As Louise Brown, the world's first test-tube baby, reached her 30th birthday this July, the fertility industry born on that day has altered dramatically over the last three decades.
Dr Chantal Simonis and Dr Sue Ingamells, talk about what has changed in terms of treatments available and patient care.
Fertility treatment has been around for 30 years now, what changes to treatments have you seen in your career? Dr Chantal Simonis: Although there have been many advances within the fertility world, for patients, the treatment has remained largely the same.
The major innovations have been within the laboratory environment, with improvements in culture media, selection of embryos, and freezing techniques.
How does treatment differ now from, say ten years ago? Dr Chantal Simonis: IVF treatment has evolved greatly over the past 30 years, and the most modern advances relate to treatment protocols which are far more patient friendly.
Whereas traditional IVF protocols involved at least four weeks of taking drugs to suppress ovulation, and hormones to stimulate the ovaries, nowadays we can achieve the same results with a two-week regimen.
The newer drugs have virtually no side effects, which is a great advantage to patients.
In what way has the patient experience changed? Dr Chantal Simonis: The developments of protocols which involve lower drug doses, with fewer side-effects, have greatly improved the patient experience.
In addition, the steady increase in overall success rates has encouraged more patients to access IVF treatment.
Research indicates that fertility treatment seems to be on the increase, why do you think that is? Dr Sue Ingamells: There are several reasons for the increased uptake of fertility treatment.
Women are, for a variety of reasons, delaying the age at which they start trying to conceive.
It is well known that natural fertility declines with age, with a marked decrease seen over the age of 35 years.
We often see women for the first time in their early forties, a time when IVF treatment sadly is less successful.
Secondly, there has been an increase in damaged fallopian tubes as a result of pelvic infections, previous surgery and endometriosis.
In particular the dramatic increase in rates of Chlamydial infection in women and men has had a big impact on fallopian tube damage.
The third reason is that there appears to be a worldwide decrease in the quality of sperm and this may be linked to male health and diet or to environmental factors.
Also, there has been an increase in women with raised body mass index (BMI), and fertility is decreased in this group (as it is in women who are very underweight as well).
Has the profile of those seeking fertility treatments changed? Dr Sue Ingamells: There has been a marked increase in older women seeking fertility treatment.
However, we need to educate more women about the fact that IVF treatment does not solve all fertility problems.
IVF cannot turn back the clock.
How does the UK compare with other countries in terms of medical advances in the field of fertility? Dr Sue Ingamells: We compare very favourably with other countries.
A vast amount of research is being conducted throughout the UK, and new techniques will continue to be developed.
In the UK we are highly regulated in the field of IVF by the Hfea ensuring the most up-to-date techniques and practices are used in all fertility units.
What new developments are in the near future for fertility? Dr Sue Ingamells: Blastocyst culture is a very topical subject within the IVF field.
This refers to culturing embryos in the laboratory for 5 days to try to select the best embryo for transfer.
One of our concerns with IVF is the high multiple pregnancy rate (which can be as high as 25% for twins), and our aim is to reduce this as much as possible, without compromising on success rates.
Blastocyst culture has provided very promising results in this regard.
Within the last few years, vitrification, a new technique for freezing surplus embryos has been developed.
This technique is superior in that greater numbers of embryos survive the freeze-thaw process.
A healthy lifestyle for both partners including a balanced diet, stopping smoking, reducing alcohol intake and optimising weight can all improve the chances of success.
Additionally, any way in which stress can be reduced may be beneficial for many patients and may include the use of alternative therapies.
What advice would you give someone who is considering having fertility treatment? Dr Chantal Simonis: Although it seems obvious to many, I always advise that women start taking folic acid before they commence their fertility treatment.
In addition, a healthy balanced diet, with alcohol only in moderation, to stop smoking if necessary and aim for a BMI of under 25 ideally.
Some patients find alternative therapies such as acupuncture helpful, in that they find this to be an effective stress relieving tool.