Fertility Road Issue 44 May/June 2018

NEW JOURNEY PARTNERS REDIA & MEDITERRANEAN FERTILITY INSTITUTE 

FertilityRoad 

HOW TO USE 

NUTRITION 

TO IMPROVE 

FERTILITY 

MAY/JUNE 2018 

DOES WORK 

PRESSURE 

AFFECT YOUR 

FERTILITY? 

KEEPING 

THE LOVE 

WHILE TRYING 

TO CONCEIVE 

IVF SPAIN 

WELCOME 

THEIR NEW 

COUPLE 

Get 

fertility fit 

ISSUE 44 MAY-JUNE 2018 

THE IMPORTANCE OF RESILIENCE • THE ABC OF STRESS • SPICE OF LIFE

FertilityRoad ISSUE 44 fertilityroad fertilityroadmag 

Contents 

LEGAL 

MIND 

13 FAMILY MATTERS 

ur legal eerts loo at te 

agig fae of wat a family 

loos lie 

30 RELATIONSHIPS 

eeig te loe wile tryig 

to oeie 

33 THE IMPORTANCE OF 

RESILIENCE 

aigatig your way troug 

lifes allege 

BODY 

14 5 THINGS TO QUIT TO 

FUEL FERTILITY 

re tese fie tigs armig 

your aes of gettig regat 

FERTILITY 

JOURNEYS 

FERTILITY 

360 

22 BOOST FERTILITY NATURALLY 

ow to use utritio to imroe 

your fertility 

26 SPICE OF LIFE 

oo u some loe i te ite 

44 REDIA IVF TRAVEL 

elome to our ew fertility 

ourey arters rael ad 

editerraea ertility stitute 

46 IVF SPAIN 

elome laire ad ae to te 

ai family 

50 OREGON REPRODUCTIVE 

MEDICINE 

ogratulatios to eater ad 

rado wo are regat 

56 JESSICA HEPBURN - 

21 MILES 

wimmig i sear of te 

meaig of moterood 

60 BUDGETING YOUR 

SURROGACY JOURNEY 

fators tat a ae a ig 

imat o osts 

MEN ONLY 

64 HOW THE PRESSURES 

OF WORK AFFECT MALE 

INFERTILITY 

e loo at te affets wor 

ressures ae o male ifertility 

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Contributors 

The people who made this issue happen… 

Michelle Mulliss BSc (Hons) 

MBAcC 

Michelle specialises in natural 

and assisted fertility and provides 

a unique approach of integrated 

medicine. 

Liz Bottrill 

Liz Bottrill is a Partner in the Family Law 

Team at Laytons Solicitors with over 25 

years’ experience in the field. She has a 

particular interest and expertise in the 

law relating to children and fertility. 

Natasha Canfer 

Natasha is an infertility sherpa 

offering individuals bespoke, 

practical and emotional support and 

companionship before, during and 

after fertility treatment. 

Sarah Banks 

Sarah is a Fertility coach and 

mentor who works with fertility 

professionals to enhance their 

patient experience and success rates. 

Jessica Hepburn 

Founder of Fertility Fest and 

author of her new book 21 Miles: 

Swimming in search of the meaning 

of motherhood. 

Russell Davis 

Russell is a fertility coach 

supporting couples on their journey. 

Harry Gardiner 

Having spent the past 4 years 

immersed in the fertility world, 

Harry regularly speaks out 

about environmental factors 

that affect fertility. 

Lisa Attfield 

Lisa is a mother of 3 IVF children 

and has produced her own Fertility 

Yoga DVD after her 10-year journey 

to become a mother. 

Craig Reisser 

Craig is a father through donor egg 

surrogacy and IVF. Craig works with 

Oregon Reproductive Medicine, 

the clinic that helped him become a 

father, to help other intended parents 

building their families. 

Kathy Payne 

Kathy is a women’s health coach 

online and in Norwich UK, offering 

bespoke programmes for women 

and couples, as well as online classes 

and courses. 

Dr Caroline Phillips PhD 

Caroline was senior embryologist 

at the Chelsea and Westminster 

Hospital in the 90’s. She now runs 

an online hub - Fertility Clinics 

Abroadwhich offers resources and 

information to people seeking IVF 

abroad. 

Juliana Kassianos 

Juliana is a Natural Fertility 

Therapist and founder of The 

School of Fertility. 

FertilityRoad 

Publisher 

PJ Jarvis-Mack 

pj@fertilityroad.com 

Managing Editor 

Tone Jarvis-Mack 

tone@fertilityroad.com 

Art Editor 

Richard Porter 

Ad Sales 

Tone Jarvis-Mack 

tone@fertilityroad.com 

020 7183 9882 

Accounts Manager 

Lynsey Jackman 

lynsey@fertilityroad.com 

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fertilityroad.com | 05

FR News & Views 

UCLA RESEARCH 

MAY EXPLAIN 

SOME CAUSES OF 

INFERTILITY AND 

MISCARRIAGE 

STUDY EXAMINES HOW EARLY EMBRYONIC 

DEVELOPMENT CAN GO AWRY 

A new study in the journal Nature Cell 

Biology has uncovered information about a 

key stage that human embryonic cells must 

pass through just before an embryo implants. 

The research, led by UCLA biologist Amander 

Clark, could help explain certain causes of 

infertility and spontaneous miscarriage. 

fertility affets aroud eret of te 

oulatio ad rougly to eret of 

all regaies i te ed i misarriage 

may ases te auses of ifertility ad 

misarriage are uow 

team led y lar a rofessor of 

moleular ell ad deelometal iology ad 

memer of te li ad dyte road eter of 

egeeratie ediie ad tem ell esear 

at set out to fid ow eigeomi 

ages ogeeti ifluees o gee 

eressio i uma emryoi stem ells 

ould elai wy some emryos are ot iale 

ey started y aalyig ells witi te early 

emryo tese ells are luriotet meaig 

tat tey a tur ito ay ell witi te 

uma ody 

or may years researers tougt tat 

uma luriotey was a sigle state lar 

said oweer oer te ast tree years te 

field as disoered tat uma luriotey 

ioles at least two maor states ad as 

emryos grow te stem ells ass troug tese 

two differet states of luriotey o te way 

to te emryo estalisig a regay 

fter a uma emryo is fertilied ad efore it 

imlats i te uterie liig ells i te emryo 

are i a ery immature state of luriotey alled 

te aie state ittle is ow aout te aie 

state ut sietists eliee tat if emryoi ells 

aot first eter tis state te emryo is ot iale 

ad a misarriage would our roud te time a 

emryo imlats its ells eter te rimed state 

rimed ells are ready to differetiate ito all of te 

arious ell tyes i te ody 

ltoug o oe ows eatly wy te aie 

state of luriotey eists or wat els aie 

ells stay i tat state for a eriod of time it 

ould e to roide a rotetie meaism 

tat reets te emryoi ells from 

differetiatig too uily wi would esure 

te timig of imlatatio is rigt lar said 

o etter uderstad wat els regulate te 

aie state te researers omared eigeomi 

ages i lareated aie ad rimed 

emryoi stem ells ey disoered tat 

ot ell tyes ae differet seuees of oe 

romati trougout teir romati 

osists of ad rotei tat odese to 

form te romosomes witi a ells uleus 

iue seuees of oe romati witi 

ay ell tye at as ar odes eeregulatig 

roteis alled trasritio fators i te oe 

areas of romati sa te ar ode ad te 

id to it wi ifluees geeti atiity i 

te ell 

e looed seifially at oe romati 

ad foud a ar ode tat is uiue to aie 

emryoi stem ells reeated oer ad oer 

agai so we ased wat trasritio fator 

reogies tat ar ode lar said 

e researers disoered tat a trasritio 

fator alled reogies te ar ode 

o lear more aout its seifi role tey 

deleted te gee tat maes te rotei 

from ot rimed ad aie emryoi stem 

ells i te laoratory usig a gee editig tool 

alled as 

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Sponsored by 

They found that the deletion had no effect on 

primed stem cells. Conversely, when TFAP2C was 

deleted from naive stem cells, the areas of open 

chromatin associated with the naive state closed 

and the naive stem cells passed into a primed state. 

The research also revealed about 1,500 regions 

of open chromatin that are very sensitive to 

the loss of TFAP2C and showed that there 

are hundreds of genes associated with early 

embryonic development in those areas. 

“We’ve discovered that the presence of TFAP2C 

marks an important difference between the 

naive and primed states of pluripotency, and that 

TFAP2C is necessary to maintain the naive state 

of pluripotency,” Clark said. “We also showed 

that without TFAP2C, hundreds of genes aren’t 

expressed correctly, which would most likely 

result in early miscarriage.” 

In addition, the researchers verified that the regions 

of open chromatin present in lab-created naive 

embryonic stem cells are also present in embryos 

before the stage associated with implantation. 

“Our findings are relevant to the natural process 

of human development because they match up 

with what we see in human pre-implantation 

embryos,” Clark said. “This provides new 

information about a time in the lifecycle that 

we know little about. Fundamental knowledge 

like this could help better predict infertility or 

embryo quality.” 

The study also could lead to important advances 

in an area of medicine that historically has been 

underfunded and underappreciated — in part 

because the subject of infertility is sometimes 

seen as taboo and because it doesn’t attract the 

attention of deadly diseases like cancer. 

“People who experience infertility and 

miscarriage may tell close friends or family, 

but too often, these issues are not discussed,” 

Clark said. “But infertility is a significant health 

concern. It deserves our attention, and we as a 

society need to be more open about it.” 

The pluripotent stem cell research was 

supported by the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial 

Fund for Medical Research, the Chinese 

Scholarship Council, the National Institute 

of Child Health and Human Development, 

Australia’s National Health and Medical 

Research Council, the Silvia and Charles 

Viertel Senior Medical Research Fellowships 

and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The 

human embryo research was funded by the 

UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center and its 

training program. 




A WOMAN FROM CANBERRA 

WHO CONCEIVED NATURALLY 

AFTER NEARLY 10 YEARS 

STRUGGLING WITH INFERTILITY 

IS NOW HELPING OTHER 

WOMEN TO GET PREGNANT. 



Sponsored by 

Liz Walton, now 48, had tried six rounds of 

In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) and spent around 

£30,000 trying to conceive. 

But today she is the proud mother of two-yearold 

Willow after getting pregnant naturallydespite 

doctors saying the couple not have 

children without medical intervention. 

Liz, from Savery Street, Garren, said: “I thought 

I was going through the menopause and was 

shocked to learn I was in fact pregnant. 

“I’d let go of our dream of having children. 

I think because we were relaxed and finally 

accepting of the situation, we were in fact ready 

to have them.” 

Liz, who got pregnant at the age of 45, has gone 

on to work with 14 women across 3 continents - 

and they have all since had children. 

Liz, an international leader and coach, said: “I 

now focus on helping women who are having 

difficulties getting pregnant for various reasons, 

as well as unexplained fertility. 

“It is because of my own experience and learning 

that I can support and help women so they receive 

the best help to get their desired outcome.” 

Liz techniques such as hypnotherapy and 

a healing process called The Journey to 

help women tackle stress, which is often an 

underlying factor in being unable to conceive. 

Liz, who has over 20 years’ experience in the 

therapeutic industry, said: “Constant stress shuts 

down all our reproductive systems and sometimes 

what we want most can be pushed further away. 

“I can’t guarantee the support will result in a 

couple getting pregnant, though there have been 

many cases. 

“But what I can enable is a shift, which 

allows people to find peace and see beyond just 

having children.” 

Liz, who previously ran a complementary 

health practice in Canberra called Body and 

Mind, has returned from a seven years in the 

UK, where she cared for ailing mother, who has 

sadly since died. 

She has set up Liz Walton Therapies and 

Coaching to help people deal with a range of 

conditions, including anxiety, depression, grief 

and infertility. 

For more information about Liz’s work, visit 

lizwalton.org or call +61 0432 427 464. 

Liz's story: 

Liz and her husband, Greg, 43, married in 2005 

and tried to have children soon after. 

But they later learned Greg had anti-sperm 

antibodies, which can cause sperm to stick 

together and reduce movement - preventing 

them from fertilising the egg. 

They had IVF for over eight years and were told 

their chances of conceiving with treatment were 

still less than five per cent. 

Liz was devastated each time it was unsuccessful 

and the stress put a strain on the couple. 

Liz said: “We got married and thought ‘OK, let’s 

get pregnant. But a couple of years later it still 

hadn’t happened. 

“We grow up believing we are put on this earth 

to have children and when I couldn’t, I ended up 

attacking myself. I asked myself why I couldn’t 

and what had I done wrong. 

“I was devastated each time the treatment 

failed. It tore me part and I felt annihilated. I 

kept thinking ‘how can I fix this?’ It became an 

obsession and drove me crazy.” 

Liz piled on weight because of the stress – 

gaining nearly two kilos after each course of 

treatment, going from 67kilos to 75 kilos. 

Liz said: “Being told ‘no, it isn’t happened,’ would be 

stressful and I’d often go into a bad mood. The stress 

was overwhelming and I turned to food for comfort.” 

Rather than save for a home, they used all the 

money they had to pay for treatment. 

But when Liz’s sister-in-law fell pregnant it was a 

turning point for Liz, who now past 40 was told her 

chances of conceiving through IVF was now unlikely. 

Liz, who used to run her own holistic complementary 

health practice, turned to coaching. 

She said: “I took part in an emotional healing 

workshop and it brought our relationship to a 

whole new level. It also helped me to cope much 

better with the situation. 

“I didn’t want to be a person full of bitterness 

and I realised I needed to let go. It had got to the 

point I wasn’t living my life, but holding out for 

something I couldn’t have. 

“I cried for weeks, but it was something I had to 

do. It’s better than shutting down and turning 

to eating or drinking – which is something I 

would have done in the past.” 

Liz worked with therapists to come to terms 

with infertility and now offers counselling and 

coaching to other women in a similar situation. 

She said: “I think there were many reasons I got 

pregnant when I did. Partly, Greg turned 40 and 

he started to review his life - realising he wanted 

children in it. 

“I believe our mind-set can influence our bodies 

and I learned tools to become mentally and 

emotionally healthier. Something must have 

changed for both of us and we were finally ready 

for this.” 

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BOURN HALL WICKFORD TO 

PIONEER NEW APPROACH TO 

FERTILITY AND WELLBEING 

One in six couples struggle with infertility 

but many miss out on the timely advice and 

treatment that can bring them closer to starting 

a family. Bourn Hall has 40 years of expertise 

in making babies and has chosen Wickford to 

be the home of a new purpose-built fertility 

centre offering a fresh approach to fertility 

wellbeing and treatment. The new clinic is near 

the station and set to open in May. 

ara allett our alls usiess 

eelomet iretor was deligted to e 

aded te eys to te treestorey uildig 

y aul taey aagig iretor of e 

ealtare roerty omay a 

ioatie deeloer of ealtare remises 

ara ommets tat may a e eled wit 

good adie from a seialist ur oer is 

tat eole ofte go ito deial aout teir 

fertility rolems ad ut off gettig adie 

troug emarrassmet 

e wat tis to e a lae were eole feel 

tey a ome at ay stage of teir fertility 

ourey weter tey ae oly ust started 

tryig for a family wat adie o oostig 

teir atural fertility or ae ee tryig for 

some time ad are oered tat tey may 

ae a fertility issue 

e ew lii as ee desiged to feel more 

lie a outiue sa ta a liial osital 

eiromet to eourage eole to see 

treatmet earlier we issues are easier to 

resole t will roide a full suite of fertility 

series from iitial fertility testig rigt 

troug to treatmet or selffuded 

ree treatmet is aailale for tose wo 

meet te riteria for doatig or sarig eggs 

ad serm 

uiue feature of te etre is a fertility 

welleig u our all is ireasigly 

aware tat imroig utritio fitess ad 

reduig stress a el atiets imroe teir 

fertility ad oe wit te emotioal roller 

oaster of treatmet t as reated a sae of 

omlemetary teraists to ratie 

is is te first time tat our all lii 

as ommissioed a ewuild ad te desig 

is isired y early years of eeriee i 

delierig ig uality fertility are esiged 

y r aritets te roet was maaged 

y e ealtare roerty omay 

a eerieed deeloer of ealtare 

remises ased i aldo wit uildig wor 

udertae y outedoea ostrutio 

omay ardy 

e ew uroseuilt lii at iford 

will ae te aaity for yles a 

year t is uilt to te igest eirometal 

seifiatios iororatig te latest uildig 

teologies to redue oise ad iratios 

from traffi to reate a alm iterior 

aul taey of says ery detail as ee 

osidered to romote suessful treatmet 

wile reatig a aestetially leasig 

eiromet for atiets ad staff 

our all was te worlds first lii ad 

iford will roide a omlete serie 

uder oe roof iludig egg olletio ad 

emryo trasfer e lii as ee desiged 

to roide a reassurig eiromet wit easy 

trasort lis ad free osite arig is 

will eale atiets to atted aoitmets ad 

retur ome witout strugglig troug odo 

uli trasort or traffi 

ara ommets tat iford is a ideal lae to 

offer te full rage of fertility series as it is easily 

aessile to eole from out ertfordsire ad 

ort odo as well as sse e says e will 

offer fleile early morig eeig ad weeed 

aoitmets to el atiets fit treatmet aroud 

wor ad oter ommitmets 

o eourage eole to see adie ad to 

elerate te lii oeig i ay our 

all is offerig a free osultatio wit a fertility 

urse seialist or more iformatio aout 

tis offer lease isit bournhall.co.uk 

ere will e a oortuity for ealt 

rofessioals to ae a tour of te uildig ad 

meet staff o te eeig of t ay for more 

details go to bournhall.co.uk/news-events/bournhall-wickford-launch-event-future-fertility/ 



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NEW FERTILITY TREATMENT 

FOR MEN AND WOMEN 

BEING DEVELOPED AT 

BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY 

OF THE NEGEV PATENTED 

BY BGN TECHNOLOGIES, 

THE TREATMENT IS BASED 

ON A NEW PROPRIETARY, 

TELOMERASE-ACTIVATING 

COMPOUND 

BGN Technologies, the technology transfer company of Ben-Gurion 

University, announced today that researchers at Ben-Gurion University 

of the Negev (BGU) is developing a new, single-dose fertility treatment 

based on a new telomerase-activating compound, which could improve 

both male and female fertility. The groundbreaking technology was 

developed by Prof. Esther Priel and her research group, at BGU's Faculty 

of Health Sciences in consultation with the In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) 

Laboratory at the Soroka University Medical Center, Israel. 

The new treatment stimulates the expression of the telomerase, the enzyme 

that is responsible for maintenance of telomeres, DNA sequences at the tip 

of a chromosome that affect the life span of cells in general and contribute to 

infertility. The novel treatment re-elongates the telomeres and protects cells 

from damages, thereby increasing cell viability and increasing the likelihood 

of fertilization and embryo generation and implantation. The treatment is 

applied as a single dose, and dissipates within 24 hours. The compound was 

tested on mice, and showed no toxic effects in animal studies. 

“We’ve evaluated the efficacy of the new compound in mice and found that 

a single dose greatly improves fertility in both female and male mice,” said 

Prof. Priel. “One dose speeds up egg maturation and ovulation, increases the 

number of ovulated eggs, and results in a larger number of viable offspring.” 

“The compound also showed a protective effect on ovaries and testes of mice 

undergoing radiation suggesting that it might be able to protect and improve 

the fertility of women and men undergoing radiation therapy for cancer,” 

added Prof. Priel. 

The compound is a member of a family of several telomerase activating 

compounds, that were found to affect several degenerative diseases, 

developed in a research collaboration between Prof. Priel, Prof. Shimon 

Slavin and Dr. Aviv Gazit. 

“The promising preclinical results and especially the fact that a single dose 

was sufficient to demonstrate the efficacy of the compound could lead to 

a highly accessible treatment option,” stated Dr. Ora Horovitz, Senior Vice 

President of Business Development at BGN Technologies. “We are now 

seeking collaboration for further development of this promising treatment 

towards human clinical trials and commercialization.” 

12 | fertilityroad.com | fertilityroadmag | follow us @fertilityroad

LEGAL 

i ottrill 

FAMILY MATTERS 

te legal ste of eterig ito iilartersi 

or marriage 

e concept of faily as canged beyond all 

recognition in te space of a generation. e 

idea of a nuclear faily unit coprising of a 

arried u and dad it . cildren sees 

as outdated no as te idea of a orld itout 

obile pones or te internet. 

owadays families are wateer we wat tem 

to e arets of te same geder or differet 

geders iilartersi married or liig 

togeter ildre or y a ariety of metods 

ad wit differet geeti eritages ll are 

regarded te same y soiety ut ot y te law 

e strais o moder family life wateer 

sae te family taes are eormous oweer te 

ourey to family egis it is a sad oseuee of 

tose ireased stresses witi our moder world 

tat searatio dissolutio of iilartersi 

ad diore are all o te irease 

e of te most ommo misoetios fae 

i my legal ratie daytoday is we dealig 

wit adults wo ae lied togeter outside 

te legal framewor of a iilartersi or 

marriage ut assume o searatio tat teir 

fiaial arragemets will e dealt wit i te 

same maer as teir diorig outerarts 

ere is a misoetio tat simly y liig 

togeter for a eriod of time you auire rigts 

agaist your arter uo searatio 

is is simly ot true ere is o su tig i 

law as te ommo law wife 

e at of gettig married or eterig ito a 

iilartersi rigs wit it a legal fiaial 

resosiility towards your arter searatio 

te eoomially stroger arter a e omelled 

y te ourt to mae fiaial roisio for te 

eoomially weaer arter is may tae te form 

of roidig roerty as maiteae or sarig 

i esio roisio e ourt as sweeig owers 

to imose fiaial arragemets tat te ourt 

deems to e fair wit oe of te ourts osideratios 

eig te welfare of ay ildre e ourt as te 

ower to redistriute assets regardless of wose ame 

assets are i teir roeae or te reasos wy te 

relatiosi failed 

e same is ot true followig te searatio of 

a oule wo ae lied togeter witout taig 

oaitees auire o fiaial resosiility 

towards ea oter o matter ow log teir 

relatiosi eists searatio roerty will e 

sared aordig to owersi o maiteae 

aymets are due ad esio roisio aot e 

sared ere is a eetio to tis were tere are 

ildre of te family ild maiteae is always 

ayale etwee searated arets regardless of 

weter or ot tey were i a legal relatiosi 

urtermore a aret a e omelled to settle 

roerty for te eefit of ildre durig teir 

miority meaig for eamle tat oe aret 

a e omelled to roide te fiaes eeded 

to urase a roerty for te ildre to lie i 

wit teir oter aret oweer tat roerty 

will e eld o trust ad will reert a to te 

ayig aret oe te ildre aiee maority 

rederig teir former arter omeless 

f you are looig to start family life witout 

eig married or i a iilartersi mae sure 

you uderstad te legal ulerailities of your 

situatio ad address tem 

e arsess of te law relatig to oaitees 

a e mitigated y areful laig at a time 

we relatiosis are good oaitatio 

greemets rust eeds ad ills all 

regularly reiewed a e used to esure 

fiaial arragemets o searatio mat 

te eetatios of all ioled ad roide 

adeuately ad fairly for ot te adults ad 

teir ildre 

i ottrill is a arter i te amily aw 

eam at aytos oliitors wit oer years 

eeriee i te field e as a artiular 

iterest ad eertise i te law relatig to 

ildre ad fertility laytons.co 


fertilityroadom |

BODY 

EXPERT: Kathy Payne 

THINGS TO QUIT 

TO FUEL FERTILITY 

The fact is that about 1 in 7 couples have 

trouble conceiving. Some are projecting that 

figure will continue to increase rapidly. 

That makes me sad. And mad. And even more 

determined to teach couples currently planning 

babies how to boost their fertility, naturally. 

AND those who want babies in the future to 

protect their fertility starting right now. 

Because that IS possible. Whether you’re planning to 

conceive naturally or IVF is your next /only option. 

Now, my bespoke preconception care programmes 

are based on tests. Because – based on test results 

- we can tailor guidance specifically to you, your 

history and circumstances and needs. 

However, there are some steps that everyone can 

take to fuel their fertility. 

And I want to share just some of them with you 

right now. 

Here are 5 things that could be 

harming your fertility 



BODY 

1SUGAR 

Oh yes, the white stuff. It’s addictive. 

As crack apparently. I’m not sure if 

that’s true but what is true is that when you have 

a little you want more. And when you quit, you 

suffer withdrawal symptoms. 

And sugar is everywhere. Even in savoury foods. 

It’s “hidden” behind fancy names in labels. but 

it’s still sugar. I have a cheat sheet with all the 

different ways sugars are described on labels – 

get in touch if you’d like it. 

Sugar wrecks delicate hormone balance. 

Starting with blood sugar spikes and 

crashes. It messes with fertility. 

It increases appetite. It contributes to weight 

management issues and weight is a factor in 

fertility. It contributes to chronic diseases. 

If you want to quit sugar, please don’t make the 

mistake of replacing it with artificial sweeteners. 

They are pretty nasty, health-harming chemicals 

and they have been linked to increased appetite too. 

2ALCOHOL 

I know I sound like a big buzzkill and I make 

no apology. 

For me, preconception care is at 

least 3-4 months of getting ready 

to make the best egg and healthiest 

sperm possible and creating a warm 

and welcoming womb for a happy, 

healthy baby. Because our choices 

influence not only fertility, but 

pregnancy and the health of our 

future babies. 

Well worth quitting or strictly moderating 

alcohol, I think. 

Booze depletes nutrition, including those vitamins 

and minerals essential for fertility. It’s not good for 

our gut. 

It makes our liver sluggish and we women 

need healthy livers to get rid of old hormones 

circulating around, if we want to reduce the risk 

of hormone imbalances. 

It affects sperm production. And can impact sex drive. 

My top tips for quitting – at least for now – are: - 

• Do it together. It’s easier to follow a new plan 

with support, encouragement and accountability. 

• Avoid or reduce those social situations where 

alcohol flows. You may not wish to get into a 

convo about WHY you’re choosing not to drink. 

Have your reasons ready for those encouraging 

you to drink – even if it’s not the whole truth… 

Suggest alternative fun like the cinema. 

• Find something healthy that you can drink and 

make it special. For example, pimp up your water 

with fruits and herbs and have it in a fancy glass. 

My top tips for quitting sugar are: - 

• Crowd into your diet more sweet vegetables such as 

carrots and peas and squashes and some fruit (1-2 

portions of fruit a day – still sugar even though it 

comes with fibre, right?) to reduce your craving for 

processed sugar over time. 

• Eat quality protein, good fats and fibre at every 

meal to keep you fuller for longer and your energy 

and moods more balanced. This should help keep 

you away from the cookie jar. 

• Drink plenty of filtered water (avoid hormone 

harming plastic bottles) and herbal teas to help 

you hydrate and detox. 

I suggest choosing natural sweeteners in moderation 

like stevia, raw honey, quality maple syrup and 

coconut palm sugar. The emphasis is on moderation. 

3CAFFEINE 

Now, I know this is another potential buzzkill. We all love an 

adrenaline rush, right? 

I recommend giving it up as part of your baby-making plans. 

Cutting back on caffeine helps support 

adrenal health. Poor adrenal health can lead 

to hormone imbalances. 

Caffeine is another robber of nutrition too. 

My top tips are: 

• If you just can’t quit, have one quality coffee (not too strong) 

with breakfast, never on its own. 

• Try alternatives to coffee like herbal /grain drinks such as 

Barleycup. They taste pretty good, honestly. 

• Eat a good breakfast within an hour of waking to support 

adrenal health. Remember my healthy meal equation? Quality 

protein + healthy fats + fibre. 

Of course, caffeine is found in tea, cola drinks, energy drinks, 

chocolate and some over-the-counter medicines. Be caffeine savvy. 



BODY 

4 5GET RID OF 

GLUTEN 

TOXIC PERSONAL 

suset tis is goig to e more otroersial 

CARE PRODUCTS 

f ourse ot eeryody suffers allergy to glute a 

grai rotei ador is diagosed wit oelia disease 

This may be a surprising one, but 

oweer glute is a food tat may eole fid 

diffiulty to tolerate ts a ommo otriutor to 

iflammatio i te ody t lowers tyroid futio 

ts tougt tat moder farmig metods ad 

weat modifiatio uderi tese issues as 

te demad for iger uatities of food at low 

ries grows 

So, what can you do? 

ry uttig out glute roduts from weat 

selt amut farro ad roduts lie ulgar ad 

semolia lso arley rye tritiale 

ot uy glute free roduts from stores witout 

readig laels may are eaily roessed ad 

full of addities reseraties ad emials 

id glute free reies made from real raw 

igrediets lie uweat ad uioa 

wi are ot grais as a eamle row rie 

is aed wit utritio too 

many personal care products contain 

health harming, hormone harming 

and fertility harming chemicals. 

ostly tese emials affet oestroge i 

our odies tats wome ad me d tey 

iterfere wit our ormal ormoe futio 

ad alae 

tur tat a lead to ormoe related 

oditios lie edometriosis i wome serm 

issues i me 

Start by: - 

aig a e of te laels of your ersoal are 

roduts relae ay tat otai araes 

sodium lauryl sulate talates roylee 

glyol d tats ust a start ere are 

armful tois ommo i oter asets of life 

eig out te ealt riss your urret 

roduts usig te wesite ewg.org/skindeep 

ts a great ideedet dataase 

esearig rads tat are less ealt ad 

ormoe armig tere are good alteraties 

to your usual roduts 

ou a ee mae your ow alteraties roaly 

more osteffetiely ere are oos o te suet 

or use a sear egie to dig out some reies 

o tere we ae it stes tat a really oost 

ealt ad terefore oost your atural fertility 

d eliee tats ey weter youre laig 

atural oetio or assisted meas lie 

d tese are retty aessile ad ieesie 

tis for all o te ourey to aretood ust a 

few of te ratial tis ad its sare i my 

reoetio are wor wit wome ad oules 

oe aty 

aty aye is a ooster of ertility alaer 

of ormoes ad ooter of oder ife 

adess aturally e is a womes ealt 

oa olie ad i orwi offerig 

esoe rogrammes for wome ad oules 

as well as olie lasses ad ourses 

f youd lie to rotet urture ad oost 

your fertility aturally sig u for er free 

mii olie ourse tes to oost ertility 

at http://bit.ly/7stepstoboostfertility 



BODY 

WOLFSON FERTILITY CENTRE 

The Wolfson Fertility Centre 

Hammersmith Hospital 

Put your 

fertility journey 

in trusted hands 

NHS and private options 

Exceptional pregnancy rates 

High success rates for patients 

with complex fertility concerns 

Comprehensive care from 

conception to birth 

Hammersmith Hospital 

Du Cane Rd, Shepherd’s Bush, 

London W12 0HS 

Tel: 020 3313 4411 

imperial.ivf@nhs.net 

www.imperialprivatehealthcare.co.uk 



BODY 

isa ttfield 

Which 

types of 

exercise 

improve 

fertility? 



BODY 

Your weight can affect your fertility and 

depending on which type of exercise you 

do, it could be detrimental to your fertility 

chances. But also, there are actual exercise 

regimes that enhance your fertility too. So, if 

you need to lose weight to get fertility fit, I'll 

explain which exercises are good for fertility, 

but first let's review how your weight affects 

your fertility. 

If you and or your partner are experiencing 

infertility, it is advisable to be as healthy as 

you can be, to get the best out come from 

any fertility treatment and to have a healthy 

pregnancy. The NHS link exercise to fertility 

and research shows that if you have a healthy 

BMI (body mass index) between 20-25 BMI, you 

can improve your chances to conceive. If you 

are under or over weight this can affect your 

ability to conceive. 

Obese women are less likely to become pregnant 

through IVF and assisted reproduction. 

Carrying excess weight can affect the function 

of the ovaries, due to changes in hormones 

and metabolism rate. Obese women have less 

success with assisted fertility treatment, because 

of the poor response to fertility drugs that 

stimulate ovulation. The same can be said for 

being underweight, as this can also affect your 

hormones too and impact your fertility. 

Maintaining an optimum weight is good for 

both partners experiencing infertility, and 

this has been the current focus within NHS 

proposals. In the South West of England, 

they propose to refuse NHS funded 

IVF treatment, if the male partners 

have a BMI of 30 plus. As 30 plus 

BMI, is classed as medically 

obese and could affect fertility 

chances. The proposal by 

the clinical commissioning 

group, is to change NHS 

funded fertility treatment 

policy, to ensure men get 

to a healthy weight, before 

the NHS fund investigations 

and fertility treatments with 

their partners. 

So, which type of exercise 

workouts enhances fertility? 

Moderate exercising, rather than excessive, 

exhausting workouts, are likely to be the most 

appropriate type of activity, for healthy men and 

women trying to conceive. Studies found that 

women who performed high-frequency, highintensity 

exercise had a lower rate of fertility. 

A cohort study was carried out by the Norwegian 

University of Science and Technology, led by Dr 

Gudmundsdottir and his team. Which investigated 

the association between the levels of physical 

activity, and the groups fertility rates against the 

parity (number of children) they had in a group. 

Over 24,000 women participated, and women were 

excluded who had conditions that were known 

to affect their fertility, such as poor health, and 

fertility problems. As the study attempted to make 

their findings relevant to healthy women. Their 

levels of exercise were assessed and categorised as: 

• Never 

• Less than once a week 

• 2-3 times a week 

• Almost every day 

Along with the frequency of exercise, the intensity was 

also categorised as: ‘taking it easy’, ‘loss of breath’ and 

‘to exhaustion’. The group’s fertility was assessed at 

the follow-up assessments, where the women reported 

on: their age they had children; and the number of 

children they had; and whether they had difficulty 

conceiving within one year of trying for conception. 

Other factors that affect 

fertility were considered in 

the study to include: 

• Age 

• Marital status 

• Body mass index (BMI) 

• Smoking 

• Alcohol consumption 

The fertility status of the group were compared and 

the results showed that “Increased frequency and 

intensity of physical activity was associated with 

increased infertility” Results showed that “women 

who were active on most days of the week were 

3.2 times more likely to be infertile than inactive 

women. Women who exercised ‘to exhaustion’ were 

2.3 times more likely to be infertile than women 

who said they ‘take it easy’”. 

The researchers concluded that “fertility is 

negatively affected by physical activity of an 

extreme intensity and frequency” 

Studies show that highintensity, 

prolongs 

strenuous workouts can: 

• Increase cortisol levels 

• Lower thyroid hormones 

• Affect metabolism 

• Disturb ovulation 

• Menstrual cycle 



BODY 

ot low tyroid ormoes ad ig ortisol 

leels ae ee lied to oor adreal ealt 

wi a diretly imat tyroid futio ad 

affets ow te ody adles stress log 

term ll of wi a egatiely 

imat oerall ormoal alae 

ad fertility so y reduig 

stress ad reiewig your 

eerise regime you a realae 

your ormoes 

Exercises to 

avoid while 

trying to 

conceive: 

uig log 

distaes 

treuous regular traiig 

sorts su as gymastis 

treme ootam traiig 

iram or ower yoga 

as tis raises ody 

temerature 

erise for oer a ours 

sessio days a wee 

ut dot desair if you urretly 

ae a streuous eerise regime 

or ae so i te ast s te good 

ews from te results of te resear 

is tat may wome wo traied te 

ardest at some oit i time still 

wet o to ae ildre y lowerig 

teir ysial atiity to a moderate 

leel fertility due to ig itesity 

eerise may e reersed y a redutio 

i ysial atiity ad ireasig ody 

fat to realae ormoes disruted y 

etreme eerises 

Good exercises for 

fertility 

egular moderate eerise is essetial for a 

rearig te ody for a ealty oetio ad 

regay outome oosig eerise tat els to 

regulate ormoes ad detoify will also imroe 

tregte musles 

rease fleiility 

mroe stamia 

rease irulatio 

edue stress 

alm te mid 

t is reommed tat wome wo are tryig to 

oeie sould tae u moderate eerise for 

miutes a day for tree times a wee 

wit two musle stregt traiig 

miute sessios ou ould omie 

oe to two sessio to try a our 

of getle yoga or tai i ratiig 

ertility oga to eae your 

fertility aes as te ertility 

oga oses are desiged 

to imroe rerodutie 

ealt ad te reatig 

ad meditatio 

raties used el 

redue stress leels 

Moderate 

exercises 

to get 

fertility fit: 

ris walig 

igt oggig 

ylig 

wimmig 

ai i 

oga 

aig 

erois low imat 

What about 

exercising during 

IUI or IVF fertility 

treatment 

f you are aig a fertility treatmet 

it a e a stressful time so eerisig 

a el redue your stress leels 

oweer you eed to e areful ts 

always est to osult your fertility 

dotor for adie o wi eerise to 

do if ay eerise at all t all deeds 

o ea stage you are at of fertility 

treatmet eseially te two wee wait 

oweer if you feel your eed to de stress 

try getle yoga or go for a wal to eae 

your welleig 

BMI and body fat percentage 

ilst your is imortat your ody fat 

eretage a affet your rerodutie futio 

e measuremet is ased o eigt ad 

weigt ut it doest distiguis etwee fat ad 

musle ad you a ae a lot of lea musle 

mass eseially if you are atleti ou a 

measure your ody fat eretage wit a si 

fold allier or use as to alulate tey will 

use your measuremets of your waist i ad 

e irumferee to el alulate e you 

determie your ody fat ide you a te tra 

your weigtloss rogress if eeded eause ulie 

usig weigt sales it tells you ow mu of your 

weigt is fat ad ow mu is musle 

ouder of olorado eter for erodutie 

ediie i eer r oolraft ofte 

seds some of is atiets to a eerise 

ysiologist to measure teir ody fat 

eretage ordig to r oolraft 

oulatio is imaired if ody fat is less ta 

eret or more ta to eret e states 

ome tae gettig teir eriods as a sig tey 



BODY 

are at a healthy BMI and have normal fertility,” 

“However, you can have regular or somewhat 

regular periods and not ovulate, though it’s 

unusual.” So be sure to measure your basal 

body temperature to track it on a basal body 

temperature chart to see if you’re ovulating. 

Calories count 

If you are underweight aim to intake between 

2,400 to 3,500 calories a day to gain the weight 

you need for a normal BMI range, with a body fat 

above 12 percent. If you’re exercising five or more 

days a week, consider cutting back to three. Dr 

Alice Domar, of Centre for Mind/Body Health at 

Boston IVF, states the hatha yoga, such as Fertility 

Yoga appeals to many women in this category: as 

“It keeps them fit and toned without the potential 

adverse impact of vigorous exercise.” 

If you are overweight reduce calories gradually 

to reduce your BMI and get Fertility Fit with a 

combination of cardio and strengthen exercises, 

that builds up tolerance slowly and not to 

vigorously to the point of exhaustion. For men 

don’t overheat the testicular area, as this can 

temporary cause low sperm count. The testicles 

secrete male hormones and also help in sperm 

production, and for the testes to function 

properly they need to be cooler than rest of the 

body. That’s why the testes are anatomically 

structured to hang outside the body. The ideal 

temperature for sperm production is around 

34.5C, which is slightly below body temperature 

(around 37C). If the testes are exposed to high 

temperatures, then the increased heat could kill 

the sperms and cause low sperm count. 

For better sperm 

production avoid: 

• Wearing tight underwear 

• Tight trousers around the groin area 

• Sitting for long periods of time 

• Having laptops or tablets resting on your lap 

• Taking hot baths and saunas 

Whilst exercise makes you feel good it can 

affect your fertility, you need to find a balance 

between under or over exercising to optimise 

your body’s functions. So, if you need to lose 

a few pounds, or gain a few, it’s important to 

review your lifestyle, diet and exercise levels to 

get healthy to boost your fertility. By combining 

healthy eating with exercise in moderation, 

both you and your partner will benefit and 

become Fertility Fit, to optimise you changes 

for a healthy conception and pregnancy! 

Lisa is a mother of 3 IVF children and has 

produced her own Fertility Yoga DVD after 

her 10-year journey to become a mother 

available from her website fertilityyoga.co.uk 



BODY 

r arily leille 

How to use 

nutrition 

to improve 

fertility 



BODY 

Over the past twenty years, fertility problems 

have increased dramatically. At least 25 

percent of couples planning a baby will have 

trouble conceiving, and more and more couples 

are turning to fertility treatments to help 

them have a family. On average, young couples 

can expect to wait an average of three years 

before conceiving, and, as a result, very few 

doctors will consider a diagnosis of infertility 

until after at least a year has passed. With 

a growing number of women waiting until 

their careers are established before they try to 

conceive, conception can be more difficult. 

Boosting fertility nutritionally 

Although it goes without saying that a healthy 

diet is crucial to a successful pregnancy and a 

healthy baby, many people are unaware of the fact 

that diet can help to correct hormone imbalances 

that may affect a couple’s ability to conceive. The 

following should be included: 

• Plenty of fruit and vegetables 

• Complex carbohydrates – wholegrains like brown 

rice, oats and wholemeal bread 

• Organic foods where possible 

• Oily foods such as fish, nuts, seeds and oils 

• Reduced intake of saturated fats from dairy products 

• Increased intake of fibre 

• Avoid additives, preservatives and chemicals, 

such as artificial sweeteners 

• Avoid sugar, both on its own and hidden in food 

Eating the right type of fats is particularly 

important for fertility. Just small increases 

in the consumption of trans fats can double 

the risk of anovulatory infertility. Also for 

problems with ovulation like PCOS, substituting 

just 5% of the calorie intake as vegetable protein 

rather than animal protein reduces the risk of 

not ovulating by 50%. 

Having four cups of coffee or any caffeinated 

drink a day makes it 26% less likely that a 

woman will conceive and drinking only 2 cups 

of coffee (200mg of caffeine) a day is associated 

with a 25% increased risk of miscarriage. And 

problems with sperm health are connected with 

increased coffee intake. 

Alcohol will also make it more difficult to get 

pregnant with only just three alcoholic drinks 

or more a week. The same is true for male 

fertility, as we know that alcohol can lower 

sperm counts and will also block the body’s 

ability to absorb fertility boosting nutrients like 

zinc. It can also cause abnormalities in the head 

of the sperm which is important for healthy 

fertilisation of the egg. 

Lifestyle recommendations 

A woman is twice as likely to get pregnant if she 

doesn’t smoke compared to a woman who does. 

And smoking is linked to 5,000 miscarriages 

per year. 

Stopping smoking is just as important for men. 

We know that chemicals in tobacco smoke 

can damage DNA in sperm which can make it 

harder to conceive because fertilisation can’t 

take place or if it is does, it can increase the risk 

of a miscarriage as nature will always work on 

survival of the fittest. Smoking can also affect 

the sperm count, motility and the morphology 

(the shape of the sperm, whereby it could have 

two heads or two tails if the morphology is 

abnormal). Smoking also has a negative effect 

on the head of the sperm making it harder 

to fertilise an egg. It is thought that nicotine 

overloads the receptors on sperm, affecting their 

ability to bind to the egg. 

Smoking also reduces the changes of an IVF 

treatment being successful. If couples smoke 

during the IVF cycle the number of eggs retrieved 

is decreased by 40 per cent and 46 per cent if just 

the man smokes during the cycle. Also, the overall 

success rate of the IVF was 44 per cent for nonsmokers 

and 24 per cent for smokers. 

Other simple lifestyle changes for the man can 

include avoiding hot baths and tight underpants as 

sperm production takes place at 32°C (89°F) which 

is lower than the body temperature at 37°C (98.4°F). 

The testes are on the outside of a man’s body to keep 

them cooler but the closer they get to the body e.g. by 

sitting for long periods when driving for example, can 

heat up the sperm and reduce the count. 

Men using laptops on their laps are also a problem 

for sperm health. In order to balance the laptop, 

men will often close their legs and this on its own 

(even without the laptop) raises the temperature 

of their genitals by up 2.1°C. But the laptop itself 

generates heat and the combination of closing the 

legs and the heat from the laptop causes a rise in 

temperature of up to 2.8°C. Just a rise of 1°C can 

decrease fertility by 40%. 



BODY 

d if a oule as a omiatio of four egatie 

lifestyle fators iludig teaoffee smoig ad 

alool it a tae a oule see times loger to 

get regat 

Fertility Boosting Supplements 

e ow tat ertai utriets irease te 

aes of gettig regat ad stayig regat 

Folic Acid 

t is well ow tat foli aid a reet sia 

ifida oli aid is udoutedly imortat ut it 

is ust art of te ery imortat omle family 

of itamis tat are eessary to rodue te 

geeti materials ad 

Zinc 

i is te most widely studied utriet i terms 

of fertility for ot me ad wome t is a 

essetial omoet of geeti material ad a 

i defiiey a ause romosome ages 

i eiter me or wome leadig to redued 

fertility ad a ireased ris of misarriage 

i is foud i ig oetratios i te serm 

ad is eeded to mae te outer layer ad tail 

of te serm ad is terefore essetial for te 

ealt of serm o sow you ow owerful tese 

utriets are me wo were sufertile were 

gie a omiatio of i ad foli aid ad it 

sowed a irease i total serm out 

Selenium 

eleium is a atioidat tat els to rotet 

your ody from igly reatie emial 

fragmets alled free radials or tis reaso 

seleium a reet romosome reaage 

wi is ow to e a ause of irt defets 

ad misarriages ood leels of seleium are 

also essetial to maimise serm formatio 

eleium sulemetatio gie to ifertile 

me ireased serm out motility ad te 

umer of ormal serm 

Vitamin E 

itami is aoter owerful atioidat ad 

as ee sow to irease fertility we gie 

to ot me ad wome it me itami 

els to irease fertilisatio rates durig 

treatmets f a woma oer te age of is told 

tat er fertility rolems are aused y er age 

te it is liely tat se ould eefit from taig 

ot itamis ad ese atioidats ae 

ee sow to sigifiatly redue agerelated 

oulatio delie 

Vitamin C 

itami is also a atioidat ad we ow tat 

wome wo tae itami wile tey were doig 

ae a sigifiatly ireased regay 

rate itami is also good for me a it el to 

irease serm outs y u to a tird 

tioidats i geeral ad tat iludes i 

seleium itami ad itami ae ee 

sow to ae a maor imat o male fertility 

reiew of studies wit me goig for 

yles as sow tat we me tae atioidats 

teir arter is fie times more liely to ae a 

lie irt omared to a laeo 

Amino acids 

wo amio aids argiie ad aritie 

are artiularly imortat for male fertility 

e argiie is essetial for ealty serm 

rodutio ad rotets te serm agaist 

oidatie damage e iger te leels of 

aritie i serm ells te iger te serm 

out ad motility 

Vitamin D 

itami els to alae te immue system 

wi as we ae see is imortat i gettig 

ad stayig regat itami lie te mega 

fatty aids dereases te autoimmue 

resose ut it also els to romote te 

ells wi te womas ody eeds to maitai 

a regay y delierately maig mie 

defiiet i itami tey a atually mae 

tem ifertile 

itami is also imortat for male fertility as 

low leels of tis utriet is assoiated wit low 

serm motility ad more aormal forms 

Co-enzyme Q10 

oeyme is a itamilie sustae 

tat is otaied i early eery ell of 

te ody eause of its role i eergy 

rodutio it is a sigifiat utriet for me 

if serm motility is oor oeyme is 

oetrated i te area etwee te ead ad 

tail of te serm te eergy for moemet 

ad all oter eergydeedet roesses i 

te serm ell deed o it ower leels of 

oeyme ae ee foud i me wit 

oor serm motility ad sulemetig wit 

tis utriet led to a sigifiat imroemet 

t is also useful for me wo ae a iger 

roortio of aormal serm or serm wit 

ig amouts of damage 

or wome it is ow tougt tat oeyme 

may e elful for wome wo maye 

ae ee told tey ae old eggs eause of 

teir age ad tis utriet ould e elful 

i imroig egg uality ae a good 

sulemet desiged for fertility otaiig 

all te imortat utriets metioed aoe 

iludig oeyme ad itami see 

s daed ertility uort for ome 

ad daed ertility uort for e 

naturalhealthpractice.com 



BODY 

Omega 3 fatty acids 

The Omega 3 fatty acids have far reaching effects for 

both male and female fertility. Sometimes immune 

problems may be affecting a woman’s ability to get 

and stay pregnant. The theory is that in order for 

her body to stay pregnant, her immune system has 

to quieten down because half the baby’s DNA is not 

hers. Normally if the body detects something foreign 

it aims to reject it and expel it from the body. For 

some women, their immune systems do not quieten 

down and so they can’t get or stay pregnant. 

One of the immune antibodies measured is called 

antiphospholipid antibodies (APAs). These bloodclotting 

antibodies can prevent implantation and 

cause recurrent miscarriage by attacking the cells 

that build the placenta. The medical treatment 

for this is blood thinners like aspirin and heparin. 

But research has shown that fish oil given to 22 

women with APAs who already had 3 or more 

miscarriages went on to have 23 pregnancies (one 

woman has twins) without a miscarriage. 

Omega 3 fatty acids are also important for male 

fertility because semen is rich in prostaglandins, 

which are produced from these Omega 3 

fatty acids. Men with poor sperm quality, 

abnormal sperm, poor motility or low count, 

can have inadequate levels of these beneficial 

prostaglandins and by supplementing with 

Omega 3 fish oils there was a significant increase 

in sperm count compared to a placebo. 

I know making these changes requires an effort 

on the couple’s part but as research in 2010 in 

the journal Andrologia stated ‘There is strong 

evidence that complementary treatment with 

an appropriate nutraceutical improves the 

natural conception rate of infertile couples 

and increases the success rate of assisted 

reproductive techniques. Combating obesity, 

correcting inappropriate diet and banning the 

abuse of tobacco and alcohol are part of the 

integrated approach’. 

Dr Marilyn Glenville PhD is the UK’s leading 

nutritionist specialising in women’s health. 

She is the Former President of the Food 

and Health Forum at the Royal Society of 

Medicine and the author of a number of 

internationally best selling books including 

‘Getting Pregnant Faster, ‘Natural Solutions 

to PCOS’ and ‘The Natural Health Bible for 

Women’ see marilynglenville.com. Dr 

Glenville runs a number of women’s health 

clinics in Harley Street, London, Tunbridge 

Wells and Ireland. If you are interested in a 

consultation, you can contact Dr Glenville’s 

clinic on 01892 515905 or by email: health@ 

marilynglenville.com 



BODY 

EXPERT: Michelle Mullis 

SPICE 

FOR LIFE 

We all know that spices bring about an aroma that is warming and 

inviting and gets our taste buds tingling, but what is really going on with 

spices and what are the nutritional benefits for health and wellbeing. 

More importantly, can spices improve your fertility? 

Some spices were once worth their weight in gold, and it’s not because they 

wanted to sprinkle them on their favourite foods or to make the best curry to 

be ever tasted. Spices began as anything but culinary, they were used widely 

as medicines, from eliminating the plague to curing an infection and healing 

cuts and wounds and were considered to have significant value in preventing 

and treating diseases. 

The view of Traditional Chinese medicine is that spice can be added to help 

promote blood and oxygen flow to the uterus and reproductive organs to 

help improve egg, sperm and uterine quality. However, for some, the use of 

chilli is avoided because of its heat properties and stimulating effect on egg 

cell function especially for those with low ovarian reserve. 

This is the focus used in my clinics and spices are recommended for a 

whole range of health benefits which are added in our plant-based herbs 

for those needing that extra help to bridge the gap in their nutrition or 

those that have inflammatory type conditions or raised natural killer 

cells making pregnancy that little bit more difficult to achieve. Spices 

offer complemented nutritional benefits as well as allowing food to taste 

delicious and to be enjoyed. 

In general terms, if you’re wanting to improve your health with a holistic 

view that includes your fertility along with your immune and cellular 

function, you’ll want to stock up on a range of herbs and spices and use them 

generously in your cooking, or certainly use them on their own to enhance 

the absorption and benefits received into your body. 

When buying all fresh foods, organic is best and this includes spices and 

herbs, as this means you’ll be avoiding pesticides and herbicides that find 

their way into conventionally grown products affecting the nutritional rate 

and of course taste in my opinion. 

Spices consist of antioxidants, 

anti-inflammatories and hormone 

balancing benefits. 

Fertility for both men and women can be improved by foods rich in 

antioxidants, minerals and vitamins and spices hold a wide range of 

nutritional benefits. Antioxidants that convinced clinicians that fruit and 

vegetables helped prevent heart disease and certain cancers are now known 

to be present in spices, and in recent research found in larger quantities 

than was previously thought. Modern science is beginning to uncover the 

ultimate power of spices and herbs, as weapons against illnesses from cancer 

to Alzheimer’s disease and infertility. 



BODY 

Data collected in the United States have shown that a half teaspoon of 

cumin has the same antioxidant potential as a standard portion of red 

grapes or kiwi fruit. Equally a teaspoon of dried ginger or paprika can 

match a portion of tomatoes or green pepper. 

Australian and American researchers found that the antioxidants found some 

curry powders are as powerful as portions of broccoli, spinach, red peppers, 

carrots and other high-scoring antioxidant vegetables called ‘superfoods’. 

On the sweeter side of things, one teaspoon of ground cinnamon or cloves packs in 

as much antioxidant power as a portion of raspberries, blueberries, or cranberries. 

Making regular use of spices and herbs can be a healthy and economical way to 

enhance your fertile health and of course your cooking. Spices allow you to reduce 

salt, sugar and fat content in your meals and still have a tasty plate of food. 

Spices have differing amounts of antioxidant content, and at the top of the list 

suggested by the Journal of Nutrition include allspice, chilli, cinnamon, cloves, 

cumin, curry spice mixes, garlic, ginger, mustard, paprika and turmeric, all 

of which can be found as supplements as nutraceuticals have seen the health 

benefits of spices. 

However, like all supplements, they are there to add to your diet and not 

replace nutrient values found in fresh organic food. 

In places like Turkey, India and East of the world, the freshness of spices 

is a major factor and the aromas along with the vibrant colours found in 

local markets are simply breathtakingly tantalising. 

However, fresh herbs and spices are becoming more accessible to provide 

the shopper a good quality and choice. 

When buying spices, proper storage is essential. Avoid buying spices that 

have been sitting on grocery shelves for goodness knows how long, or those 

exposed to light and if you can purchase them in authentic and cultural 

food stores or certainly good quality food stores. 

Just adding herbs and spices to an 

otherwise balanced diet can improve 

your PCOS and fertility health. 

We have seen an increase in the use of spice supplements for its health 

benefits, and no doubt those on a fertility journey have added many 

supplements into their daily routine to help increase fertility outcomes. 

However, spice nutrition has so many other considered fertility health 

benefits like hormonal balance especially those for PCOS, endometriosis 

and fibroids as well as egg and sperm health improvements. Weight 

management is fast becoming an important factor as obesity increases and 

BMI levels are expected to reduce for those needing IVF as well as those 

gaining weight after undergoing IVF because spicy chillies have been seen 

to speed up metabolic rates. 

There are so many components that may be affecting fertility and stress as 

we know is a big factor particularly those with unexplained infertility. Many 

studies relate to stress and its chemical changing effect on the body such as 

raised inflammation, migraines, IBS, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, low sperm 

count, poor morphology to name a few, and nutritional benefits to help 

manage these types of responses in the body are becoming widely known 

through research. 



BODY 



BODY 

Regularly eating ginger during pregnancy is 

known to alleviate morning sickness but can also 

help promote a detox effect and help cellular 

function and is regularly advised during my 

nutritional consultations. 

Many love Italian food, and on the most 

romantic day of the year on Valentine’s day, 

most Italian restaurants are fully booked and it’s 

no wonder, not only does the food taste great but 

has a feel-good factor too! Italian’s are known to 

use oregano, basil and marjoram in their culinary 

delights and studies have shown that the 

addition of herbs such as lemon balm, marjoram 

and oregano to salad, and spices and herbs to 

salad dressing, increase their antioxidant activity 

significantly with a mood-lifting feel-good factor. 

So, let’s spice up your life and your fertile health 

by adding these amazing antioxidant-rich herbs 

and spices into your culinary delights. 

Cinnamon 

Helps start ovulation and 

regulate irregular periods. 

It has been used in research 

with its positive effects for those 

with PCOS in both jump-starting ovulation 

as well as reducing the insulin resistance 

associated with PCOS. 

Cinnamon can also lower blood sugar, 

triglycerides, LDL, and total cholesterol as part 

of a healthy diet. Aim for one-half teaspoon of 

cinnamon twice a day within your porridge, 

yoghurt or in a chai tea. 

Rosemary 

One recent study found that people performed 

better on memory and alertness tests when 

mists of aromatic rosemary oil were piped into 

their study cubicles. Rosemary can help with 

hormonal imbalance and is also known as an 

antibacterial when used in aromatherapy. 

Garlic 

Garlic can not only keep 

sperm and eggs healthy, but it 

is also packed with B6 and other 

nutrients are proven to give fertility a boost for 

both men and women. 

Garlic is also a known blood cleanser that aids 

in circulation, meaning you have the stamina to 

make a healthy baby. 

Garlic is full of selenium as well as Vitamin C, 

which prevents chromosome defects and damage. 

Paprika 

Contains capsaicin, with anti-inflammatory 

and antioxidant effects and known as a fertility 

spice. Try sprinkling on your salads and roasted 

sweet potatoes. 

Ginger 

Ginger has a well-deserved 

reputation for relieving an 

unsettled stomach. Studies show 

ginger extracts can help reduce nausea caused 

by morning sickness or following surgery or 

chemotherapy, though it’s less effective for 

motion sickness. But ginger is also packed with 

inflammation-fighting compounds and helps 

to normalize the hormonal system and tones 

the uterus. This is also a strong aphrodisiac and 

essential to help pregnancy. 

Oregano 

Oregano has been seen to have the highest 

antioxidant activity of 27 fresh culinary herbs so 

add this to your salads and roasted vegetables. 

Chili Peppers 

Chili peppers add a muchappreciated 

heat to chillyweather 

dishes and should be 

avoided in some but can give a boost to your 

metabolism especially those with PCOS and 

retaining weight after hormonal treatments 

such as IVF. 

Studies show that capsaicin can increase the 

body’s metabolic rate causing one to burn more 

calories and stimulate brain chemicals that help 

us feel less hungry. 

Turmeric 

Turmeric, the goldencoloured 

spice, is used in 

India to help wounds heal and 

applied as a paste, it’s also made into a tea 

to relieve colds and respiratory problems as 

well as autoimmune as well as fertility health 

conditions and may be helpful for those with 

PCOS and perhaps raised natural killer cells. 

Modern medicine confirms turmeric is 

associated with curcumin, a compound in 

turmeric that has potent antioxidant and 

anti-inflammatory properties that help boost 

immune and certainly a must in my view when 

undergoing IVF. 

Saffron 

Saffron has long been 

used in traditional 

Persian medicine as 

a mood lifter, usually 

steeped into a medicinal 

tea or used to prepare rice. In one study, 

75% of women with PMS who were given 

saffron capsules daily reported that their PMS 

symptoms such as mood swings and depression 

declined by at least half, compared with only 8 

percent of women who didn’t take saffron. 

Parsley 

University of Missouri 

scientists found that the 

parsley herb can inhibit breast 

cancer-cell growth which as we know can be 

associated with hormonal imbalance. 

Sage 

Herbalists recommend 

sipping sage tea for 

upset stomachs and 

sore throats, a remedy 

supported by one study 

that found spraying sore 

throats with a sage solution gave 

effective pain relief. In another study, college 

students who took sage extracts in capsule form 

performed significantly better on memory tests, 

and their moods improved. Which hormones 

can have such an effect on. 

As considered to be one of the very few natural 

health experts to have studied a science degree 

in reproductive medicine, Chinese medicine, 

nutrition and natural therapies, I know that 

herbs and spices do much more than simply add 

amazing flavours to food. They are packed with 

antioxidants to really give your immune and 

body a boost whilst allowing you cut down on 

some less-healthy ingredients, such as salt, sugars 

and saturated fat, but most of all with a high 

pregnancy outcome for patients undergoing our 

treatment it’s the combination with the added 

spice of life that really matters and as they say 

the proof is in the pudding, well with a touch of 

allspice and cinnamon added of course. 

Should you wish to contact Michelle for 

more information how she can help you 

improve your fertility using her expertise 

email her at Info@michellemulliss.com 



BODY 

Relationships 

Keeping the love while 

trying to conceive 

Fertility struggles can put enormous pressure 

on a relationship and it is a huge thing to go 

through as a couple. After time 'Project Baby' 

can take the focus away from you as a couple 

- you forget that before 'trying' you had a 

loving relationship and that you got together 

for a reason. 

The impact of infertility on 

relationships 

e if you ae a ery strog ad suortie 

marriageartersi fertility issues a still 

ut a strai o your relatiosi ltoug 

your arter may wat a ay as mu as you 

do teir eeriee of te roess a e ery 

differet to yours 

ememer tat your arter may e strugglig 

wit te iaility to oeie too eseially if 

te issue is o teir side ad its imortat for 

you to tal it troug wit tem 

trugglig to oeie a mae te fous of 

most of your disussios aout tryig for ay 

ad fertility treatmet maig you feel lie 

you ae otig else i your life ad tat you 

are defied y your struggle to get regat 

f you aet got ayoe else to tal to aout 

your issues you a ea feel a lot of ressure to 

eseem o so your arter ist worried ad it 

a lead to oerreliae o ea oter 

e te fous eomes all aout maig a 

ay ad reatig a family we ofte forget 

tat we are already a family ad tat tere is 

a reaso wy we got togeter i te first lae 

is a lead to you ot feelig uareiated 

uattratie ad uimortat 

ertility issues a also affet your se life 

e eomes aout maig a ay rater ta 

leasure wi uts etra ressure 

o ot sides to erform ad 

loses te itimay 

ay oules fid tat tey 

dot go out ad do tigs 

togeter lie tey used to 

due to saig moey for 

ot watig to e aroud 

oters wit families or ot 

feelig i te mood to do 

aytig wi agai meas 

your relatiosi eomes 

foused o ay maig 

rater ta eoyig wat you 

already ae togeter 

How men and women 

cope differently 

t may seem lie your arter ist as 

otered aout aig a ay as you 

are if tey dot seem as uset tat your 

eriod as ome or tat tey dot feel 

lie aig se at te est time of te 

mot fte tis is ust differees i 

te way me ad wome oe wit 

stressful ad usettig situatios lie 

ifertility or tem ot watig to 

uset you furter 

e ad wome ae a ery 

differet eeriee of tryig 

to oeie ad goig troug 

treatmet 

t is te woma tat as te 

eartae of seeig teir eriod 

arrie eery mot te woma 

tat as to edure te iasie 

side of fertility treatmet ad 

it is usually te woma tat 



BODY 

has always known they wanted to be a mother, so 

their plan for their life is called in to question. 

On the other hand the man has to watch his 

partner go through treatment, which can lead 

to feelings of guilt if the issue is male factor, 

and many feel that they have to be strong and 

supportive for their partner, so hide their feelings 

to be the rock whilst going through treatment. 

Women tend to use coping strategies such as 

seeking social support, escape/avoidance, accepting 

responsibility and tackling the problem head on. 

They often feel more comfortable talking to friends 

about emotional and sensitive issues, will go on 

forums for advice and speak to a counsellor. 

However they are often more likely to feel and 

show their emotions more freely, want to talk 

about the issue more than their partner and 

feel more depressed that their life isn’t 

how they imagined it would be. 

Men on the other hand tend to use 

strategies such as problem solving, 

distancing and self-controlling. For 

men, infertility can be felt as an 

attack on their manhood, causing 

them to feel like a failure (which 

isn’t true). Due to this they often 

limit who they talk to about the 

problem as there is an element 

of embarrassment. They may 

take a practical approach 

of researching treatment, 

focusing on work and keeping 

their feeling hidden. 

This can mean that there 

are differences in what you 

both need for coping with 

infertility and treatment, 

and you need to ensure you 

work together to get through 

it and cope as a couple. 

Try to make time to see 

things from your partner’s 

perspective. Warning 

signs to look for: 

- Over-reliance on your partner – focusing only 

on your needs. 

- Under-reliance – completely avoiding the subject. 

- Losing perspective of yourselves as a couple 

outside of your fertility issues. 

- Losing sight of what attracted you to your 

partner in the first place. 

- Thinking of your partner as the problem, 

rather than the infertility. 

Getting through it together 

Remember why you are together and what 

you love about each other 

When you are struggling to conceive and the 

focus of your relationship has become all about 

the best time to try, fertility treatments and 

comparing yourself to others it is hard to lose 

sight of what you love about your partner and 

the reason you got together in the first place. 

Remember that you are not defined by your 

infertility, you were a couple before you started 

trying to conceive, with shared interests and 

interesting conversations. 

It’s always good to remember what you love 

about your partner (and even more importantly) 

remind them what you love about them. 

Each write down the below things, then swap 

them over and enjoy reading them.: 

- 10 things you love about your partner 

- Your favourite feature about them 

- What attracted you to them in the first place 

- What they do that makes you feel special 

- How they have supported you on your 

fertility journey 

Don't place blame 

It is really important to see the fertility issue as a joint 

issue (whichever side the problem is on). Placing the 

blame will create a divide between the two of you, 

you need to see it as something you need to overcome 

together. Talk about ‘our’ problem (not mine/yours). 

Set designated 'No baby/IVF' talk times 

Set time limits for how long you talk about the 

treatment and infertility so your conversations 

don’t just revolve around trying for a baby. 

This can add to the stress and pressure in the 

relationship. Also set times when you don’t 

discuss it – for example if you’re out for a meal, 



BODY 

so it gies you time to fous o te oter good 

tigs i your life ad ea oter 

Plan in quality time together 

ae time to do tigs togeter as a oule 

were you a fous o your relatiosi oo 

a date igt or a weeed away were you dot 

tal aout te issues ad ust relaae fu 

togeter f moey is tigt it doest ae to e 

aytig eesie fid laes tat are free 

ad ae some day tris togeter 

Create a list of things used to do/enjoy 

together and do them 

ryig to oeie ad goig troug fertility 

treatmet a ofte limit te tigs you do weter 

tat is goig out for a few dris to limit alool 

itae aoidig streuous eerise or geerally ot 

feelig i te mood to go ad do tigs 

i aout te tris ad atiities you used 

to eoy doig togeter ad mae lie a uet 

list of laes to see tigs to do atiities to 

try ad te wor your way troug te list 

la i te dates you are goig to do tem ad 

wor tem aroud your treatmeteeted 

eriod date to gie you sometig to loo 

forward to e list may eed moderatig 

sligtly to aommodate treatmet et ut 

ee it tigs you will loo forward to 

Accept that you may cope differently 

ot assume you ow ow your arter is 

feelig you may ae differet ways of oig 

wit te ifertility ad te roess so you 

eed to disuss tis so you dot feel lie your 

arter ist as otered y it as you are tey 

may ust e oig differetly 

llow ea oter time ad sae to deal wit 

your emotios aroud it i your ow way 

eset tat you may ot e dealig wit it 

i differet ways ad e tere to suort i 

wieer way is eeded 

Keep talking 

alig to ea oter is oe of te most imortat 

tigs you a do tell ea oter ow you are 

feelig aout te roess e oest tat way 

you a wor togeter to get troug it ad 

suort ea oter i te way you eed it llow 

ea oter to ae your tur to tal witout 

iterrutio to mae sure te oersatio stays 

alm ad you ot feel listeed to 

Have some support other than each other 

ly aig ea oter to tal to a ut a lot 

of strai o te relatiosi ad may lead to 

oe or ot of you oldig a o ow you 

feel so as ot to uset your arter ts really 

imortat to tal troug eatly ow you are 

feelig so you a roess it so ti aout wo 

you feel omfortale talig to it ould e a 

lose family memer or fried a rofessioal or 

suort grou lso eourage your arter to 

do te same 

f eiter of you dot feel omfortale talig 

to someoe else you ould try writig it i a 

oural tat you ee riate tat way you a 

at least tat way you are gettig your tougts 

ad fears out of your ead 

f your arter is feelig deressed oerwelmed 

or aious aout te situatio a metal ealt 

rofessioal a el eourage tem to see 

el from a ifertility ousellor or oa wo 

are traied to suort idiiduals ad oules 

dealig wit ifertility ad fertility treatmet 

Don't just have baby making sex 

e you are tryig to oeie se a 

eome ery routie ad o demad its taes 

all te fu out of it we you are tryig to do 

it at te rigt time ad it a reate ressure to 

erform t is reommeded tat you ae se 

regularly trougout te mot rater ta 

ust oetratig o we you are oulatig 

ad tis also esures tat tere ist a ressure 

o a few attemts ad maes you ot feel tat 

you are doig it eause you wat to ad ot 

eause you sould e 

f you fid tat te fertility issues are affetig 

your relatiosi it may e wortwile 

osiderig taig a sort rea from treatmet 

to reidle te romae ad rememer wat it 

is tat you loe aout ea oter 

ememer you were a oule i loe efore you 

were a oule strugglig to oeie ateer 

aes wit treatmet you still ae ea 

oter mae sure you wor togeter to ee your 

artersi strog so tat you are i a etter 

lae to suort ea oter o tis ourey 

ara as is a ertility oa ad metor 

wo wors wit fertility rofessioals to 

eae teir atiet eeriee ad suess 

rates e els tem uderstad ow 

atiets feel te emotioal suort tey eed 

ad els imlemet suort strutures 

e also wors o a to asis wit wome 

strugglig to oeie to imroe teir 

emotioal state ad irease teir aes 

of gettig regat or furter iformatio 

otat er o sarah@sarahbanks.coach 

ara rus a free aeoo ommuity oe 

to all tose strugglig to oeie alled 

uriig ifertility 



BODY 

YOUR FAVOURITE 

FERTILITY MAGAZINE 

COLLECTION 

IN ONE PLACE 


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MIND 



MIND 

THE ABC OF COPING 

ussell ais 

WITH INFERTILITY 

What we wish we knew on our fertility journey 

y ife and ad oer years of infertility eperiencing it fro ale 

feale and een secondary infertility. f e kne ten at e kno 

no e beliee it ould not ae been suc a long ourney. oeer 

at te sae tie e are ery grateful for te tings e learnt about 

ourseles indiidually relationsips and life itin our ourney. ould 

like to sare soe of tose tings ere. 

ACCEPT 

to striig to fratially tryig to fid te oe tig you ti may mae 

te differee to ruig for a momet e ofte ru from aiful situatios 

or ee usy to reet us from feelig te ai til we aet were we are 

we at moe o from it e aot leae a lae we aet ee to e we 

try ad igore te ai ad reted tigs are differet eras wit ositie 

affirmatios we are ofte iddig ourseles 


fertilityroadom |

MIND 

Infertility is tough. Really tough. People just 

don’t understand what it’s like unless they have 

experienced it. A Harvard University study 

demonstrated that the stress levels of women 

experiencing infertility were equivalent to those 

with AIDS, cancer and heart disease. Now you can 

imagine why being told to relax makes you want 

to punch someone! 

It’s because no-one really understands it can 

be a very lonely journey. Friends and family 

mean well, but actually, they often say the 

most unhelpful things because they just don’t 

understand. So stop expecting them to. They 

mean well. Everything they say and do is 

motivated by love but they are limited by their 

own understanding and life experience. 

Even partners don’t often understand what it’s like 

for us. I know this can be truer for women more 

than men. My wife said to me eight years into our 

journey she didn’t feel understood. She felt lonely 

on the journey. I was shocked as I went to all the 

appointments. She explained she had no idea what 

was going on in my head. How I felt about things. 

Women connect emotionally. They want to be 

seen, felt, heard - understood. And they want to 

understand their partner. When I was living in my 

head she had nothing to go on, she had no idea 

what I was feeling and it left her feeling lonely. 

Stop running from the pain, anger and fear. 

Accept it’s tough. 

However, acceptance doesn’t mean giving up. 

I thought I had to stay strong and hopeful 

otherwise it would never happen. I believed 

losing hope and falling apart would mean defeat 

and I was not ready for that. I couldn’t imagine 

life without children and didn’t feel ready to start 

the journey of acceptance if it meant giving up. 

Accepting it is difficult doesn’t mean you 

are accepting defeat - far from it. Accepting 

the reality of any situation is key to creating 

something new. When running a marathon the 

runner can accept the pain, how difficult it is, but 

it doesn’t mean they are giving up. 

During our infertility journey, I felt disillusioned 

about life. I felt angry and fearful about never 

being happy. I was in a job I didn’t really enjoy 

but it paid well and was convenient. I was 

ignoring the disillusionment about my job and 

if I am honest other things in my life including 

our relationship. Keeping my head in the sand 

kept me from doing anything about it. It was 

familiar, I had worked in the same company all 

my working life and I was scared of changing; 

what happens if I move and the new job is worse? 

As I began exploring this, accepting my feelings, 

it enabled me to begin the process of creating 

something different and finding something I 

love doing. 

It was the same with our fertility. I was not accepting 

the pain, anger and fear that was inside me. 

Allow whatever shows up to show up. What if 

you didn’t need to be scared of any experience? 

Feelings are thought in the moment. They do 

not know anything about our circumstances now 

or in the future. The more we understand where 

our feeling is coming from, our thought, not our 

circumstances we don’t need to be scared of them. 

The more you resist your feelings (by resenting 

them, wishing you didn’t have them or trying the 

change them) the stronger they get. 

Acceptance is the WD40 of change. Once you 

allow what is to be you can begin to move on 

from it. 

Acceptance is not accepting failure. It is not 

accepting things will never change. Acceptance 

accepting what is today, knowing that nothing 

can predict the future so it doesn’t mean it is 

going to never change. 

Acceptance is not fighting reality because you 

think it needs to be different, or ‘should’ be 

different. Acceptance is recognising you have 

everything you need at this moment to be OK. 

Nothing can predict the future, come back to 

the here and now, that’s where you are. That’s 

where you find everything you need to be at this 

moment. We are only not OK when our minds 

take us out into our imaginary future, that is 

plausible and realistic but still, fantasy because 

nothing can predict the future. 

Belief 

When I talk about belief I don’t mean positive 

thinking and affirmations. This is about 

recognising what it is you believe, what is your 

thinking telling you about you, your life, whether 

you will have a baby or not. What are the stories 

you tell yourself? This is about recognising we 

live in the experience of thought. 100% of our 

experience comes from thought. 

Not just our emotions, every physical experience 

we have comes from thought. Even physical pain. 

The pain may be caused by a medical situation 

like a broken bone or infection in our tooth but 

our experience of that pain is caused by thought. 

Sometimes it’s agony, sometimes we are not 

aware of it but the source is constant. 

We live in the experience of what our thinking is 

telling us at any given moment. 

So great, that means if we change our thinking right 

we get a better experience? Good luck with that 

one! We cannot control our thinking. We are not 

thinking beings we are beings that have thought. 

Our thought is spontaneous and we have no 

control over it. But don’t worry, this doesn’t 



MIND 

mean it’s all doom and gloom and we are 

destined to be on this emotional rollercoaster 

forever, that nothing will change. 

The more we recognise the nature of thought, 

that it’s thought, not truth or reality. That our 

experience is created by these spontaneous 

neutral thoughts we can begin to change our 

relationship with them. It’s not the content of 

thought that matters. It’s not our feelings that are 

the problem. It’s whether we think they matter 

or not. It’s our relationship with them. The more 

we see thought for what it is, it moves on. Fresh 

thinking is always behind it. We shift back to our 

innate wellbeing without doing anything. 

Think about the times you’ve felt most at peace. 

You drop into those moments without doing 

anything, when you stop trying to be OK. This is 

because we ARE OK in this moment. We have all 

we need to be OK and at peace in this moment. 

It’s only when we get caught up in our stories of 

the future (or past) we are not OK. 

Our thoughts create our experience. Which in 

turn can impact our physiology and chances to 

get pregnant. The more you see thoughts and 

feelings for what they are and the fact you are the 

observer of them, they are like clouds on a breeze 

but you are not the clouds, you are the sky that 

has the potential to have clouds. The more we 

see this the more we get connected to our innate 

wellbeing we were born with. When our thinking 

collapses we have a connection to our true self 

that has everything we need at this moment. 

A thought is like a snow globe. It settles all on it’s 

own when we stop trying to be OK. When we are 

no longer scared of our experience (by judging 

what it means for our future) it moves on, our 

mind settles, we come back to the here and now. 

We reconnect to our full range of resources that 

know we are OK. In this moment you are OK. 

This is the only moment that exists. 

Care 

By care, I mean self care. So often on this journey 

we can be striving for the next thing that can 

be ‘the’ thing that makes the difference. We 

are filling our day with so much to do and 

think about. Nutrition, supplements, herbs, 

acupuncture, yoga, losing weight, trying to relax, 

tracking cycle, journalling, mindfulness, the 

timing of sex, researching what else could be out 

there...as well as everything else in life. It’s not 

what you do it’s why you do it. If you are doing 

things out of fear of not doing enough or missing 

the thing that could make the difference then a) 

that fear will be undermining the good thing you 

are doing and b) it could actually be fuelling the 

fear. Do what you feel inspires you. Trust your 

instinct. Stop doing what you think you ‘should’ 

be doing, even temporarily, you may come back 

to it in the future but maybe giving yourself a 

break from some of these things will serve you 

most right now. 

What do you do for fun? For play? Play is doing 

something just for the hell of it because it feeds 

our soul. What do you do for you, your soul? 

Not your fertility. Your soul. What feeds your 

soul? Whether it be a long hot bath, amateur 

dramatics, meeting with friends, do more of it. 

These things often get left out of our lives when 

we are locked on to Project Baby. These things 

keep life flowing, which in turn keeps your body 

flowing. The mind and body are one system. 

A lovely relaxation technique I teach clients is 

a breathing technique that works by stopping 

your mind time travelling. It prevents you going 

into la-la land future in your head that is often 

scary, depressing but totally made up. It keeps 

you in the here and now because it gets you to 

focus on your breath and your body is always 

in the present moment. What I love about this 

technique is that you can do it with your eyes 

open and no-one needs to know you are doing 

it as it’s not a special breath, it’s a nice relaxed 

breath whilst you are counting in your head. 

As you breathe in count to 1-3 in your head. 

As you breathe out count to 1-5 in your head. 

Repeat over and over. 

Find a pace of counting that gives you a nice 

relaxed breathe. 

After 3 or 5 breaths you may notice how you are 

feeling more relaxed, more centred. 

You can practice with your eyes closed but it’s 

great to use any place, any time, anywhere! 

So dealing with stress is about understanding 

the cause of it. That it’s thought not our 

circumstances. The more we understand that 

feelings are thought and it is not telling us 

anything about whether we will or will not have 

a baby, it is our thought in this moment, our 

imagination we are feeling, we don’t have to be 

scared of it. When we stop resenting and resisting 

it we find a deeper sense of peace we never knew 

we could have in the toughest of circumstances. 

We are built to thrive in reality, whatever that 

reality in this present moment is. And this 

present moment knows nothing about the future. 

Nothing can predict the future not even thought 

and feelings. We were told we would never get 

pregnant naturally. One in a billion chance of it 

happening the doctors told us. It did. 

Russell is a fertility coach supporting 

couples on their journey. You can contact 

him via his website thefertilemind.net 



MIND 

“Although we don’t always have 

control over what happens in 

our lives, we can choose how we 

respond and move forward” 



MIND 

THE IMPORTANCE OF 

RESILIENCE 

Learn how to develop and nurture resilience to become better equipped at navigating your way through life’s challenges 

By Juliana Kassianos 

From a young age, we hope and expect to live 

a 'fairy-tale' notion of life – one where we live 

happily ever after. We map out a timeline 

of our lives, which tends to go something 

along the lines of that old playground rhyme 

we used to sing: "First comes love. Then 

comes marriage. Then comes baby in a baby 

carriage." But as we grow older, we start to 

learn the hard truth that life doesn't always 

go to plan. 

Although we don’t always have control over 

what happens in our lives, we can choose how 

we respond and move forward. It’s our ability 

to work through the tough times that makes 

us grow stronger not only in person but in our 

relationships too. 

This soldier on attitude requires a certain 

amount of resilience, which isn’t something 

we’re born with, it’s something we develop and 

nurture throughout our lives. We can do this by 

putting into practice what I call the three A’s: 

Acceptance, Awareness and Action. 

Acceptance 

It’s important we accept early on that life 

doesn’t always play fair. Plans we make might 

not always work out the way we thought they 

would and life itself may be a little harder than 

we’d imagined it to be. 

There are bound to be some bumps, turns 

and dark tunnels in the road ahead of us. By 

accepting this, it gives us the readiness and 

willpower to work through any obstacles that 

come our way, making sure that we get to our 

desired destination, no matter how hard it may 

be or how long it may take. 

When we hit these obstacles it can feel like the 

breaks are being slammed on our life. We’ve 

suddenly stalled, whilst everyone else appears to 

be happily moving forward, leaving us behind 

feeling scared, lost and all alone. A feeling 

you might be all too familiar with if you’re 

struggling to conceive. 

As a form of control, we tend to react by either 

suppressing our thoughts, feelings and emotions 

or resisting them, but this only makes their 

power over us grow stronger. As Shinzen Young 

formulated ‘Suffering = Pain x Resistance’; the 

more we resist pain, the more we suffer. Think 

of it like quicksand, the more you struggle, 

the faster you sink. But if you stop struggling, 

it gives you more time to find a way to free 

yourself. 

Embracing the struggle isn’t easy; it’s something 

we have to make a conscious decision to do. 

To choose to accept obstacles we come across 

as part of our journey, to embrace them and 

believe in our ability to work through them. 

To know in advance that’s it’s not necessarily 

going to be an easy ride, but confidently say 

nonetheless “I’ve got this”. 

Awareness 

When we get knocked down, it’s tempting to 

hide under the duvet and shut-ourselves out 

from the world or go about our day pretending 

we’re fine, as though nothing’s happened. To 

be able to pick ourselves up, we need to be 

completely honest with ourselves, acknowledge 

that there’s something we need to work on and 

have a sense of self-compassion. To not beat 

ourselves up about how we’re feeling. To realise 

it’s okay not to be okay. To admit to ourselves: 

“I’m not coping”, “I’m anxious” or “I’m lost”. 

Certain life events such as miscarriage, 

termination or stillbirth can have such a 

traumatic impact on us mentally, physically 

and socially, that they can be life-changing. As a 

result, we can’t necessarily bounce back to who 

we were before, but we can grow through what 

we go through and use the experience to gain a 

better understanding of ourselves. 

If we suppress our thoughts, feelings, emotions, 

it may help us to get through each day, but it’s 

not going to help us heal. It’s putting a plaster 

over the wound. In order to heal the wound and 

recover, we need to acknowledge and address 

all that we’re suppressing either consciously or 

subconsciously. 

In order to reflect, it may be helpful to start 

writing in a journal every day. Writing down 

your thoughts and feelings can be a powerful 

tool to help develop and increase your selfawareness. 

To get into the habit, schedule a 

time in your day to do so, such as first thing in 

the morning or before you go to bed. Keep your 

journal and pen on your bedside table to act as a 

daily reminder, so you don’t forget to fill it in. 

Your emotions may be more deeply-rooted, so 

much so that you might not even be aware of 



MIND 

their existence. One way to unearth 

them is to see a therapist who 

can help work through past 

events, challenge negative 

beliefs and reframe the 

way you think, enabling 

you to recover quickly 

and move forward with 

your life. It may make 

you feel vulnerable, but 

over time it can help you 

develop inner strength as 

you learn to take control of 

your mind and the thoughts 

that you have. 

“To be able to 

pick ourselves up, 

we need to be 

completely honest 

with ourselves” 

2. Have a balanced diet: It’s 

important that you fuel your 

body and provide it with 

the nutrients it needs, 

to make sure you have 

sustained energy 

throughout the day 

and the nourishment 

your body needs to 

work optimally. It 

also helps to create a 

nourishing environment 

for eggs or sperm to mature, 

conception to take place and a 

baby to grow. 

Why is this important? Negative thoughts can 

lead to self-destructive behaviour, which gets in 

the way of you accomplishing what you really 

desire in life, whilst positive thoughts lead to 

you making healthier choices in life and having 

healthier relationships with yourself and others. 

With greater self-awareness and the right 

mindset, you can start to create a new 

empowering plan to help get you back on track. 

With a direction in mind, focus and intention, 

you can then take positive action towards 

achieving what you want. 

Action 

A lot of the time we let our feelings dictate 

our actions. For example, if you’re down in the 

dumps, you might not feel like getting up in 

the morning. Try instead acting in a way that 

is consistent with how you want to be. Easier 

said than done right? Mel Robbins has a useful 

five-second rule that can help you take action 

when you don’t want to. Instead of hitting the 

snooze button, count backwards from five to one 

and launch yourself out of bed, just like a rocket 

launching into space. It may sound stupidly 

simple, but trust me it works, at least give it a go. 

Every day do something, however small it may 

be, to help you move forward. This may be just 

getting out of your pyjamas, going for a walk 

in nature or cooking a nourishing meal. It’s all 

about the little wins you can make throughout 

your day. To make time for the things that 

make you feel good inside, stronger in person 

and happier with your life. Here are 10 small 

wins to put into action. 

1. Keep physically active: Try to schedule at 

least 40 minutes of physical activity into your 

daily routine. This could be walking to work, 

going for a swim or practising yoga. When 

you exercise you release endorphins, these 

are happy hormones that make you feel good. 

Movement can also reduce stress and tension 

held in the body and has been shown to help 

improve the quality of your sleep. 

3. Master your breathing: Learning how to 

consciously control your breathing can 

enable you to experience both physical and 

mental health benefits. Just as your breath is 

influenced by your thoughts and emotions, 

your thoughts and emotions are influenced 

by your breath. For example, when you’re 

anxious, worried and upset, your breathing 

becomes faster. If you then consciously slow 

your breathing down to a gentle wave-like 

pattern, you can soothe your nerves, settle 

your thoughts and calm yourself down. 

4. Get enough sleep: You need sleep to be able 

to restore your energy reserves, to allow your 

whole body to repair and rejuvenate, as well 

as enhance your quality of life. Take note that 

if you’re trying to conceive, research indicates 

you’ve got more of a chance if you have seven 

to eight hours of sleep a night. Try to practice 

regular rhythms of sleep, by going to bed and 

waking up at the same time each day. 

5. Practice daily meditation: Meditation is a 

mental exercise where you practice focussing 

your attention on one point of reference at a 

time, e.g. breathing, movement or attention 

itself, to increase awareness of the present 

moment, quieten the mind and bring you 

into a calm state. 

6. Practice forgiveness: Learn to 

practice forgiveness, whether 

it is forgiving yourself or 

others. It doesn’t mean 

you condone your 

own actions or that of 

others, it means that 

you learn to let go 

and free yourself from 

feelings such as anger, 

hatred and resentment, 

which can otherwise 

make you bitter and selfdestructive 

in your behaviour. 

7. Attitude of gratitude: Gratitude is an 

appreciation of what is valuable and 

“Every day do 

something, however 

small it may be, to help 

you move forward” 


| fertilityroadmag 

| follow us @fertilityroad

MIND 

“Negative thoughts 

can lead to selfdestructive 

behaviour, 

which gets in the way of you 

accomplishing what you 

really desire in life” 

meaningful to you. Research supports an 

association between feelings of gratitude and 

our overall sense of wellbeing. It can also help 

you regain a sense of perspective, especially 

when all your focus is on what you 

want and don’t currently have. 

Try keeping a gratitude 

journal. 

8. Practice self-care: 

Do you feel your 

body doesn’t 

deserve to be 

looked after? 

Perhaps it’s failed 

you in some way. 

Self-care is about 

nurturing the 

relationship you have 

with yourself, making 

sure that you actively take 

care of yourself and giving 

yourself permission to do so. 

9. Embrace your fears: Fear is that unpleasant 

emotion you get when you’re afraid or 

worried you’re in danger or you might 

experience pain or loss from something 

that is happening or might happen. Try to 

embrace your fears and understand what the 

driving force is behind them. That way they’ll 

become less scary and you’re more likely to 

overcome them. 

10. Live in the moment: By practicing 

mindfulness, you can change the hardwiring 

of your brain, enabling you to spend more 

time truly living in the moment, create new 

healthy habits to live by, make better choices 

and grow into the highest version of yourself. 

Juliana is a Natural Fertility Therapist and 

founder of The School of Fertility. A website 

that provides individuals with the information, 

tools and techniques they need to understand 

their reproductive health, know how to optimise 

their chances of conceiving and make more 

informed decisions should they choose to 

embark on fertility investigation or treatment. 

Juliana’s focus is on nutrition, lifestyle and 

mindset, whilst her co-founder Professor Charles 

Kingsland, Consultant Gynaecologist and 

Specialist in Reproductive Medicine, covers the 

medical side. Using a combined natural and 

medical approach, they hope to help individuals 

feel more empowered to take control of their 

fertility journeys. Juliana has an MA in Medical 

Anthropology from Goldsmiths University of 

London, a BSc (Hons) in Human Sciences from 

King’s College London, over 10 diplomas in 

holistic health practices, is a certified health 

coach and registered holistic fertility therapist 

practitioner. theschooloffertility.com/ 



MIND 

TRIPLE YOUR CHANCES 

OF HAVING A BABY. 

FREE SKYPE WITH 

IVF SPECIALIST 

FREE USE OF TIME- 

LAPSE SYSTEM 

SURGICAL SPERM 

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MIND 

FERTILITY 

JOURNEYS 2018 

Welcome back to the Fertility Journeys. 

We’d like to welcome our new partners IVF Travel and The 

Mediterranean Fertility Institute who are offering one couple free IVF 

or Egg Donation treatment. You can find out more about them and 

how to apply on the next page. 

IVF Spain has selected a couple who will receive free Egg Donation 

treatment. We look forward to getting to know Claire and Dave and 

following their story. 

Klinikk Hausken is in the process of selecting their couple for this 

year and we’ll have an update in the next issue. 

And finally, congratulations to Heather and Brandon who worked 

with Oregon Reproductive Medicine last year and we’re pleased to 

announce they’re now pregnant. We wish you all the best and can’t 

wait to meet your babies soon. 



FERTILITY JOURNEYS 2018 

FERTILITY JOURNEYS: 

FREE IVF OR EGG DONATION TREATMENT 

Welcome to our new fertility journey partners IVF Travel and Mediterranean Fertility Institute. 

IVF Travel came to life under the initiative 

of Dimitris Kavakas who after several years of 

consulting experience in medical travel and 

specifically fertility travel, wanted to offer 

fertility patients an affordable yet high-quality 

IVF programme with a refund guarantee. 

The portal of ivfttravel.com that is managed 

and run by Redia Ltd which carefully selects 

fertility clinics in several countries and partners 

with them to offer fertility patients high-quality 

multi-cycle refund guarantee IVF and Egg 

Donation programmes at affordable prices. 

Partner fertility clinics are located in several 

countries, such as Spain, Greece, Czech Republic, 

Cyprus, Turkey, India and Malaysia and it is 

constantly expanding its partner list to include 

more clinics in more countries worldwide. Redia 

Ltd is a UK fertility consultancy and primarily 

serves UK patients going abroad for treatment; 

however, increasingly it serves patients from 

other countries such as the USA, Australia, 

Spain, Germany and the Middle East. 

Dimitris Kavakas 

The refund guarantee programme gives patients 

the chance of having up to 3 full cycles of IVF 

treatment, inclusive of all frozen embryo 

transfers as well as all stimulation medication 

needed. It also includes embryo freezing and 

one-year storage costs. It also comes with a 

refund guarantee for a live birth that can be up 

to 100%. The programme has certain eligibility 

criteria and requires certain screening tests to 

be provided in advance of getting accepted into 

the programme. On average, the acceptance rate 

exceeds 80%. While there is no age restriction 

in Egg Donation and Embryo Adoption 

programmes, there are age restrictions for IVF 

with own egg cycles and refund guarantees can 

only be offered to women up to 39 years of age. 

IVF Travel also offers the possibility to UK 

fertility patients to spread the cost of the 

programme over a number of months by 

requesting a 50% deposit and the remaining 

amount is paid in six monthly equal installments 

free of interest. 

One of IVF Travel partners is Mediterranean 

Fertility Institute in Greece and the two 

organisations join forces to provide a free IVF or 

Egg Donation cycle to a UK couple. 

44 | fertilityroad.com 



Dr John 

Giakoumakis 

methods to achieve high results, including ICSI, 

IMSI, PICSI, Laser Assisted Hatching, Blastocyst 

culture and PGS/PGD biopsies. 

MEDITERRANEAN FERTILITY INSTITUTE 

The Mediterranean Fertility Institute is one 

of the leading fertility clinics in Greece and is 

amongst the most reputable IVF institutions in 

Europe. It is located in the town of Chania in the 

island of Crete, a spectacular tourist destination 

that allows fertility patients to relax and enjoy 

the days they need to be at the clinic. The 

Institute carries an experience of more than 23 

years of successes and more than 7,000 births. 

Mediterranean Fertility Institute takes pride 

in its average success rate of 68%, however, it 

treats every patient as an individual and takes 

time to study each case and come up with the 

most suitable protocol for each individual so as 

to guarantee the highest possible success chances. 

It is fully regulated by the Greek Fertility 

Authority and holds ISO 9001 and DIN EN 

15224 as well as UKAS certification. 

Having over 35 years of experience as a 

gynecologist, Dr John Giakoumakis, the 

Institute’s clinical director, is the founder of the 

Mediterranean Fertility Institute and since 1992 

he has helped hundreds of couples and singles, 

to achieve their dreams of becoming parents! 

His personal pursuit does not stop here. For 

years he pushed the limits to help patients with 

the surrogacy program since 2005. Wanting to 

constantly develop his knowledge in the field of 

assisted reproduction, he actively participates 

in conferences around the world every year. He 

is a active member of several organisations and 

is a founding member of European Society of 

Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), 

American Society of Reproductive Medicine 

(ASRM), Mediterranean Society of Reproductive 

Medicine (MSRM), Middle East Fertility Society 

(MEFS) and he was Honorary president of the 

Medical Society of Crete. 

Mediterranean Fertility Institute offers 

comprehensive fertility treatments that include 

IVF, Embryo and Sperm Donation, Surrogacy, 

Fertility Preservation and Testicular Biopsy. Its 

state of the art embryology lab, lead by Dr Danny 

Daphnis, performs all necessary laboratory 

THE OFFER 

Redia IVF Travel and Mediterranean Fertility 

Institute are offering one full cycle of IVF or Egg 

Donation to a UK couple or single woman. Sperm 

donation can be also included if needed. 

The offer is for one fresh cycle but can include any 

frozen cycle, depending on available embryos, if 

success is not achieved in the fresh cycle. 

Dr John Giakoumakis and his dedicated team 

will guide the selected couple throughout 

their treatment cycle and we welcome 

applicants between 20 and 45 years old, from 

all backgrounds and at any point along your 

fertility journey. 

To apply visit our website fertilityroad.com/ivftravel 





EGG DONATION WITH IVF SPAIN 

Exclusive 

Spanish 

Partner 

At IVF Spain we take great pride in participating 

in this year’s Fertility Journey organised by 

Fertility Road Magazine. Each year this wonderful 

initiative gives us the opportunity to help 

two couples that need fertility treatment with 

donated eggs to fulfil their long lasting dream 

of becoming parents. Thanks to our patients, 

who chose to share their journey, we can help 

normalise and raise awareness about a problem 

that affects many people and which receives very 

little attention On this occasion, IVF Spain’s 

medical team - led by gynecologist and fertility 

specialist Dr. Natalia Szlarb - had a particularly 

difficult time in choosing a couple, as more than 

130 participants applied for this year’s Fertility 

Journey. After reviewing applicants medical 

records with Skype call interviews, Claire (42) 

and Dave (35) were chosen as lucky recipients of 

the Fertility Journey 2018. An adorable couple 

we had the pleasure to interview beforehand to 

learn more about how their difficult journey to 

parenthood is going so far: 

Claire and Dave 

We would like to know a bit more about you 

Claire: We have been married since 2010 and live in 

Bristol, England. We are a healthy and happy couple 

interested in sports, health and fitness. I (Claire) am 

42 and I am a legal secretary for a law firm, and Dave 

is a Business Development Director at a University 

College in the South West of England. 

Claire and Dave 

Why are you struggling to conceive a baby and 

how long have you been trying? 

Dave: For the past 7 years, we’ve been trying to 

conceive a child and start a family, but apparently 

there were various issues to overcome that we didn’t 

know about at first, like sperm morphology and 

motility defects, and a family genetic condition 

that increases the rate of failed implantation and 

miscarriage. Despite this situation being extremely 

challenging for us, we are totally committed to 

creating a healthy and happy family together. 

How has your fertility journey been so far? 

Claire: I underwent my first IVF cycle in Bristol 

back in 2011. It was an ICSI plus metformin cycle, 

but unfortunately, I was overstimulated and had 

to coast for a week. Most of the eggs developed 

too much for fertilisation. In the end, 2 eggs were 

successfully fertilised and transferred on day 3, 

but none of them implanted. 

I had a second cycle at Bristol Southmead 

Hospital. This time the IVF drug dosage was 

lowered to avoid overstimulation. 17 eggs were 

retrieved during egg collection, and 2 eggs put 

back in at blastocyst stage, but again failed to 

implant. Later on 2 frozen fertilised eggs from 

this last cycle were put back in but they also did 

not implant. 

Due to having a chromosome translocation (12 and 

14) in my family history and being a balanced carrier, 

I was advised to proceed with the PGD route. 

So I had a third ICSI attempt with PGD back 

in 2014. 7 eggs were retrieved and fertilised 

on low dosage of drugs, again to avoid over 

stimulation. PGD showed that all of the eggs 

carried unbalanced chromosome translocations, 

meaning none could be put back in. After this, 

we were deeply disappointed and started seeking 

to proceed with egg donation to avoid any other 

painful unsuccessful ISCI experience due to the 

translocation in the embryos. When we reached 

this point, we had no frozen embryos from 

previous cycles. 

How did you find out about the Fertility Road 

Magazine Fertility Journey? 

Dave: In simple terms, Facebook. One evening, 

Claire noticed an opportunity through the Fertility 

Road Magazine Facebook page and we decided 

to apply. We had an informative Skype call and 

well, we are very happy to have been selected for 

the treatment and have this opportunity with 

Fertility Road. 

Were you already considering going abroad for 

your next fertility treatment? What are you 

looking for in a clinic? And how do you feel 

about IVF Spain so far? 

Claire: We were considering an egg donation 

treatment to increase the chances of success, and 

at first, we thought of having it in a UK clinic, 

closer to home. It is important to us that a clinic 

is open, transparent and patient centred because 

this can be an incredibly stressful experience. In 

short, we wanted a clinic that ‘looks after’ their 

patients and makes the experience as exciting and 

positive as possible. Although we are yet to travel 

to Spain to meet the IVF Spain team in person, all 




our interactions by e-mail, phone and Skype so 

far have been professional and friendly, and have 

given us hope and confidence. 

In May Claire and Dave will travel to Spain to 

meet the whole IVF Spain team. They will then 

have their first medical consultation with Dr. 

Natalia Szlarb, Medical Director at IVF Spain, 

whose patients always have a word of praise for 

her and is often defined as a great professional 

that gets truly involved in each case and possesses 

great empathy. 

‘We face each Fertility Journey as a thrilling and 

exciting challenge, and in this case, we are looking 

forward to warmly welcome Claire and Dave. We 

will study their case thoroughly to find the best 

solution to their fertility issues. It is amazing 

that Spanish legislation allowed for anonymous 

egg donation 30 years ago. At IVF Spain we treat 

more than 1000 patients every year from all over 

the world for egg donation, which is considered 

to be the final step in many couples’ infertility 

treatment. We will do our best with Claire and 

Dave to make their dream of forming a family 

with a healthy baby come true. I wish them a 

successful treatment at IVF Spain in 2018,’ points 

out Dr. Szlarb. 

We would also like to seize this opportunity 

to tell you about our couple from last years 

Fertility Journey. 

In May Kathryn and Richard will finally be able 

to hold their baby in their arms. On behalf of the 

whole IVF Spain team, we wish them the best of 

luck in their planned C-section. They have agreed 

to share with us how their pregnancy is developing 

and some other scoops: 

Kathryn writes... 

Kathryn 

The pregnancy has gone quite well. I have suffered 

from a few ailments like leg swelling, a pregnancy 

rash and a few bleeds but the baby has stayed 

healthy so far (touch wood) throughout this. We 

have been under consultant care throughout the 

pregnancy and the hospital has kept a close eye 

on us thankfully. We already knew that I had a 

fibroid low down in my uterus and as a result of 

this, we are having a c-section at 38 weeks + 5 days 

on Friday 4th May. I will have 2 steroid injections 

a week prior to the operation to ensure the baby’s 

lungs are developed enough. 

At 35 weeks, the baby weighs approximately. 

6lbs so he or she (we don’t know the gender yet) 

is in the 90th percentile. This is quite large but 

healthy!!! Alongside the baby, we have finally 

been able to plan our wedding for April 2019. We 

count ourselves so lucky and fortunate to have 

been given the opportunity to part of the fertility 

journey in 2017 and can’t thank IVF Spain enough 

for their support and commitment to us. 

The clinic has been attentive throughout the 

whole process: pre, during and for the followup. 

We feel that we have had the best care and 

attention that we could have possibly received 

and have recommended IVF Spain to a number 

of couples. We have also met up face to face with 

another successful couple whose little boy is 10 

months old now. This has been very worthwhile 

as we are aware that the treatment we have 

experienced is alternative and not the ‘norm’ for 

most people. 

We will be in touch as soon as the baby is here. As 

the Star Wars quote goes ‘May the 4th be with you!’ 

Lastly, we would like to talk to you about Alka 

and Rhod, Runner-ups in 2017. As you probably 

remember, this couple underwent numerous 

unsuccessful IVF treatments in the UK, so they 

decided that their best possible option to achieve 

a pregnancy would be to choose an egg donation 

treatment - which has higher success rates - in 

order to avoid having to go through yet another 

failed attempt. 

During their visit to IVF Spain, Dr. Álvarez 

examined the couple and performed various 

tests with the aim of developing the best possible 

strategy for their case. The doctor analysed Alka’s 

ovarian reserve, which turned out to be quite 

low. Her ultrasound scan showed very few active 

follicles and her AMH was very low. On top of 

that, her endometrium (uterus lining) - where the 

embryo must implant and develop - was extremely 

thin. Despite all this, Alka’s endometrium 

responded perfectly to the medication and the 

embryo transfer went smoothly. 10 days later, 

the ‘beta’ test (pregnancy test) was positive. Alka 

is currently going through the second trimester 

of pregnancy, and both she and Rhod await with 

excitement the birth of their baby in August. 

Alka and Rhod 





FREE IVF TREATMENT... WITH KLINIKK HAUSKEN 

Klinikk Hausken Joining the Fertility Journey 2018 

THE CLINIC 

We are so excited about joining this year’s 

Fertility Journey. And we are getting closer to 

the day in choosing the couple who will go on 

this journey with us. We are looking forward 

to introducing Norway and our clinic to the 

chosen couple. Norway is constantly voted the 

best country to live in with a publicly funded 

healthcare system, known for its high-quality of 

care and efficiency. When it comes to Klinikk 

Hausken, we are the largest IVF clinic in 

Norway carrying on the quality and efficiency 

the Norwegian Health Services are known for. 

We also pride ourselves on our individualised 

care, innovation and good results. All of which 

the couple will experience throughout their 

journey to parenthood with us. 

THE PROCESS 

We can’t wait to get to know our Fertility 

Journey couple, to be able to join them on 

their journey to parenthood. To make them 

feel safe, relaxed and supported. 

The chosen couple will only need to visit our 

clinic in Norway twice. The first trip will be for 

investigative tests and planning of protocol. 

The initial meeting is extremely important to 

us and it’s where we get to know each other. 

This is where we build the foundations for 

a successful partnership moving forward. 

We will work with you to design a treatment 

plan tailored specifically to your needs which 

will include personalised care and detailed 

information regarding the entire process. At 

every stage of your treatment with us our 

knowledgeable and helpful staff he will be 

on hand to answer any questions or concerns 

that you may have. The key to planning an 

optimal treatment protocol for the couple 

lies in effective two way communication and 

that’s why we believe listening to the couple is 

paramount to the treatment process. 

The second trip will be the actual egg collection 

and transfer. The couple will stay in Norway 

for one week during this stay. This is the perfect 

opportunity take some off to relax and focus 

on each other and the treatment ahead without 

worrying about daily life at home. 

EXPLORING NORWAY 

The couple will also have the opportunity to 

experience the Norwegian culture during their 




visit. Taste our weird and wonderful food, 

explore the stunning scenery Norway has to 

offer and get to know the people of Norway. 

This will be the beginning of an adventure of 

a lifetime. 

GETTING TO KNOW YOU 

Klinikk Hausken has offered treatment to 

UK couples for the past 11 years with great 

success. Activities such as the Fertility Show 

in London and Manchester, roadshows such 

as Routes to Parenthood and the Fertility 

Journey has made it possible for us to optimise 

the treatment process for our UK couples. 

Even though the UK couples only make up 

10% of treatments done at Klinikk Hausken 

per year (700 UK couples so far) it has helped 

us achieve an even higher level of quality 

on our services, especially on customer 

focus. Meeting potential clients through 

different channels gives us new impulses and 

engages the staff even more. We feel we take 

something useful away from each and every 

one of the events and meetings we have with 

the UK public. And we have learnt a lot about 

the UK culture. All of our staff are fluent 

in English and we have event picked up a 

few English sayings along the way which we 

frequently used around the clinic. A more 

polite and well-spoken nation is hard to come 

by and we thoroughly enjoy working with 

our UK clients. And I think the UK couples 

enjoy coming to us. Here’s a quote from one 

of our UK based couples enjoying their time 

in Norway: 

“Coming to Klinikk Hausken and to Norway 

has been lovely. Both Bergen and Haugesund 

are beautiful towns which has made our stay 

quite peaceful. The staff at the clinic has been 

so friendly as well. We are so glad to have 

come to Klinikk Hausken” 

SPECIAL OFFER 

We have had a humbling amount of interest 

from couples wanting to join us on this Fertility 

Journey. We will be announcing the chosen 

couple in the next issue of the Fertility Road 

Magazine, but we really would like to help more 

than just the one couple in their journey to 

parenthood. This is why Klinikk Hausken has 

decided to give all of our readers a free virtual 

consultation with our Medical Director and IVF 

Specialist Dr. Jon Hausken. All you need to do is 

contact our International Manager on camilla@ 

klinikhausken.no to make the request. 





DONOR EGG IVF WITH GENOMIC SCREENING... 

WITH OREGON REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE 

After nearly ten years trying to build their family, Heather and Brandon are truly on 

their way to becoming parents. Following Heather’s embryo transfer in late February, 

her hCG tests and ultrasound have given them the news they’ve been waiting to hear, 

and then some! Heather is pregnant – with fraternal twins! 

Heather writes… 

Tuesday, February 20th, my mother and I boarded 

our flights to Portland, Oregon for my frozen 

embryo transfer which was scheduled for the 

following day. Brandon stayed home as opposed 

to accompanying me for this trip. We could not 

afford for us to both be off work for the four days. 

We tried to be practical and have Brandon save 

some additional vacation days so that we could use 

them for any emergency that might present itself. 

My mother is retired so she was able to join me for 

the four days. Our long travel days gave us plenty 

of time for bonding, resting, reminiscing about 

the good old days, and preparing my mind for 

what was to come. We also got to relax a bit and 

catch-up on a few in-flight movies. 

It was special for my mother to be able to join me, 

as she and my father helped us financially pay for 

the trip and hotel stay. We’re extremely grateful 

to them for their support and their financial 

assistance through this process which has been 

emotionally and financially exhausting. 

On Wednesday, February 21st, my mother and I, 

full of anticipation, walked across the street from 

the Hotel deLuxe to ORM. My embryo transfer 

was scheduled for 3:30 p.m. I was given a valium 

prior to the procedure to relax my uterus. I also 

played a mediation recording in my headphones 

to keep me calm, focused and relaxed throughout 

the process. Many of the members of the ORM 

team who I have worked with stopped by to say 

hello and provide hugs prior to the procedure. 

Dr. Barbieri escorted me into the procedure 

room where I was able to see the two embryos 

on the large screen prior to the transfer. We 

chose to transfer one boy and one girl from our 

14 embryos. Dr. Barbieri talked me through the 

entire procedure which was quick and she held my 

hand as she returned me to my in-patient room 

where my mother was patiently waiting for me. 

ORM’s protocol is for bedrest following an 

embryo transfer. So I remained in my in-patient 

room laying down for 45 minutes before I was 

released. Via wheelchair, I was escorted back 

across the street to the front steps of the Hotel 

deLuxe. I only walked up the entry steps, to the 

elevator and down the hall to our room. 

I remained on bed rest for the remainder of 

Wednesday and all of Thursday. I only got up 

to relieve myself and was provided with strict 

instructions not to shower or wash-up until 

Friday. Essentially, ORM did not want me to be 

on my feet for more than 15 minutes. For the 

next two days, room service was our best friend! 

On Friday, my mother and I headed back to the 

airport for our flight home. For the weekend, I 

took it easy. Brandon took care of me and made 

sure I had breakfast, lunch and dinner before 

starting the next work week on Monday. 

For the next week, I continued to take my daily 

prenatal medications, daily progesterone shots 

and twice a week delestrogen shots. On Friday, 

March 2nd, I had my first hCG blood test drawn at 

7:00 a.m. so that I wouldn’t be late for work. 

Christina, my coordinator at ORM, had told me 

that if I had an hCG level of 50 or higher on my 

first test then that would mean I was pregnant. She 

also told me that I would have two more tests to 

take, one on Monday, March 5th and another on 

Wednesday, March 7th. She said that if my hCG 

levels doubled each time I took the test then it 

would indicate that the pregnancy was developing 

normally at that early stage. 

I have to admit that the waiting is torture. You 

are miserable, lost and feel inept. Later in the 

day on Friday Christina left me a voicemail. She 

had the results from my hCG blood test. I was 

honestly terrified to call her back. I guess I wasn’t 

ready to hear more bad news, but I reminded 

myself that we had 12 embryos in storage so 




if this transfer had not worked then we could 

always try again. 

I waited until I was heading home from work to 

call her back. After staring at the ORM phone 

number for an eternity, I found the courage and 

called. My hCG level was 529. We were pregnant! 

I screamed at the top of my lungs and cried 

uncontrollably with joy! 

I thanked Christina and immediately called Brandon 

at his work. He had to remain calm in front of 

his colleagues who are clueless as to what we are 

going through. I told him my hCG level and he got 

incredibly quiet and said, “I need to take a walk.” 

Once, I got home, I laid down in the bed with 

Duke, our dog, by my side and waited patiently 

for Brandon, who arrived home less than an 

hour later. He was still in shock and needed 

reassurance so we called Christina by speaker 

phone so she could tell Brandon what I had 

already shared with him. 

When you’re so used to hearing “ No”, you need 

reassurance from the experts that the cards are 

finally in your favor. We were so excited we 

decided to quietly celebrate! We went out to 

dinner at a local authentic Mexican restaurant 

and had one of our favorites, enchiladas. 

We made an agreement not to share the news with 

our parents until we had received the results for the 

next two tests to ensure we had a health pregnancy. 

On Monday, March 5th 

my hCG level was 2,601. 

We had more than doubled! 

On Wednesday, March 7th 

my hCG level was 5,748. We had 

doubled again! 

On Saturday, March 10th, we shared the news 

with our parents, my mother and father and 

Brandon’s mother. They were all uncontrollably 

happy and excited that their individual journeys 

to becoming grand-parents were within reach. 

We were clear with them that we are not sharing 

the news with any other parties until the end of the 

first trimester. We are not making plans for baby 

showers or picking out names or buying clothes. We 

After staring at the ORM 

phone number for an eternity, 

I found the courage and called. 

My hCG level was 529. We were 

pregnant! I screamed at the 

top of my lungs and cried 

uncontrollably with joy! 

Dr Barbieri comments on Heather and Brandon's journey 

are taking this journey day 

by day with gratitude and 

patience. 

We had our 6 week 

ultrasound Monday, 

March 19th and found 

out that both embryos 

had taken. We are 

having fraternal twins! 

Baby A had a heart rate of 

114 and Baby B had a heart 

rate of 111 both are above the 100 

rate which is considered normal. We 

are ecstatic! Wow, we got here. 

We weren’t sure if anyone would ever believe in 

us. We weren’t sure that anyone would take the 

additional time to help us overcome this ten year 

obstacle. We are so grateful to ORM. 

We realize that this is only the beginning and 

are doing our best to take things step-by-step, but 

we are extremely thankful and doing our best to 

live in the moment and appreciate the gifts of life 

bestowed upon us through this journey. 

The entire ORM team is truly overjoyed with the wonderful news of Heather’s 

twin pregnancy. 

Everything we do at ORM is with the goal of helping our patient become 

parents, and for them to be able to have success and a healthy baby on their 

first attempt. 

Heather’s pregnancy is developing as expected and is now well-established. She has graduated from our 

care at ORM, and I know that she will be happy to be done with all her various injections which are part 

of the IVF process. She will now be looked-after during the rest of her pregnancy by her local physician. 

We are honoured to have been able to help Heather and Brandon and will be continuing to follow their 

journey closely in the coming months ahead. 



FERTILITY 360 

r arolie illis 

Founder of Fertility Clinics Abroad 

fertilityclinicsabroad.com 

IVF ABROAD 

TOP FIVE 

TIPS FOR 

THE OVER 

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine estimates that infertility 

affects 6.1 million North American women; roughly one in eight couples 

of reproductive age. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

estimate that six percent of married women in the U.S. are unable to get 

pregnant after a year of trying, and 12 percent of women aged 15 to 44 

have difficulty getting pregnant. 

ey otriutory fator to deliig fertility rates omes dow to age 

of oetio e oit at wi ort merias egi to ti aout 

aig ildre as sifted oer te ast few deades refletig ultural 

treds of wome i iger eduatio ad te worfore as well as risig 

diore rates ireasig seod time roud families e et result is 

a rise i te umer of wome of or oer aig ildre a oit at 

wi ild earig eomes ifiitely more omle for tis age 

grou is ofte te oly iale otio ut te ost of treatmet i te states 

ats as a oerearig arrier for some 

e asi yle i te a ost u to or u to if 

you use a egg door ad is ofte ot oered y isurae y 

omariso a etire tri to te e euli wit ad a egg 

door a ost as little as e laws regardig are also less 

restritie i te e euli ad ertai arts of uroe ta tey are 

i te ad door eggs ad serm are also eaer 

or wome wo are ad oer wo are faed wit te igest failure 

rates ad o aerage ae to udergo more yles ta youger wome 

te roset of a more affordale otio aroad is a attratie oe ut 

fidig te rigt lii a e a dautig roset artiularly oe tat 

offers seialist treatmet ad iger suess rates for older wome 

e team at ertility liis road ae made te o ust a little easier 

40’Swit teir fie stes to suess for te oer s 



FERTILITY 360 

STEP 1 

Which treatment? 

Deciding on the right treatment is the first and 

most critical choice in your fertility journey. 

As a first port of call, always seek advice from 

your Doctor and/or fertility specialist. Desktop 

research is also a quick and affordable way to 

access tons of information. There are plenty 

of resources and support groups in the U.S, 

including Fertility Network, path2parenthood 

and the International Council of Infertility 

Information Dissemination. Our website also 

features a list of European Clinics which may be 

useful during your search 

In general, the majority of women over 40 opt for 

donor egg treatment which provides higher success 

rates than traditional IVF treatment. Donor 

eggs are typically provided by women under the 

age of 35, where there are fewer chromosomal 

abnormalities and therefore higher success rates. 

STEP 2 

Choosing the right clinic for you 

If this is the treatment you have chosen, look 

for clinics that perform a high number of donor 

egg cycles per year. This is a good indicator that 

they have experience treating older women. A 

clinic that performs a lot of donor egg cycles is 

also likely to have a big donor database which 

is an advantage when looking for a good match. 

A clinic should always spend time discussing 

matching with you – the sophistication of 

matching is often down to the size and resources 

of the clinic in question, so if it’s particularly 

important to you, it may be worth spending 

a little more on larger clinics that have a 

dedicated matching team. 

When choosing a clinic, always ask for their 

success rate statistics. Most clinics have to 

submit this information to their country’s 

regulatory body, so it should be readily 

available. Be wary of clinics that publish high 

pregnancy rates for women over 40. For IVF 

treatment, the pregnancy outcomes are poorer 

for this age group. High pregnancy rates 

may also be an indication that the clinic is 

transferring 3 or more embryos at a time, which 

can result in a multiple pregnancy. This can 

cause serious problems for mother and baby and 

should be avoided. Understanding statistics is 

about reading between the lines and always seek 

advice from a professional if you’re unsure. 



FERTILITY 360 

STEP 3 

Look after those embryos 

If possible, look for clinics that offer embryo 

monitoring and preimplantation genetic 

screening, or PGS. Embryo monitoring allows 

the embryologist to closely monitor a patient’s 

embryo as they develop in the incubator. 

This is important because it can tell them 

which embryos are not dividing properly and 

achieving their developmental milestones. For 

women over 40, embryos are more likely to have 

genetic abnormalities than a younger woman 

and so monitoring helps the embryologist 

select the best ones for transfer. PGS is a process 

whereby the developing embryo is checked 

for genetic abnormalities such as Down’s 

Syndrome – embryos from women over 40 are 

at a higher risk of these generic abnormalities. 

It is important to note that this process is only 

really necessary for IVF treatment using own 

eggs – eggs from donors are younger and so do 

not usually require screening. 

STEP 4 

Manage your risk 

It’s important to consider the financial and 

personal risks of IVF treatment. With this in 

mind, it’s worth having a look for clinics that 

offer a ‘shared risk programme’ to mitigate 

possible failures. For example, some may allow 

you to pay for two cycles, and if they don’t work, 

offer the third round for free. At the very least 

this could save you some money. 

Having surplus embryos which can be frozen 

is a bonus – but check to see if freezing them 

is included in your treatment price otherwise 

you will have to be prepared to cover this cost. 

Having frozen embryos means that you can go 

back if you want a sibling for your child, or if you 

were unsuccessful first time, you could go back 

just for a frozen embryo transfer which removes 

the reliance on synchronising with a donor. 



FERTILITY 360 

STEP 5 

Stay fit and healthy 

It is important to be fit and healthy before 

your trip – make sure you stick to a healthy, 

balanced diet, take regular exercise and find 

the time to relax to keep your stress levels at 

a minimum. The healthier you are, the higher 

your chances of success – also make sure you 

have a mammograms done and get your blood 

pressure checked before you embark for your 

treatment. Some clinics may insist on seeing 

recent mammograms or indeed may do them at 

the clinic if they have the facilities. Similarly, 

good aftercare is paramount. Women over 35 

are at a higher risk of developing diabetes and 

high blood pressure during pregnancy and so 

it is important that you are monitored closely 

throughout your pregnancy. 

Closing comment… 

It’s important to point out that there are 

many women of 40 or over that go on to have 

successful pregnancies without any problems 

at all – understanding the risks are important, 

but don’t let scaremongering put you off from 

achieving your dream. If you plan well, stay 

healthy and make sensible choices you have 

every chance of going on to have a happy 

and successful pregnancy. Good luck on your 

fertility journey! 

Dr Caroline Phillips PhD was senior 

embryologist at the Chelsea and 

Westminster Hospital in the 90’s. She now 

runs an online hub -Fertility Clinics Abroadwhich 

offers resources and information to 

people seeking IVF abroad. 



21 

FERTILITY 360 

Miles 

Swimming in 

Search of the 

Meaning of 

Motherhood 

I sometimes feel ashamed of admitting that I went 

through eleven rounds of IVF. Yes, ELEVEN. By 

any account, it's the extreme end of the fertility 

treatment spectrum. It remains a lasting symbol 

of the depths of desperation and despair that 

my pursuit of motherhood took me to which 

I wrote about in my first book The Pursuit of 

Motherhood that in turn led to me becoming a 

columnist for Fertility Road magazine, founding 

Fertility Fest fertilityfest.com and campaigning 

to improve things for people who struggle 

to conceive. It's also led to my new book – 21 

Miles: Swimming in search of the meaning of 

motherhood out in May. 

I was 34 when my partner and I started trying to 

conceive. I thought it was the perfect age. Like 

many women, I’d spent my twenties trying not to 

get pregnant. I’d gone to university, climbed the 

career ladder, taken my time to find the perfect 

man. Shortly after my 34th birthday we threw 

away the contraception and started having sex 

for the purpose nature intended – to make a baby. 

That’s when I discovered that getting pregnant 

isn’t necessarily that easy, especially in your mid 

thirties. After a year of unprotected sex, ovulation 

kits, and knicker-watch we made an appointment 

with a fertility clinic. We were diagnosed with 

‘Unexplained Infertility’ - the frustrating answer 

given to roughly a third of people who struggle to 

conceive. It’s a terrible diagnosis because it isn’t 

really a diagnosis at all. 

What followed was a decade long journey that 

involved round after round of IVF, multiple 



FERTILITY 360 



FERTILITY 360 

Training 

misarriages ad a etoi regay tat 

almost too my life e seemed to e ale to 

mae erfet emryos ses of life i te 

laoratory wi we tey got ut a iside 

me dissoled ad disaeared ery dotor we 

saw was oied tat if we et o tryig it 

would eetually wor o we did 

ts ard elaiig te ai of sometig 

youe eer ad ometig tat was ust a 

eetatio a dream at most a luster of ells 

wast dyig e world wast o te erge 

of a umaitaria disaster eause ouldt 

ae ildre all it te ai of eer ts 

symtoms ilude eer feelig lie a real 

woma eause you at do wat eery oter 

woma seemigly fids so easy to do eer 

eig ale to feel ay for someoe we tey 

aoue teyre regat witout feelig sad 

for yourself at te same time ad eer seeig 

someoe elses otos of teir ildre o 

aeoo witout wisig you ad otos to 

ost too 

fertility is rutal t as a souldestroyig 

effet o your relatiosi wit family frieds 

olleagues as well as your arter t deimates 

Taking off 

your self esteem ad gris you i a fear for 

your future e tig tat droe me troug so 

may yles was uite simly te terror tat if 

ouldt eome a moter wat would my life 

loo lie as it a life ee wated 

d lie may wo go troug tis for years 

suffered i silee uli was a suessful 

areer woma i riate was o a deserate 

missio to eome a moter tat eded u ostig 

oer d alogside did eery add 

o treatmet you a imagie auuture 

dietary sulemets teray seeral tyes ee 

ad a stragers wite lood ells ieted ito my 

arm ot as ut o amout of moey ould 

uy me a ay 

ur eleet roud of was ust efore my 

rd irtday ree to uality emryos were 

retured to my wom ll te 

sigs looed good ut te tey 

always did or te eleet time 

dreamed aout my due date 

aout writig a out of offie 

sayig was away o materity 

leae aout mummy meetus ad 

feedig te dus 

ut all it resulted i was aoter 

egatie regay test ad wit 

it te ed of oe t te same time 

my relatiosi started to imlode 

oter little aowledged fat is 

te imat as o a marriage t 

destroys your se life ad you start 

to uestio weter loe a eer e 

eoug witout a ild 

at was te momet deided it 

was time to do sometig differet 

tougt a o my ildood dreams 

Picture with Prue. One 

of the 21 women I met 



FERTILITY 360 

The tough swim 

f ouldt e a moter maye ould ea 

ael wimmer e oly rolem eig 

tat it wast sometig d tougt aout for 

oer tirty years ated eerise ad te old 

wast ee a ery good swimmer ut after 

years of roet ay taig o a allege lie 

te ael to raise moey for families witout 

ildre ad ildre witout families gae me 

sometig else to ti aout 

s my uisig traiig sedule ommeed 

soo leared tat you eed to ut o weigt 

to stae off te old is te led to a ew idea 

at if were to write to a olletio of isirig 

wome ad as tem to meet ad eat wit me 

ad aswer te uestio does moterood mae 

you ay tougt it migt el me deide 

wat to do et 

o did ad te resose was oerwelmig 

rom aroesses to rofessors awardwiers 

to reordreaers ouseold ames to eole 

wo ae doe sometig uietly amaig 

wome from differet wals of life all of wom 

ad omellig truts to tell aout female 

fulfillmet ad te meaig of moterood 

leart aout te differet routes to aretood 

eyod te iologial adotio fosterig egg 

doatio ad surrogay ad also tat tere are 

some wome wo moter i te world witout 

eer eomig arets met wome wo ad 

ot ad ildre some y oie some y 

irumstae ad ee a woma reared to 

admit tat moterood ad ee a regret e 

adour of all te wome met was reattaig 

ad it eame te most lifeaffirmig uest 

wit a lot of ae 

t am o te etemer set out 

from oer i te dar taig te words ad 

wisdom tat ea of te wome d met ad 

gie me to te sea or te first few ours 

was ery si retig ito te water wit te 

guttural soud of a aimal dyig i ai ts 

ot a uommo ourree at te start of 

a ael swim geerally osidered to e 

rougt o y eres e siess stoed 

aroud aout te time te ellyfis ega ey 

are oe of te aards of ael swimmig 

ad was to fae more of tem ta teyd eer 

see stigig me all oer my fae ad ody t 

was lie swimmig troug ellyfis sou ut 

ee worse was to ome esite all te traiig 

was still a slow swimmer ad if te tide turs 

we youre gettig lose to rae te it a 

tae may ours to lad 

f ad ow tat swimmig te glis 

ael was ust lie goig troug maye 

d eer ae doe it ltimately you ae to 

aet tat ature is i otrol of your ody ad 

its also i otrol of te sea ature is igger 

ta all of us its defiitely igger ta me ut 

also ad o idea tat swimmig from glad 

to rae would eome lie my ow ersio of 

giig irt ours miutes ad seods 

of laour followed y te most etraordiary 

euoria tat elised all te ai d doe 

sometig differet ad life would eer e te 

same agai 

essia eur is te autor 

of e ursuit of oterood 

ulised ad iles 

wimmig i sear of te 

meaig of moterood out 

rd ay from oud 

e is also fouder 

ad diretor of ertility est 

fertilityfest.co 


fertilityroadom |

FERTILITY 360 

EXPERT: Craig Reisser 

BUDGETING YOUR 

SURROGACY JOURNEY 

8 FACTORS THAT CAN HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON COSTS 

Craig Reisser, a parent via egg donation and surrogacy in the USA, shares some advice for 

intended parents who are looking for guidance on planning their surrogacy budget. 

An inevitable question from intended parents 

getting started with a surrogacy journey in the 

USA is, "How much is it going to cost?" And 

one of their biggest worries is often, "How do I 

minimise my risk if things don't go as planned?" 

Like many intended parents, in my own journey 

I spent hours with excel spreadsheets trying 

to get to the “Number”. This was made more 

difficult by there being so many surrogacy and 

egg donation agencies and IVF clinics, with each 

of them having their own programs and way of 

presenting the costs. 

Learning to unpick all the cost items became a 

necessity to understand what was included and 

what extras needed to be provided for. More 

importantly was the realisation that the total 

cost could not be known until it was all done. 

So it was also essential to understand the risk 

factors that could make our “Number” go up. 

Figuring out how to minimise those risks became 

a priority. 

I realised that there are eight major surrogacy 

budget “levers” that will shape your final “Number” 

- four choices that are within your control and 

four risks which you should try to manage. 

Budget Choices You Can Control 

1. Choice of Surrogacy Agency 

Your choice of surrogacy agency can directly 

determine cost items that comprise roughly 45-55% 

of your budget. These include the agency’s own fees 

and related costs; the likely amount of compensation 

and reimbursements your surrogate will receive; and 

the US legal fees associated with your journey. 

Agencies set the ranges of compensation levels 

for surrogates in their programs. These levels 

can differ from one agency to another based on 

various factors, which can include an agency’s 

philosophical approach to surrogate compensation 

or potentially in some cases screening standards. 

A major factor can also be from which US states 

an agency recruits its surrogates. Surrogates in 

some US states receive on average higher levels 

of compensation and reimbursements than 

in others. This can be due to both differences 

in the cost of living as well as demand from 

intended parents to work with a surrogate from 

a particular US state. For example, California is 

known for being one of the most expensive US 

states for surrogacy. 

In addition, an agency’s approach when it 

comes to US healthcare insurance and medical 

costs can have a big impact on your budget and 

how exposed you may be to this significant 

risk factor if there are medical complications. 

This involves both the medical costs associated 

with a surrogate’s pregnancy and delivery, and 

particularly for intended parents who do not 

have their own US healthcare insurance, newborn 

medical care. 



FERTILITY 360 



FERTILITY 360 

2. Choice of IVF Clinic 

Your choice of your IVF clinic can determine 

roughly 30-35% of your overall budget. But it can 

also have a bigger influence on some of the cost 

risks than the choice of surrogacy agency. This is 

because three of the key risks are more directly 

related to the IVF process and your clinic’s 

success rates. Risk related to the medical costs of 

pregnancy, delivery and newborn care are not 

linked to your choice of IVF clinic, though high 

standards for medical approval of surrogates by 

a clinic may be a factor that helps contribute to a 

safe and healthy pregnancy and delivery. 

To be able to accurately budget the costs of your 

clinic it is important to know the all component 

elements of the IVF process and whether they 

are included in an inclusive pricing or will be 

charged separately. 

You will want to assess the probability that 

you will have to repeat any element of the IVF 

process, principally the egg retrieval and embryo 

creation and screening processes and/or an 

individual embryo transfer procedure. If you 

have to repeat any of these steps then whether 

these procedures are included in your clinic’s 

inclusive pricing or will be charged separately is a 

key to your budget. 

3. Choice of Egg Donor 

For those working with an egg donor who is not a 

friend or a family member, then this element can 

represent roughly 5-10% of your overall budget. 

When it comes to third-party egg donors in 

the USA, it is possible to find a donor either in 

a clinic’s own program, or in one of the many 

non-clinic egg donor agencies. The costs for 

these two options can be very different. In 

general the costs associated with donors who 

are part of a clinic’s program are lower than 

for non-clinic agency options. The level of any 

agency fees, the costs for medical and other 

screening and donor compensation will be key 

cost items. 

Whether or not your donor is “local” to your 

clinic (lives within daily driving distance) will 

have an impact on your budget. For a “local” 

donor, you will not need to budget for significant, 

if any, travel reimbursements while she is in 

treatment. If she is not “local” then you will need 

to budget for your donor’s travel to your clinic 

as well as her accommodation and meals during 

the period of her stimulation and egg retrieval, 

which can be some 10 days to 2 weeks. This can 

add thousands to your budget. Generally having 



FERTILITY 360 

a “local” donor is a less costly option and can be 

easier to accomplish by working with a donor 

from your clinic’s own program. 

4. Choice and Location 

of Surrogate 

Factors such as the state your surrogate lives in, 

which surrogacy agency program she has come 

through and whether she is a first time or a repeat 

surrogate can have a big influence on the level of 

surrogate compensation and reimbursements in 

your budget. 

Whether or not your surrogate is “local” to 

your clinic also can have an impact on your 

budget. If she is “local” then similar to having 

a “local” donor, you will not need to budget 

much, if any, for travel reimbursement. If she is 

not “local” then she will need to travel to your 

clinic potentially once for an in-person medical 

approval and then for each embryo transfer. For 

these generally short trips you need to budget for 

travel, accommodation and meals. 

In addition, if your surrogate is “local” then 

it’s likely that all of her pre and post transfer 

monitoring (blood hormone tests and 

ultrasounds) will be done at your clinic. In 

this case the costs for this monitoring may be 

included in your clinic’s pricing. If your surrogate 

is not “local” then this monitoring will have to be 

done wherever she lives and this is typically an 

added cost that needs to be budgeted. 

Intended parents need to know that among the 

relatively small number of US IVF clinics that 

do the majority of surrogacy cycles, these are 

all located in major metropolitan areas with 

higher costs of living and most are in US states 

with generally higher compensation levels for 

surrogates. So counter-intuitively, having a “local” 

surrogate may not always be a less costly option. 

Budget Risks You Need 

to Manage 

5. Repeating the Egg Donation 

and Retrieval plus the Embryo 

Creation and Screening 

This part of the IVF process represents some 

75-80% of the IVF and egg donor costs for a single 

successful journey. If the egg retrieval does not 

result in a sufficient number of eggs or no normal 

embryos were obtained, then this is the most 

costly part of the IVF process to have to repeat. 

In addition to the medical costs there is also 

the donor compensation and potentially travel 

reimbursement, as well as possibly egg donor 

agency fees and screening costs that would need to 

be paid if you have to repeat this. 

Some clinics may offer guarantee programs 

in you need to repeat this part of the process 

These typically will cover the cost of the clinic’s 

fees for the egg retrieval procedure and embryo 

creation, as well as possibly the stimulation 

medications. They may not include the costs of 

embryo screening and are unlikely to cover any 

costs associated with the donor herself, such as 

her compensation or any travel costs, or any fees 

related to an egg donor agency. 

Choosing an egg donor who has been medically 

screened to high standards, as well as potentially 

one who has demonstrated high fertility through a 

prior donation can help mitigate this risk. This is 

particularly important for same sex male couples 

selecting a donor if they intend to pursue a split 

donation and each desire to be a genetic parent. 

6. Repeating Embryo Transfers 

An individual embryo transfer not resulting in 

a live birth is the most common risk in the IVF 

process. To budget for this risk you need to consider 

the costs of the transfer procedure itself and related 

medications; pre and post transfer monitoring; and 

any surrogate travel reimbursements. 

The cost of procedures performed at your clinic 

may be included in your clinic’s inclusive pricing 

or they may be additional. But any costs associated 

with having a surrogate who is not “local” are 

likely to be additional. 

The higher the per transfer live birth success rates 

of the clinic you choose to work this, the lower the 

chance that you will have to have a repeat transfer 

and bear additional costs. 

7. Changing Surrogates 

This is a less common risk but it does happen. 

The cost can depend on when in your journey 

it occurs - before getting started (for example 

if your surrogate does not pass medical 

approval) or after having had a transfer. It can 

also depend on why you need to change – for 

a medical reason or because your surrogate 

has had a change of circumstances. Costs can 

involve new medical screening, and travel 

reimbursement and potentially fees charged by 

your surrogacy agency. 

Some clinics may offer guarantees on their costs 

associated with changing surrogates and agencies 

will have different approaches to re-match fees, 

but these are unlikely to cover any costs associated 

with having a surrogate who is not “local”. 

Though not a guarantee, one way to help mitigate 

this risk is to work with an experienced surrogacy 

agency and clinic that each have high standards 

for surrogate screening and medical approval. 

8. Pregnancy, Delivery and 

Newborn Medical Complications 

This can be the biggest area of financial uncertainty 

and depends both on how the pregnancy develops 

and the availability of insurance to contain your 

financial exposure if things do not go as planned. 

Typically the pregnancy and delivery medical costs 

are covered under a surrogate’s health insurance. So 

in general you only need to budget for that share 

of the costs that are not covered by your surrogate’s 

insurance. However health insurance in the USA is 

not guaranteed so there can be changes to the terms 

or availability of a surrogate’s insurance during the 

course of your journey. So a residual risk remains. 

There are specific insurance options than can 

mitigate this risk. 

Newborn care costs are more difficult or costly to 

insure for those intended parents who do not have US 

health insurance. There are only a limited number of 

insurance options available to mitigate this risk. 

The most straightforward means of mitigating 

these risks is to only transfer a single embryo at 

a time. This can significantly reduce the risk of 

pregnancy-related complications and pre-term 

delivery, which are the cases when newborn 

medical care costs can overwhelm intended 

parents’ budgets and financial means. 

Success the First Time 

Overall, making the choices that fit your budget 

and give you the best chance of success on the 

first attempt for a safe and healthy pregnancy 

and delivery and a healthy baby is the best thing 

that you can do to keep the costs of your journey 

in-check. 

Craig is a regular contributor to Fertility 

Road on third party reproduction. 

Look for his upcoming articles on 

egg donation and surrogacy in future 

issues of Fertility Road or contact him at 

oregonreproductivemedicine.com 

For more information on budgeting your surrogacy 

journey, check-out Craig’s article ‘The A to Z of 

Surrogacy Costs’ in the September 2017 issue of 

Fertility Road. 



MEN ONLY 

How pressures of work 

aet ale ietilit 

y arry ardier 

nfertility affects one in en and is a 

groing proble orldide. ere are tougt 

to be any different factors inoled in ale 

infertility ic is te cause of of 

issues conceiing. 

ees ae a role to lay ut so do all sorts of 

oter fators ay of tem reole aroud te 

ig u of our lies tat we sed 

at wor 

tress is a serious rolem i 

te moder worlae ad 

its a serious rolem for 

our odies tress damages 

serm ad testosteroe 

leels maig it arder 

to oeie roially 

of ourse aig troule 

oeiig a also ause 

stress so its imortat to get 

a adle o wat ould oterwise 

eome a iious yle 

Even a bad day at 

work can have a knock 

eet ad lts ad 

das a aet eall 

mood, relationships and 

health. 

e stress ormoes adrealie ad ortisol 

ut te ody ito ig alert ts a trowa 

to our reistori days we stress meat 

sometig was asig you ad you ad to 

ru ut owadays our eemies aret as easy 

to flee eig uder ressure at wor a e a 

eeryday rolem ad our odies dot ow 

ow to adle tat oo mu of tose stress 

ormoes ause all sorts of medial 

issues ludig lowerig 

testosteroe wi is essetial 

ad lied to serm 

rodutio 

tress is isidious eause 

it affets all areas of our 

lies e a ad day at 

wor a ae a o o 

effet ad lots of ad days 

a affet your oerall mood 

relatiosis ad ealt tress a 

lead to deressio ad aiety sleeig 

disorders oereatig ad oter uealty aits 

lie ireased smoig or driig eadig to 

more stress ad oorer ealt ad te iious 

yle otiues 

ou migt leae te offie at fie olo 

ut aes are tat lie a ireasig 

umer of emloyees you worig 

day is far from oer ay eole 

otiue to wor at ome o a omuter or usig 

teir oe to sed messages ad mae alls ut 

tis is imortat time for rest ad relaatio tat 

ot te ody ad mid eed 

orig days are gettig loger wit more 

teology ot sorter e ressure is o i 

diffiult eoomi irumstaes ad emloyees 

ae to wor ee arder to get aead ay 

differet ids of os ae a ulture of worig 

ery log ours ad oertime i order to sow 

dediatio ad ommitmet 

ut urig te adle at ot eds doest 

eessarily mae you more rodutie ad it 

ertaily doest el we you are tryig to 

eome a aret aig your rai still i wor 

mode all eeig ad weeed stos you from 

gettig ital relaatio e ressure to retur 

emails ee if set late at igt is eoug to get 

may of us glued to our oes ast our edtime 

e gloal eoomy 

disruts our atural 

atters to ts ot ust sift 

wor tat migt ae to do 

igts ow oferee alls wit 

iteratioal offies suliers ad 

liets resoses to emails from 

oter timeoes all lur te lie 

etwee igt ad day rest 

ad wor 



MEN ONLY 

s a result of ressures from wor as well as 

ome most eole dot get eoug slee ad 

are atually sufferig from slee deriatio 

if ot slee disorders is doest ust mae 

us grumy it as all sorts of ealt effets too 

ealt effets tat a o o to your fertility 

lee is a ital time for your ody to rela ad 

eal as well as for your mid to roess your 

day la of slee a lead to stress deressio 

oesity diaetes ig lood ressure ad eart 

disease d it uts you at ireased ris of 

aidets driig wile slee deried is as 

dagerous as driig wile dru 

eole wo dot get eoug slee are ot oly less 

ealty ut tey are ofte too tired to arry out te 

futios eessary to reate a ay i te first lae 

t taes time to lead a ealty lifestyle ot aig 

tat time is a ig reaso eole dot go to te 

gym as ofte as tey would lie or do oter 

eerise ts wy te osumtio of roessed 

food is oomig wile ome ooig is fallig 

ut ot regularly eerise ad ealty eatig are 

imortat for your welleig ad maitaiig te 

sort of ealt you eed to oeie 

esity is a uge ostale i oeiig ad 

may medial roedures aroud aig a ay 

reuire a uder a ertai leel or ae weigt 

restritios osig some weigt is ofte a first 


fertilityroadom |

MEN ONLY 

reommedatio ut log stressful ours at wor 

mae tat less ad less easy eelig so draied 

tat you ust wat to oe out i frot of te 

wit a taeaway is eomig mu more ommo 

oure ot aloe i feelig te temtatio ut 

siig te worout ist a good idea i te log 

ru erise releases great ormoes tat figt 

stress as well as eeig you fit ad ealty 

f you ra u te ours o your moile oe 

for wor or ust at te ed of te day i a 

attemt to rela you are at ris of moile oe 

radiatio damagig your serm oile oe 

radiatio as ee sow i may studies to 

damage te ells ad of serm ad mae 

tem uale to do teir o 

is is eause te radiatio from oes 

ad oter wireless deies asses troug our 

odies ad serm are eseially ulerale 

ey are eig rodued ostatly ad i lose 

roimity to were may me ee teir oe 

i teir trouser oet or o a elt e more 

time you sed wit your oe lose y te 

more your serm is attered y radiatio 

ere are lots of itertwiig fators i male 

ifertility ut if you are laig o aig 

ildre you will wat to get to gri wit tem as 

soo as ossile 

e good ews is tat tere are solutios to tese 

rolems ou eed to rioritise your ealt 

alogside your lieliood atig to start a 

family is a massie ste ad reuires a ig age 

i riorities ayway e you are a aret your 

worlife alae will age uily so ti of 

tis as a trial ru 

e first ste is to more learly searate your 

wor from te rest of your life f your o doest 

atually iole eig o all ours a day 

te swit off roerly we you aret tere 

outer ituitiely you dot atually get more 

doe te more ours you ut i t some oit 

tose ours sto eig as effetie ad you aret 

eig as rodutie i our ie of wor as you 

were i our oe eres a dimiisig retur 

o your rai ower aig a rea restores you 

to full aaity at meas small reas durig 

te day as well as roer rest ad relaatio at 

te ed of te day ad a good igts slee 

it more eergy you a get more doe i te 

ours you ae ad arisos aw says tat 

wor eads to fill te time aailale o if you 

ut dow your time you will e surrised at wat 

you a still fit i 

at to do we you leae wor o time for 

oe ow you ae more time to sed o 

yourself ut it ito maig sure you get eoug 

slee ad some eerise ou migt 

wat to tae u a ew oy or 

redisoer a old oe you a 

get really egrossed i ad 

tae your mid off wor 

worries erise doest 

ust ae to e goig to 

te gym tere are lots 

of oortuities to tae 

u sorts from footall 

to ro limig 

estig some of tis time 

i your relatiosis will e 

imortat too ot ust wit your 

sigifiat oter ut tae time to at 

u wit frieds ad family as well trog ties to 

oter eole are imortat for your welleig 

ad it taes a illage to raise a ild 

urig your sree time ad use of teology 

will el you slee etter wor less ad e more 

ale to eoy te momet o rotet yourself 

from te eletromageti radiatio from your 

moile oe you a use a atiradiatio 

oe ase to sield your ody ry to aoid 

srees at least i te our or two efore ed as 

te lue ligt maes it arder to get to slee 

ou a address stress aiety ad deressio 

y iestigatig meditatio ad midfuless 

You’re not alone in 

feeling the temptation, 

but skipping the workout 

isn’t a good idea in the long 

run. Exercise releases great 

es tat fit stess as 

ell as eei fit ad 

healthy. 

idfuless is a atidote to te multitasig 

ulture ad meditatio allows you to 

ratie lear tiig ad fous 

t a imroe your larity at 

wor as well as allow you to 

ee your mid off wor 

we you are at ome 

our a el you wit 

ay of tese medial issues 

ad fid you treatmet 

ad te rigt suort al 

to tem if you ae ay 

oers aout your ysial 

or emotioal ealt eter 

you are ust aout to emar o your 

ourey to faterood or already reeiig 

treatmet for ifertility mae sure you ae te 

suort you eed 

f you are faig te ressures of wor it a ae 

a oo effet all oer your life iludig o 

your fertility ad dreams of eomig a aret 

ut tere are stes you a tae to relaim your 

time ad ealt as well as your future 

aig set te ast years immersed i 

te fertility world arry regularly seas 

out aout eirometal fators tat affet 

fertility aeallcases.co 



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Fertility Road Issue 44 May/June 2018

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