Fertility

22nd March 2018

Mr Michael Ah-Moye at lunch with his mentor Professor Ian Craft, the renowned IVF pioneer

Mr Ah-Moye made his debut into the exciting new field of IVF in August 1985 on the very day that Professor Craft opened his IVF clinic at the Wellington Hospital, in London. Michael has tremendous regard for his legendary mentor:

“Professor Craft was responsible for Europe’s first IVF twins and the second person after Steptoe to lay claim for successful IVF births in the UK. He was the first person in the world to use the suppressor drug Buserelin in IVF to prevent women from prematurely releasing their eggs before egg collection, and this has been hailed worldwide as undoubtedly one of the most important breakthroughs in IVF.”

Ian Craft

In 1976 Ian Craft was appointed Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the Royal Free Hospital. There he conducted ground-breaking work which resulted in Europe’s first IVF twins born in 1982. His team saw the birth of UK’s first triplets in 1984.

A year later, the world witnessed the first birth of an IVF baby using GnRH analogue, Buserelin. Commonly known by its trade names Suprecur/Suprefact, this suppressor drug successfully prevented women undergoing IVF from prematurely releasing their eggs. Before the introduction of Buserelin in IVF by Professor Craft, Michael recalls vividly how every day some women would experience the tragedy of having their egg collection cancelled as their eggs were released prematurely. In those early days of IVF this happened in 20-25% of women undergoing IVF. To avoid the problem of premature egg release, collection for all women was routinely scheduled earlier than optimal, with the result that the eggs collected were mainly immature and of poor quality. Thanks to Buserelin, women’s eggs were not only never released prematurely before collection, but egg collection was now timed with confidence to when the majority of the eggs were of optimal size and maturity; this resulted in the success rate of IVF being literally doubled overnight. No doubt this was one of the most important breakthroughs in the history of IVF.

Professor Craft’s many UK firsts included the GIFT procedure for women with Unexplained Infertility, treatment involving the use of donor eggs, donor embryos and the birth of first ICSI baby in the UK.

Although some of his methods were considered controversial by a few, without his dedication and zeal to further advance in fertility treatments we would not have attained the scientific developments or standards we see today.

Michael Ah-Moye

Mr Michael Ah-Moye, CEO and Medical Director at Herts & Essex Fertility Centre, graduated from the London Hospital Medical College (University of London) in 1976. He founded the Herts & Essex Fertility Centre (formerly known as the Essex Fertility Centre at Holly House Hospital, Buckhurst Hill) in 1989. Michael has 34 years’ experience working exclusively in the field of IVF and Assisted Conception.

With a deep-rooted interest in Infertility, Michael was introduced to IVF at the fledgling unit within the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford in 1984. A year later in 1985, Michael made his debut into the established world of IVF, when he and two other gynaecologists joined Professor Craft to open his new IVF clinic at the private Wellington Hospital in London. The clinic immediately became the largest and busiest IVF unit in the world, performing over 3500 IVF cycles per year, before relocating to Harley Street. Michael was actively involved as the clinic advanced and grew. He was acting Deputy Medical Director when with his mentor’s blessings he left in 1989 to start his own independent IVF centre, the Essex fertility Centre in Buckhurst Hill, Essex.

IVF Witness, an electronic tagging device created to eliminate errors and ensure that women will receive the correct embryos, was developed over many years as a result of collaboration between Michael’s IVF clinic and Research Instruments, one of the top IVF equipment manufacturing company in the world. IVF Witness is believed to be the first such system in the world. It is now used all over the world and in the majority of IVF Units in the UK.

The Herts & Essex Fertility Centre pioneered Blastocyst Transfer in the UK. In 1999, the clinic performed what is thought to be the first successful blastocyst transfer in the country, with the birth of triplets. It is a well-established fact that Blastocyst Transfer significantly improves IVF success rate.

He is a member of the British Fertility Society, the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

Michael’s impressive experience and expertise in Assisted Conception has resulted in the successful and safe delivery of thousands of babies and the creation of so many happy new families. Widely renowned for his medical prowess, he is equally respected for his meticulous, caring and personal approach to all his patients.