Success Story

Clinic of innovative reproductive

technologies ICSI: co-creators of happiness

It is perhaps difficult to imagine a more inspiring field of work than human reproduction. Especially when it comes to modern technologies that can help even the most desperate find the desired child. We talked with the co-founder of ICSI Clinic - Alexander Semenovich Darii about how vocation and innovation have united a team of passionate professionals.  

PL: Alexander Semenovich, your clinic was opened in 1998, and over the years you have developed and implemented many unique technologies. What achievements are you proud of at the present stage?

AS: We are, of course, proud of all our technological achievements. Today one of our main victories is a return to the "origins" of IVF, which, in our opinion, were undeservedly forgotten. We provided the Renaissance with the original idea of IVF. After all, initially in vitro fertilization meant artificial insemination in a natural cycle: the follicle grew independently, an egg was obtained from it ( oocyte retrieval), an embryo was transferred to the uterus.

Today, the preference is often given not to the natural cycle, but stimulation. Thanks to hormonal drugs, not one, but several follicles grow. And due to their increased number, it is possible to get a better result. But we managed to change the IVF technology and achieve maximum results with our natural fertility.

PL: If you remember how it all began, how did the idea of opening a reproductive technology clinic come about? Who supported you in your quest to open your own clinic?

AS: This idea was hatched by several leading specialists from different clinics in Kyiv at once. We have teamed up and created a new clinic with breakthrough medical technologies. In my opinion, from the very beginning, we were able to offer the best solution for patients who had problems with the onset of pregnancy.

Of course, our families and loved ones supported us. But, most importantly, we were supported by people - couples who needed a result in solving their problem. They believed that we could help them. Both we and they have an understanding that it will be possible to overcome this problem only together, by combining our efforts, knowledge, experience, and faith.

PL: I know there are many achievements that you are particularly proud of. Can you tell us about this?

AS: I will share it with pleasure. Our clinic is called ICSI Clinic - because it was our specialists who introduced the ICSI method into practice for the first time in Ukraine. It is noteworthy that the approbation of this technique took place on hand-made equipment. Therefore, yes, we are proud of the status of "pioneers" in Ukraine who have implemented the ICSI methodology. Today, most of the leading reproductive clinics around the world have switched to the ICSI method.

Cut 1. From the editor

Literally a couple of days after the interview with Alexander Semenovich, information was published that the Reproductive Health ICSI Clinic for on March 4, 2021, received international and national certificates ISO 9001: 2015 (DSTU ISO 9001: 2015) from an international certification body ... Congratulations! Now the clinic has one more weighty reason to be proud, and patients have reasons to trust in guarantees of efficiency, quality, and safety.

PL: I understand correctly that you have developed a technology that, with a high degree of probability, guaranteed patients the desired pregnancy?

AS: We were looking for a solution to a problem that we could not solve before us. And today we share all our original developments and technological subtleties with our colleagues. We set ourselves the task of making happy those families who are faced with the impossibility of having a child. And we solved this problem - thousands of couples who could not have children became, thanks to us, happy parents.  

PL: What else are ICSI Clinic employees proud of?

AS: We were the first in Ukraine to conduct PGD (preimplantation diagnosis of chromosomal pathologies) - a method that allows you to identify embryos with gene and/or chromosomal "breakdowns". It can help prevent the birth of a child with chromosomal diseases, reduce the level of reproductive losses during pregnancy, and increase the effectiveness of ART cycles and implantation.

Simply put, PGD is a lifeline that helps detect and anticipate possible genetic abnormalities at the embryo stage. And, as a result, to ensure healthy offspring, preventing the transmission of diseases to future generations.

PL: Please tell me, at the time you started this business, did you have a business education, and what knowledge did you rely on?

AS: The point is (again) that I don't consider reproduction a business. Unless, if you take the word "business" as "business", then yes - it's a matter of life.

We carefully monitor so as not to dissolve in the flow, not to become a conveyor.

Every case is important.

Each pair is different.

Every situation is fragile.

Each patient is a person. And he needs to see in front of him not only a doctor but also a person. Who will listen, understand and help?

Therefore, our main task at ICSI Clinic is to help people.

We do not sell IVF - we create happy families.

We have a mission: with the help of ART, we must create as many happy families as possible, and help as many little geniuses as possible to be born. This is our "ICSI generation", which will grow up and in the future will do a lot of useful things for our country and the whole world. We take a broader view of what we do. That is, this is not just some kind of medical technology. This is much more.

Inset 2. Quote

“What we do is, first of all, help people. We do not sell IVF - we create happy families. "

PL: Tell me, please, when you created your first team that started working in the clinic, did all your employees share this attitude?

AS: Absolutely everybody! And with any other attitude, we simply would not have found a common language. And they would not have become one team. By the way, we have been working hand in hand with most of the employees for many years. With someone we created a clinic, someone joined when we were gaining height and momentum. We have been together for over two decades! Do you think we can be just a collective? We have become something more: a family, a team that understands each other perfectly. This is important and valuable. Especially in medicine.

PL: Do you think there is a problem of recruiting for you as a manager, owner of the clinic, and what is the most difficult thing about recruiting?

AS: Cadres are everything. Therefore, of course, it is not easy to find people who are synchronized with you - in spirit, in views, in outlook. The backbone of the clinic, which has been working here for over twenty years, has professional skills at the highest level - intuition and reflexes. And we sincerely, of course, pass on the accumulated experience to young employees - our "new blood".

People are all different. And everyone has different goals. The work of a manager is similar to that of a prospector who washes gold: to find the coveted precious ingot, you need to wash mountains of sand. And we wash. Therefore, those people who stay with us are our main value, our investment in a successful fruitful future.

PL: How do you see the future development of the clinic?

AS: Our vector is clearly defined - this is the development of new technologies that will quickly, efficiently, and comfortably resolve the issues with which patients contact us. As well as their organic "weaving" into the existing methods, proven over the years.

PL: Since you opened the clinic, the number of competitors has grown. Does competition scare you? Does it bother you? Or, on the contrary, helps to get better?

AS: Competition in any kind of activity is always for the good - it does not allow you to relax and obliges you to be always in a professional tone. Weak competition is accompanied by higher prices and lower quality of services provided. Open competition is good for everyone - for patients and for the organization itself. And now it's not just about medicine. This is a universal rule.

PL: What inspires and motivates you?

AC: I'll show you an office that arose absolutely spontaneously. It was "created" by the patients themselves, it is all filled with children's photographs, figurines, paintings. This is our "museum of motivation". We have our own small "dynasties" here when new photos of the second brother, third sister appear near the photo of the first-born.

Families grow - it energizes inspiration and meaning.

PL: What is the most difficult thing in your life and your work?

AS: The hardest part is when you fail to communicate it to patients. Pregnancy does not always happen from the first time, the cases can be difficult. I know that we will equally solve this problem. But patients often give up and lose their hope beforehand. So the most difficult thing is to convince some patients not to give up the path they have begun. There is always a chance. And it is imperative to implement it!

PL: So it's hard to deal with someone else's despair?

AS: Exactly. People are strong and people are weak. They do not always objectively and adequately assess the very fact of a negative result. They exaggerate it, they aggravate it with their emotions, they create a problem bigger than it is. Moreover, patients absolutely do not think about the fact that a month ago they also did not become pregnant, and two months ago was the same result, and a year ago and five years ago they did not become pregnant. But at the same time, they did not create for themselves during these last 5-10 years every month such a tragic effect from the fact that the next menstruation began, but pregnancy did not come. Sometimes they didn't even notice that, they didn't even think about that. But as soon as they had a hope that pregnancy could occur this month, and this hope for some reason was not realized, then it turned into just a universal tragedy for these people, and they very often do not find the strength to move within themselves further. Although, by and large, nothing happened. But to cope with the patients' despair, to return them to a normal psychological state - this is sometimes the most difficult task. So psychologists and reproductive psychologists help us if necessary.

PL: Are they on the staff?

AS: Of course. When you need to support a married couple in a difficult emotional and psychological situation, when you need to help them find the strength to continue the path, the professional help of a psychologist is simply invaluable.  

PL: What is this world map on the wall? Why is it all studded with flags?

AC: Oh, this is also an interesting thing! One of the patients aptly named it "ICSI Maps". The other is "ICSI Worldwide". Another patient called me "the sweetest surveyor on earth." A good sense of humor is an important success factor in our business. ⠀

Yes, for more than 20 years of work it has become our tradition - to mark a flag with a flag the city or country where our patients came from and where our kids went to live. And there are more than 40 of them on the map! This is our main KPI, looking at the results of which, you understand: we are doing everything right. So everything is correct.

Someone puts geotags in places where he has been. I put a checkbox where another "our" baby lives. The emotions of a traveler and a reproductive specialist are similar: we both leave a piece of our soul under the flag.

PL: Finally, what would you like to wish the readers?

AS: Always believe in yourself, understand that if you have planned something, then, by and large, it is up to you to achieve the goals you are going to.

Helen Trush, MBA, the publisher