History

The Center of Family Medicine was founded in 2001. At that time a need in founding a clinic specialized in treatment of infertility by means of assisted reproduction technologies (ART) could be explained by a rise in the amount of infertile couples in the Ural Federal District and advancement of in vitro fertilization methods in treatment of reproductive disorders. Over the years of the clinic’s history the medical personnel’s work has resulted in the birth of over twenty thousand babies that would have never been born without ART application. 

2001 – The creation of the first regional cryobank of germ cells and human embryos.

2001 – The first baby in Ural was born due to low-temperature (-196 °С) cryopreservation of male cells.

2003 –The first girl was born due to a transfer of an embryo subjected to low-temperature cryopreservation.

2004 – The first baby in the region was born due to a surgical extraction of male cells from testicular tissue followed by their cryopreservation.

2004 – CFM JSC became the first ART clinic in the Ural Federal District which designed sterile rooms for clinical embryology laboratory in accordance with the EU standards.

2005 – The Center of Family Medicine was awarded with a Certificate of the Ministry of Health of the Sverdlovsk Region “For Application of Innovative Technologies in Treatment of Infertility”.

2005 – The first case in national and world practice when a posthumous reproduction program was implemented. The birth of the boy named Gosha was due to a complex of IVF, ICSI and surrogacy programs implemented with cryopreserved sperm cells of the father (who died of an oncological disease afterwards) which had been stored in an Israeli clinic for 8 years, transported to Yekaterinburg by air and placed to the cryobank of the Center of Family Medicine.

2006 – The first case in the Russian Federation  when a girl was born due to a CFM ART program complex IVF + ICSI when the mother’s oocyte was fertilized with a cryopreserved sperm cells of the tragically diseased father which were extracted from the testicular tissue in 12 hours after his death had been reported.

2007 – The Center of Family Medicine took the National Russian Award in the Field of ART “Crystal Tube”.

2008 – The Center of Family Medicine was awarded a Certificate "100 Best Medical Institutions in the Ural Federal District" for the high quality of healthcare services and entered the register of healthcare institutions participating in Ural Family Project, the Program of Demographic  Development of the Sverdlovsk Region until 2025.

2008 – S. L. Balezin, the Director of Clinical Embryology Laboratory, took the National Russian Award in the Field of ART “Crystal Tube” in nomination “Embryologist of the Year”.

Since 2009 the Center of Family Medicine has been organizing annual international research and practice conferences and trainings in ART-based methods of infertility treatment.

2010 – The personnel of the Center of Family Medicine took an award “Medical Olympus – 2010”, an exclusive city award for professional recognition instituted by the Department of Health Administration of Yekaterinburg in nomination “Birth of the Year” for the project “Common Wonder”.

2010 – The Center of Family Medicine was awarded a grant in business project “Engineering of a Hi-Tech Complex for Microsurgeries in Germ Cells and Human Embryos Used in Treatment of Severe Infertility Forms by Means of Assisted Reproduction Technologies”.

2011 – The personnel of the Center of Family Medicine took the National Russian Award in the Field of ART “Crystal Tube” in nomination “The Best Clinic in the Region: Ural Federal District”. 

2011 – The first baby in Ural born in a family of a man with a permanent spinal injury who had been confined to a wheelchair for 12 years at that moment.

2012 – The opening of the first laboratory for pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT) in the Ural Federal District and the birth of the first healthy bay in a couple with male congenital chromosomal pathology due to an embryo PGT procedure followed by the embryo transfer into the woman’s uterus.

Since 2013 CFM JSC laboratory has been participating in all the cycles of the following sections of the Federal System for External Evaluation of the Quality of Clinical Laboratory Studies (FSEEQ):

• Blood testing for hormones and vitamins
• Antenatal screening at early term of pregnancy (Delphia)
• Microscopy of vaginal smears  (photos)
• Ejaculate microscopy (photos)
• Analysis of sperm cells mobility (virtual kinesiogram)
• Clinical embryology (digital photos)
• Cytological diagnostics of uterine cervix diseases(digital photos)

2013 – The Center of Family Medicine became a clinical base for the Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (Moscow) which offers advance training courses for practicing doctors of the Russian Federation.

2014 – CFM JSC obtained the Ministry of Health Care of the Russian Federation Accreditation Certificate for clinical testing of medical preparations.

2014 – The Center of Family Medicine included IVF services into compulsory medical insurance (CMI) program in Sverdlovsk, Kurgan and Chelyabinsk Regions.

2015 – CFM JSC was accredited by the Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare for clinical testing of medical devices.

2016 – CFM JSC obtained permission from the Federal Service for Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare and the Ministry of Health Care of the Russian Federation for the introduction of ART-based methods into clinical practice which would guarantee the birth of a healthy baby in serodiscordant couples (where only the man is HIV positive).

2017 – The clinic took a second Medical Olympus exclusive city award for professional recognition in nomination “Birth of the Year” for the project “The Birth of Healthy Triplet Babies in a Patient with Secondary Infertility against the Background of a Complex Chromosomal Abnormality“.

2018 – CFM JSC became the winner in the nomination "Clinic of the Year"

2018 – Launch of a new direction in preventive and anti-ageing medicine, particularly in the field of human reproduction

2019 – CFM JSC entered the register of clinics providing services in the field of international medical tourism in pursuance of strategic objectives defined by the President of the Russian Federation in his Executive Order No.204 dated May 7, 2018 “On National Goals and Strategic Objectives of the Russian Federation until 2024”.

2019 – CFM JSC entered the register of export-oriented enterprises of the Sverdlovsk Region created within the framework of implementation of the regional project “Export Services of the Sverdlovsk Region” (approved by the Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region in his Decree No.2 dated April 2, 2019)

2019 – CFM JSC became a member of the Interregional Association of Medical Tourism (June 2019)

2019 – CFM JSC became a member of the National Healthcare Travel Council

The Clinical Embryology Laboratory of CFM JSC has successfully tested prototype models of hi-tech systems and pioneered the implementation of the following ART-based equipment:

• Micro videography system for male gametes analysis. Microptic, Spain.
• Laser system for microsurgeries in germ cells and embryos. MTG, Germany
• System for life evaluation of structural pathologies in male gametes and their selection for the injection into oocytes (IMSI). MTG, Germany.
• System for continuous monitoring and reporting on environmental conditions inside incubators and cell culture media. MTG, Gemany.
• System for visualization of cleavage spindle and micrometry of oocyte inner structures. MTG, Germany.
• System for continuous monitoring of embryo development inside incubators. Primo Vision Time-Lapse System, Vitrolife/Cryo-Innovation, Sweden/Hungary.
• National innovative project "Embryologist’s Workstations of Biological Safety Classes 1 and 2” (in partnership with Laminar Systems CJSC, Miass and BMT LLC, Moscow)
• CFM JSC has engineered a unique barcoding system for patient’s identification
• Micromanipulations with germ cells and embryos: ICSI, IMSI, PICSI, assisted hatching
•  Embryo cultivation is carried out with the use of cell culture media product lines of worldwide manufacturers Vitrolaif (Sweden) and IrvineScientific (USA/Japan);
• Cryopreservation of embryos and oocytes is carried out with worldwide  used reagent kits Kitazato (Japan/Spain);     
•  Cryopreserved oocytes, sperm and embryos are kept in cryogenic storages of worldwide manufacturers Panasonic (Japan), MVE (USA), Taylor-Wharton (Canada);
•  Pre-implantation genetic testing of embryos (PGT) is carried out with the use of the latest methods: FISH (up to 9 chromosomes), NGS (24 chromosomes), ARREY CGH (24 chromosomes).   
• Ultrafast vitrification method (with the use of a liquid nitrogen sterilizer, unique for Ural Federal District)

Today the Center of Family Medicine is a large holding company extending its network in Russia and abroad.