An in vitro fertilisation nurse Ms Dixon retired on Friday, after 15 years off and on working at the Bendigo Monash IVF clinic.

Ms Dixon herself is more intimately familiar than most with the experience of people going through the IVF process.

She was one of the first Australian woman to give birth to a child by IVF, in the early 1980s.

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Ms Dixon said it had been a real joy to her to work at the Bendigo clinic, using her nursing experience, but also knowing what it was like to be a patient herself.

She came to IVF nursing through the same doctor who helped her with her own pregnancy, working at the Bendigo clinic since the early 2000s.

Ms Dixon said IVF was both astounding from a medical perspective - collecting eggs, fertilising them and growing embryos to day five - and a privilege to share families' experiences.

"People wanting or needing IVF, they put everything into it," Ms Dixon said.

"They're so brave these people, they put all their body into it, they put their hopes and dreams, they put their finances, everything's on the line.

"It's so important, just having the privilege of working those people to help them through this time."

In her role, Ms Dixon takes patients through the process, from teaching them how to self-inject, to organising appointments and surgery, to pregnancy testing.

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IVF had changed a lot between Ms Dixon's time as a patient and when she started working in the field, in the early 2000s.

When her son was born there were no drugs, or stimulated cycle. Instead the process was based on hormonal testing to see when she was ovulating.

Ms Dixon was 28 and recently married, but having trouble falling pregnant. Her doctor at the time suggested she try the new process, but said pregnancy through it had only happened once before.

The second time she went through, Ms Dixon got pregnant.

"It was just astounding, and it was sort of like living in a science fiction novel. You were collecting eggs and fertilising them outside of the body," she said.

IVF was so new it was still the subject of controversy.

Ms Dixon even recalls parents withdrawing their children from a playgroup she enrolled her son in, because they didn't want them associating with an IVF child.

But she didn't let it bother her. And he, and her second son, also born through IVF are now in their mid-30s and "just normal people, thank you very much", Ms Dixon said.

The actions of those early doctors have changed Ms Dixon's life permanently.

"What we tend to forget about IVF, it's not just about getting people pregnant and that's wonderful, it's about their whole life. Now I've got the opportunity of being a grandma, and my whole life has been changed," she said.

"It's just amazing to think that what we do changes people's lives, what's why I love it."

Ms Dixon said it was sad to retire, but at 67 the time was right. She said she planned use her time to play music with her husband, which they both loved.

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