A new inquiry has been launched in Victoria, targeting IVF providers who overstate a woman’s chance of having a baby via IVF in order to sell services.

The Victorian Health Complaints Commissioner is looking into unethical and questionable practices within the IVF industry.

The final report is expected to be delivered to the government by the end of the year.

“IVF can be a long, emotional and unpredictable journey – for many it results in joy, but for others, they are taken advantage of and peddled false hope,” Premier Daniel Andrews said.

The inquiry comes on the heels of a review of Assisted Reproductive Services, which examined whether there are enough safeguards to protect people undergoing or contemplating IVF.

The review found several instances of IVF operators behaving in questionable manners.

The review claimed that one doctor had allegedly knowingly transferred an unviable embryo.

The inquiry will also look at increasing penalties for dodgy IVF providers.

The government hopes the inquiry will protect the 13,000 women who undergo IVF in Victoria every year.