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Families Are the Future of Alberta: Public Funding For In Vitro Fertilization Is Efficient #abhc4ivf #abpoli
Family Is The Future: In some small way I started in Alberta. It’s true. When my Mom and Dad got married they had their honeymoon in Banff. From Ontario, they took the train through the Western provinces to stay in Alberta. For a truck driver and a teacher in their twenties, newlyweds, Alberta was glamorous and beautiful and different. It was the destination where they started to think of the future, together planning for a family that would come first in the shape of a baby girl and then 2 years later, a baby boy too. Alberta is a place where many start to think of family and planning…
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My Ontario Valentine Or Ten Reasons We Stay #ohip4ivf #onpoli
Ontario is the province I choose to raise my family in, to build a business, to make my home. There was a time before we adopted our beautiful kids, when we were set to move to British Columbia. We priced it all out and were ready to go as a young married couple. But instead we stayed. There have been many occasions when I’ve contemplated moving to the United States and finding a way through that red tape so that I might work there. But still we stay. This Valentine’s Day, I wanted to take some time to reflect on why we live in Ontario. True, I was born here. I…
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IVF Funding: What’s Happening in 2015? #ohip4ivf #onpoli
Usually the holidays roll around and the season itself is cause for sadness among those who are trying to conceive, struggling with infertility. That may be the case still for some people, because infertility is emotionally, physically and financially draining, but this coming year there is good reason to hope and be optimistic and thankful too. So as we close 2014 I thought it was important to take a moment and reflect on what we have accomplished in Ontario and remind people of what’s happening with IVF funding in 2015. So here’s what we know about Ontario’s IVF funding program in 2015: 1. $50 million has been promised for an IVF…
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Part 3: Egg Freezing – Heather and Hunter
Meet Heather and Hunter Pelz. Mom and Baby couldn’t be happier or healthier. He’s a bit of a miracle and at 11 months, like many babies he is growing fast, exploring and socializing slowly when safely in presence of his Mom or Dad. So what’s so unusual about this story? Well, Hunter was born when Mom was 44 which speaks to a trend that is not entirely uncommon in Canada. Moms across Canada, are often older when they begin trying to conceive. It’s a demographic reality that is also partly related to social expectations and the fact that a huge percentage of women have careers and post secondary education. That…
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Part 2: Egg Freezing – Anna’s Cancer Diagnosis and Fertility Preservation
Meet Anna and Marlon Kashani. In January of 2014 Anna, 29 years old, engaged to Marlon, was diagnosed with breast cancer. The Vancouver couple were devastated of course. But they were even more shocked to hear that treatment had to start immediately. Anna’s family history of breast cancer meant specialists wanted to begin aggressive treatment right away. The situation was urgent. There was no talk of fertility preservation, or what might happen, until Anna brought it up. “The cancer clinic told us we would never have kids,” Anna said recently in Vancouver. “We weren’t satisfied with that answer. We did some research. We got a second opinion. The second opinion was…
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Part 1: Seven Facts About Egg Freezing
This past month several technology companies made significant announcements about egg freezing and fertility treatments. Apple and Facebook policies have created a lot of buzz in the fertility and infertility world. In this day and age when 1 in 6 face infertility, egg freezing facts should be part of your conversation with a doctor. First Modern Family star Sophia Vergara disclosed her intention to freeze her eggs. Then massive high tech companies like Apple and Facebook said they would chip in to help cover the cost of egg freezing, a procedure that provides a means of preserving a woman’s fertility. Technology Companies Driving Fertility Conversation Apple and Facebook recently both declared they would cover…
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What To Expect from the 2015 IVF Funding Program: An Interview with Dr. Marjorie Dixon #ohip4ivf #onpoli
This year infertility patients in Ontario welcomed the announcement that in vitro fertilization would be funded here as soon as 2015. Public funding for IVF would be a reality. Or would it? After that announcement last April, a spring election was called. That left many feeling worried that proposed funding would never arrive. For infertility patents in Ontario it was a roller coaster of emotions. But remarkably, the spring election resulted in a Liberal majority and the government did in fact reiterate its promise to support an IVF funding program in 2015. Members of Conceivable Dreams were overjoyed and hopeful with the announcement. But still, there has been little news from the government, and…
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Public Funding for IVF in Ontario: Can We Afford to Wait? #ohip4ivf #onpoli
Back in April we heard the happy news that IVF (in vitro fertilization) would be funded in Ontario. Then suddenly an election was called and infertility patients were worried the promise of IVF funding would die before it even had a chance to be reality. But then, in an amazing twist, the Ontario Liberal party won a majority under Premier Kathleen Wynne. The Liberal government promise was good. The Wynne government confirmed that public funding for IVF in Ontario would be reality in 2015. It was a cause to celebrate. It still is a cause to celebrate. In Canada an estimated 1 in 6 people of reproductive age struggle with infertility.…
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Turn Waiting for Infertility Treatment Into Action: One Couple’s Story #infertility #abhc4ivf #abpoli
When you are struggling with infertility sometimes it seems like you have nothing to do but wait. It’s pretty easy to begin to feel powerless inside the emotional roller coaster of the infertility health care journey. First, you realize you have no real control over your body when it won’t do what you want it to. You may feel like you have no control over doctors, nurses, or test results. Even your life plan is turned on its head when your body won’t conceive. You hoped to have a child by 30. You hoped then for 32, then 34, 35, by 40? You dare to hope it will happen at all.…
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Raise Your Voice IVF Funding Alberta Twitter Chat #abhc4ivf #abpoli
It’s time, Alberta. Wednesday night at 8 p.m. EST. It’s time to raise your voice and make some noise on twitter. It’s time to challenge our notion of a health care system that is accessible to all. It’s time to tweet and talk and write and visit and share this message with the politicians in your area – the MLAs you vote into office. It’s time to tell them healthy families matter to everyone in Alberta and IVF funding matters to Alberta. By now you have to know the facts. I talk about them often enough here in this space. Infertility impacts one in six. Infertility is a complex health…