA, etc

• Embryo Monitoring System (Time-Lapse)

During the Continuous Microscopic Monitoring of the embryos special microscopic lenses are incorporated in the incubators. The embryos are placed in appropriate places in the incubators which are connected with these lenses and it is not necessary to move them outside of the incubator for monitoring as the observation of their development is done with external monitors. With the continuous and uninterrupted monitoring we receive crucial information for the development of each embryo and its implantation in cycles of In Vitro Fertilization.

• Diagnosis & Treatment of Male infertility

With Micro-Insemination (ICSI) the fertilization became feasible even in cases of extreme oligo-asthenospermia. However, even when there is azoospermia (absence of spermatozoa during ejaculation) in combination with a testicle biopsy, we can achieve the birth of healthy children.

Formerly, we used to believe that with ICSI when the sperm parameters were particularly low there was no effect on the fertilization rate and the success of the attempt. Nevertheless, newest studies associate, in some cases, the failure of embryo implantation and the increase of the clinical miscarriage rate with the male factor.

In these cases, new methods for the diagnosis and treatment of male infertility are now used in the lab.

Apoptosis of spermatozoa

Apoptosis is a natural process of cell death that all cells of a living organism go through. Infertile people, however, have a bigger rate of apoptotic spermatozoa than fertile population. When the apoptotic index is over 40% there is; a/ limited possibility of pregnancy through intrauterine insemination, b/ increased possibility of automatic miscarriage or premature termination of the embryonic development and c/ limited fertilization rate in case of an IVF process or use of the Micro-Insemination technique (ICSI).

Fertilization Method IMSI

It is an improvement of the technique of Micro-insemination (ICSI) where morphologically selected spermatozoa are injected during the fertilization (Intracytoplasmic Morphologically-selected Sperm Injection - IMSI).

It is used in cases of severe astheno-terato-spermia where in the man’s sperm sample there are many spermatozoa with deviant morphology. With the help of special lenses high definition microscopy is achieved as well as enlargement of the image of the spermatozoa at about 6500 times. Therefore, we have detailed illustration of their head and morphology and only the best sperms in terms of morphology are used for the egg fertilization.

PICSI Method

It is a way of fertilization based on the sperm’s and oocyte’s physiology, hence the name Physiological ICSI (PICSI). Its difference with ICSI is in the use of special plates and culture mediums where small quantities of processed sperm sample of the husband are placed.

In each technique (IMSI or PICSI), used either separately or in combination, we select mature and morphologically normal spermatozoa. Especially for the PICSI method, which is used extensively in the IVF Athens Center, there is distinct improvement of the embryo quality, increased chance of implantation, increase on the rate of clinical pregnancies and decrease of the clinical miscarriages.

We are proud to have brought together a team of experts with the highest level of scientific skills and long experience in the treatment of infertility. Everyone in our staff – doctors, embryologists, midwives and administrative staff – is strictly devoted to the highest purpose we serve, ensuring that we meet all the needs of the couples that come to us with responsibility and above all humanity.

Testimonial:

Thanks to you we celebrate every year with great joy these holy days. Not even a day passes without thanking God and you for the gift we have received! You both contributed to make me experience this awesome miracle called motherhood.

I wish to the best "man - doctor" of the world, to have apart from health everything else he needs to continue his work undistracted.

- Anonymous patient

About Greece:

Why Choose Us? 

• Many years of experience in Greece and abroad
• Continuous high success rates
• Each couple is unique for us
• We are the only training center of south Europe
• Constant and continuous implementation of ISO standards
• The newest, most approved and innovative therapeutic and laboratory techniques are adopted and implemented directly

If you want to find out more about the treatments and procedures offered by IVF Athens Center, do not hesitate to contact us!