FAMILIES and their "miracle babies" gathered at the Council House in Nottingham last night to celebrate 25 years of IVF in the city.

Dr Simon Fishel and John Webster set up a fertility clinic at The Park Hospital in Arnold in 1985.

The IVF technique, in which egg cells are fertilised with sperm outside the womb, is now considered standard practice.

Helene Torr, from Carlton, had all three of her children – Adam, 12, and twins Mark and Lucy, 10 – through IVF.

She was not suitable for treatment within the NHS and so approached Care Fertility.

Her first round was unsuccessful but then, aged 35, she gave birth to Adam.

"At that time I thought IVF was a formality," she said.

"I certainly wasn't prepared for the emotional turmoil.

"So when it failed I was completely knocked for six. I wasn't prepared at all. Then I had to go through it again, not only financially but emotionally."

The treatment put a strain on her and husband Brian's relationship and cost them £15,000.

But Helene has since set up support group Ace Babes, to help other families who have gone through IVF.

"On the back of that I've met so many other people who have had different experiences," she said. "IVF needs to be celebrated and not hidden under the carpet."

The families had been invited to a reception at the Council House. It was opened with speeches from the Lord Mayor, Brian Grocock, Dr Fishel and Mr Webster.

Dr Fishel is managing director of Care Fertility, in Nottingham, and has contributed to a number of breakthroughs in the field.

Together Dr Fishel and Mr Webster opened the Nottingham University Research and Treatment Unit in Reproduction, or Nurture, in 1991.

Thanks to The Park Hospital and Care Fertility, Nottingham is a major international centre for the treatment.

And thousands of couples have been able to have families thanks to IVF.

Mick and Angela Levey, from Arnold, had twins Samantha and Matthew, 22, through IVF.

The couple were married for 17 years before Angela conceived through IVF at the age of 35.

She said: "I had investigations at the hospital and they just said the only thing left was IVF.

"And amazingly it worked."

Mr Webster said he thought it was a tremendous achievement to reach 25 years of IVF in the city.

"Some others clinics have opened and closed but I think it says something for the quality of the staff and doctors that knew about us and the patients who kept coming," he said.