London fertility clinics are best in UK for births

London fertility doctors have the best success rates in the country with women treated in the capital's clinics more likely to become mothers than anywhere else, figures revealed today.

Top of the league is fertility doctor Mohamed Taranissi. About two thirds of patients at his Assisted Reproduction and Gynaecology Centre in Upper Wimpole Street have babies nearly double the national average. The IVF expert is also responsible for the births of 188 babies over one year.

The league table found the second two most successful clinics in the capital were the Lister in Chelsea Bridge Road and the Assisted Conception Unit at University College Hospital. Both have a live birth rate of 44 per cent.

The findings from fertility watchdog the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority are based on the number of women under 35 who gave birth in 2006. They also show that more than 10,000 women had successful IVF treatment in that year, more than ever before.

HFEA chairwoman, Professor Lisa Jardine, said: "In the year that we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the birth of the first IVF baby, these figures show just how far we've come. IVF is now commonplace, with the number of treatment cycles and births rising yet again."

Mr Taranissi, 53, is being investigated by the General Medical Council over allegations concerning two patients. He has vigorously denied claims he suggested a patient took an unlicensed medicine, failed to keep proper medical records and was insensitive. Ninety-two women including former patients of Mr Taranissi have handed the GMC a petition supporting him.

The doctor has also won a partial victory in his libel action against the BBC's Panorama programme. The BBC was ordered to pay an estimated £500,000 in costs to Mr Taranissi in his continuing libel action over the January 2007 broadcast, IVF Undercover. He claimed it had damaged his reputation by making defamatory allegations about his techniques. This will be tried by a judge sitting without a jury in January.

Mr Justice Eady yesterday said Mr Taranissi was entitled in principle to payment of costs relating solely to that part of the BBC's defence which relied on qualified privilege.

Mr Taranissi is the reason we now have our family'

CHERYL and Alan Hudson thought they would never be able to have children naturally after the heartbreak of three miscarriages.

Mrs Hudson's immune system seemed to be attacking her foetuses and artificial insemination at their NHS hospital failed.

Yet today they have two healthy sons thanks to treatment by Mohammed Taranissi's clinic.

Frank, four next month, was born after IVF and Orlando, 20 months, was conceived naturally following an immuno-suppressant treatment.

The couple, who both work at Oxford University, had been hoping for a baby for three years when they decided to try IVF.

Mrs Hudson, now 40, said: "It cost about £8,000, including the anti-immune drugs I needed, but that was a lot cheaper than overseas adoption."

They chose Mr Taranissi's clinic because he topped the league tables.

She said: "He is top of the league table because of his attention to detail and the fact that he keeps the foetuses in the lab for the longest possible time.

"Mr Taranissi really made it possible for me to have a family which wasn't going to be possible without his help."

The capital's top 10 clinics

1. Assisted Reproduction and Gynaecology Centre

2. Reproductive Genetics Institute

3. The Lister Hospital/University College Hospital (joint)

5. Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Assisted Conception Unit

6. Centre for Reproductive Medicine/Assisted Conception Unit at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital (joint)

8. The London Bridge Fertility, Gynaecology and Genetics Centre

9. The Barts and the London Fertility Centre

10. Assisted Conception Unit at Kings College Hospital

(Ranked according to live birth rate for women under 35)