IVI — Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad

The Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad (IVI) was established in 1990 in Valencia, Spain, as the country's first medical institution wholly dedicated to reproductive medicine and human fertility. Founded by Professor Antonio Pellicer and Professor Juan Antonio García-Velasco, IVI was a pioneer in introducing advanced assisted reproductive technologies to Spain and rapidly became a continental European leader in in vitro fertilisation (IVF), egg donation, and reproductive genetic diagnosis.

Over more than three decades, IVI has grown from a single clinic in Valencia into a global reproductive medicine network operating under the banner of IVI-RMA Global — formed through IVI's merger with RMA (Reproductive Medicine Associates), one of the leading fertility networks in the United States. IVI-RMA Global is now one of the world's largest fertility clinic networks, with centres across Spain (Valencia, Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Murcia, Almería, Castellón, Vigo), Portugal, Italy, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, the United States, and beyond. This global footprint, combined with a centralised research and technology infrastructure, means that patients at IVI clinics benefit from the collective experience of one of the most data-rich reproductive medicine organizations in the world.

IVI's Barcelona clinic, listed in the original data, is located at Ronda General Mitre 14 in the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi district of Barcelona. The Barcelona IVI clinic offers the full range of reproductive medicine services, from basic fertility assessment and intrauterine insemination (IUI) through advanced IVF, donor egg and embryo programs, preimplantation genetic testing, and fertility preservation, all delivered to the same high protocol standards applied across the global IVI-RMA network. IVI's clinics treat couples of all family structures — heterosexual couples, same-sex female couples, and single women — and have been at the forefront of developing legally and ethically compliant donor programs in countries where egg and sperm donation are permitted under national law.

IVI offers a comprehensive portfolio of reproductive medicine services extending from initial fertility assessment through the most advanced assisted reproductive technologies. Basic fertility evaluation services include hormonal profiling, semen analysis, transvaginal ultrasound for ovarian reserve assessment (antral follicle count), hysterosalpingography for tubal assessment, and male fertility specialist consultations. Intrauterine insemination (IUI) with donor or partner sperm is offered as a first-line treatment for appropriate cases. In vitro fertilisation (IVF) — both with the couple's own eggs and sperm, and using donor eggs or sperm — is the core clinical service, performed with laboratory protocols that maximize embryo quality and vitrification survival rates. IVI has been a global pioneer in egg vitrification technology, contributing significantly to the scientific literature that established the equivalence of fresh and vitrified egg outcomes. Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidies (PGT-A) and Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Monogenic Disorders (PGT-M) allow selection of chromosomally normal or genetically unaffected embryos before transfer, significantly improving success rates for older patients and those with heritable genetic conditions. Fertility preservation programs — social egg freezing, fertility preservation before cancer treatment, and sperm cryopreservation — address the growing demand for planned fertility protection. Gestational surrogacy consultation and coordination is offered for patients from countries where surrogacy is legally available, with IVI's international network facilitating cross-border care where appropriate.

IVI clinics are purpose-built reproductive medicine facilities combining clinical consultation spaces, ultrasound and procedural rooms, and state-of-the-art embryology laboratories in a single integrated environment. The Barcelona IVI clinic at Ronda General Mitre 14 houses multiple consultation and gynaecological examination rooms, follicle monitoring ultrasound suites for tracking ovarian stimulation during IVF cycles, an egg collection and embryo transfer procedure room with anaesthesia support, and an advanced embryology laboratory. IVI's embryology laboratories are equipped with cutting-edge technology including time-lapse incubators (EmbryoScope and similar systems) for continuous non-invasive embryo monitoring, vitrification workstations for cryopreservation of eggs, embryos, and sperm, ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) micromanipulation systems for fertilising eggs with individual sperm, laser hatching systems, and genetic analysis interfaces connected to the PGT program's biopsy and amplification protocols. Laboratory environmental quality — air filtration, volatile organic compound monitoring, and strict contamination control — is maintained to the standards required for optimal embryo culture outcomes. The clinic operates within IVI-RMA Global's quality management infrastructure, which standardizes laboratory processes and outcome benchmarking across the network, enabling comparative performance analysis against internationally published fertility success rates.

International patients represent a significant and longstanding component of IVI's patient base. Spain's egg donation program is particularly attractive to international patients because Spain permits anonymous egg donation (with donor selection based on phenotypic matching to the recipient) under national law, and maintains high donor quality standards. International patients — particularly from countries where egg donation is prohibited or subject to long waiting lists such as the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, and Canada — travel to IVI clinics in Spain for donor egg IVF cycles. IVI's international patient coordinators provide services in English, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, and other languages, managing the entire process of remote consultation, medical record submission, stimulation protocol planning, timed travel arrangements, and cycle coordination. Many elements of an IVF treatment cycle can be performed at the patient's home country clinic (ovarian stimulation monitoring, blood tests), with only the egg collection and embryo transfer requiring physical attendance at the IVI clinic — typically a combined visit of three to five days. Post-transfer follow-up can be managed remotely. IVI Barcelona's location in a world-class European city with outstanding air connections makes travel logistics straightforward for patients from across Europe and the Americas.

IVI clinics in Spain operate under the regulatory framework established by the Spanish Law on Assisted Reproduction (Ley 14/2006), which governs donor programs, embryo disposition, preimplantation genetic testing, and clinical standards for fertility treatment. All IVI clinics in Spain are licensed by the relevant regional health authorities (Comunitat Valenciana, Catalonia, Madrid, etc.) and by the national bioethics committee for specific techniques such as preimplantation genetic diagnosis. IVI's embryology laboratories are accredited under applicable ISO standards for laboratory quality management, and the network participates in the ESHRE (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology) quality benchmarking programs, allowing continuous comparison of clinical outcomes against European and global best practice. IVI-RMA Global publishes annual outcome reports including IVF success rates stratified by patient age group and treatment type, providing a level of transparency that allows prospective patients to evaluate clinic performance against national and international data. The group's research output — IVI and IVI Foundation have published thousands of peer-reviewed papers in reproductive medicine — and its active participation in ESHRE guidelines development reflect its role as a scientific leader in the field. Medical staff hold specialist qualifications in reproductive medicine recognised by the Spanish medical council and, in many cases, by international reproductive medicine societies.