All About Fertility Expo – An Australian Exhibition, dedicated to Fertility

Andrew Coutts, International Fertility Company

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​The International Fertility Company and Fertility Road are very pleased to announce that they will be the official Media Partners of two fertility events in Australia in 2020.

The ‘All About Fertility Expos’ will be held in Melbourne on Saturday 15th August 2020 and in Sydney on Saturday 22 August 2020.

The events will build on the inaugural Fertility Expo held earlier this year in Cammeray and represent the only exhibition series to focus exclusively on fertility in Australia.

The Expos have been launched by Founder Ella Mannix who has personal experience of IVF treatment and represent an opportunity for anyone who has been affected by fertility issues to interact with health professionals; share personal experiences and gain information on treatment options.

Ella explains the rationale behind the Expos; 

 “All About Fertility Expo is an independent company providing support and education for any one who desires a family. Whether a person is starting their journey or needs some extra help, one size doesn’t fit all and everyone has their own unique story. 

 We’ve created this exhibition unlike any other exhibition, we strive to deliver content that is comprehensive, interactive and educational. This exhibition provides a service to the fertility community, where a person can educate themselves and get up-to-date information that is reliable.This platform gives service providers the opportunity to showcase their services and products and new initiatives, while providing a supportive environment

 This exhibition is a new concept in Australia, it brings the fertility industries together, from the IVF clinics to alternative therapies, charities, products and non medical services such as healthcare providers.

 Take a look at our website at www.allaboutfertilityexpo.com.au to find out more about the event”.

For more information about joining the Expo as a sponsor or exhibitor contact,

andrew@internationalfertilitycompany.com or emannix@allaboutfertilityexpo.com.au

New Study Confirms Obstetrical Risks After 40 

Claramonte Nieto M., Meler Barrabes E., Garcia Martínez S., Gutiérrez Prat M., Serra Zantop B

A new study carried out by researchers at leading Spanish womens health clinic, Dexeus Mujer has revealed that reaching 40 marks a turning point in obstetrical risks. 

​In Spain, the age at which women are mothers for the first time has gone from 25 years in 1975 to 31 in 2016. On that last date, practically 40% of registered births were in women over 35, and 9% above 40, and it is expected that in 2050 the age of first maternity will continue to increase and reach 33 years, on average.

​It is a fact that worries the medical community, since many studies indicate that an advanced maternal age is associated with an increased risk of complications for the mother and the future baby, such as the development of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, placenta praevia, premature delivery , intrauterine growth retardation, and caesarean section, among others. But most studies do not take into account other added risk factors, as when the mother is a smoker or has hypertension. Moreover, many exclude women over 45 years of age because they still represent a small percentage, so that the risks for patients in this age group are potentially underestimated.

​As a result of this situation, a team of professionals from Dexeus Mujer, led by Dr Marta Claramonte, a gynaecologist specialized in high-risk pregnancies, conducted a retrospective study to determine where the turning point in determining obstetric and perinatal risk could be, based on the clinical history of a sample of more than 25,000 patients, who gave birth between January 2007 and June 2017.

​The results of the study have been published recently in the journal BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, and reveal that, regardless of other factors, advanced maternal age is a risk factor for obstetric complications and that being 40 or older increases the risk, especially in the case of gestational diabetes and placenta praevia, but not for preeclampsia.

Authors:

Impact of ageing on obstetric outcomes: defining advanced maternal age in Barcelona

Claramonte Nieto M., Meler Barrabes E., Garcia Martínez S., Gutiérrez Prat M., Serra Zantop B.

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2019 Sep 23;19(1):342. doi: 10.1186 s12884 -019 -2415 -3.

The Fertility Journey Continues for Kirstie & Chris 

Andrew Coutts, 14th November 2019

Many Fertility Road’s readers will be acquainted with Kirstie and Chris’ Fertility Journey to date. Diagnosed with premature ovarian failure in her teens, and now in her 20’s Kirstie was Fertility Road’s youngest Journey participant. We have been following the couple’s journey which has taken them from Northern Ireland to Spain via the Greek Isles.

Following an unsuccessful cycle at home in 2016 Kirstie and Chris were chosen to participate in Fertility Road’s Journey project in 2018. Unfortunately their first egg donation treatment was unsuccessful and the couple returned to the clinic in April of this year. The subsequent treatment was successful but heartbreakingly Kirstie suffered a loss shortly after returning home.

Upset by the outcome of the second treatment we were determined to help the couple find another opportunity and that’s when we had a very interesting conversation with Clinica Tambre in Madrid.

With the couple’s permission we shared their medical notes with the medical team at Tambre who considered that they had the skills set to help Kirstie and Chris. No wonder, Tambre was established in Madrid four decades ago and has consistently helped individuals and couples who present with complex fertility cases achieve their dreams of starting their own families. The clinic not only agreed to speak to the couple but offered to help!

Using our relationship with some of the best fertility specialists in the field we were able to identify Tambre as a clinic who could help with the couple’s very specific requirements.

International Fertility Company will accompany Kirstie and Chris throughout their Journey with Tambre and will, over the coming months, share news of visits, consultations, treatment and hopefully a successful outcome.

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The story begins with a letter from Kirstie and Chris,

“After 2 failed egg donation cycles and 1 positive cycle (silent miscarriage) we continued our fertility journey. I took some time off work to grieve and allow myself to come to terms with what had happened. I just could not believe that the pregnancy ended, it was our worst nightmare come true.

Andrew, the editor at the magazine Fertility Road, kept in close contact with us during the time after the miscarriage, he was immensely supportive, and he deserves great credit for his kind nature and personal approach. Any questions we had Andrew was there every time offering his advice.

During such a traumatic time, you naturally begin to lose hope and wonder how or if things would ever work out. You start to question yourself and think you did something wrong. Of course, nobody did anything wrong, it was just one of these things. Going through the miscarriage and the weeks that followed brought us even closer as a couple and strengthened even further the love we have for each other.

Even after this natural period of grief, we knew deep down in our hearts that we can never give up on our dream of having a child. Chris & I are both firm believers in that “all your dreams can come true, if you have the courage to pursue them”.

We began to start raising the funds needed to go into another IVF cycle (using donor eggs). Here we are today, just a week or two after we received some excellent news. The best news we could have ever hoped for. Andrew was in touch with Tambre, one of the Spanish clinics. When they heard about our case, they didn’t think twice and decided to help us. We are looking forward to going through another fertility journey with Andrew in our corner, we couldn’t do it without him.

We both cried with joy and disbelief. We felt really blessed to have another chance in another place. We were on top of the world.

We just feel so lucky to be given this opportunity. After doing some research around Tambre, they really do sound like a top-class clinic and we just can’t wait to go there and meet everyone. Spain is such an easy country for us to get to which will hopefully help make things easier.

IVF is such a tough journey to go on. There are difficult moments throughout each and every journey. We feel ready to start our new chapter in Spain. I would advise anyone not to give up and to keep going. There have been many times throughout the past few years that we have struggled to remain hopeful but there is always hope and that’s what keeps us going.

This year has been a rollercoaster already and as I write this, it’s only September! There is now light at the end of the tunnel in the form of Clinica Tambre and hopefully with the best efforts of all of us, we can experience our dream come true with the help of them! We can’t wait to get started.

Now as we plan to head to Spain we look forward to meeting all the team at the clinic and of course Andrew, whilst we go through this journey together.”