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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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Five Questions And Answers About Ontario’s IVF Public Funding Commitment #Ohip4ivf #onpoli
Some of the members of Conceivable Dreams Infertility patients in Ontario have come so far in two years. Two years ago most infertile people in Ontario struggled, took out second mortgages and sometimes worked three jobs to pay for the in vitro fertilization. In vitro fertilization was only covered by the Ontario health care system for one condition – bilateral tubal obstruction. That condition impacts only a very small percentage of females diagnosed with infertility. Now Ontario infertility patients have a commitment of public funding for one round of IVF. That’s a huge deal for all Ontario infertility patients wondering how to pay for in vitro fertilization. But Ontario’s IVF…
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Home Office Decorating #InkscrblrATWork
Months ago we moved to a new home. If you read this blog at all, then you know that we moved to a lovely new neighbourhood and we have a pool and super neighbours. We had some of that in our old neighbourhood, but our house was a bit too small for my family, and it was most definitely way too tiny to contain a work space for me. My social media consulting and blogging business grew fast and had taken over my old house. I needed a dedicated office space. I also needed to do some Home Office Decorating. The before picture of my home office space I hoped my…
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Does Your Child’s Teacher Make the Grade?
I am the daughter of a teacher. My memories of marking papers and playing games at the back of my mother’s grade two classroom are strong. Many August days at end of the summer, I worked with my Mom, steadying the ladder as she lovingly decorated her classroom. Teaching is a calling I respect. A teacher’s job can be hard, rewarding and trying all at once. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock However, as the parent of two girls in the school system and I am very often frustrated with education. Funding decisions, allocation of resources, and even teachers in my kid’s lives sometimes don’t meet my expectations. Over the years I have had legitimate…
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Infertility Community Reacts to IVF Funding Announcement for Ontario #ivf4ON #onpoli
Ontario’s infertility community reacted with many emotions this week to news that IVF will soon be funded. That’s long awaited for many who took two or three jobs and sometimes used credit cards and second mortgages to be able to pay for health care treatment needed to get the health care treatment prescribed. Last Thursday, Ontario’s Minister of Health and Longterm Care Deb Matthews announced that public funding would be made available for in vitro fertilization. IVF funding is part of the draft budget officially. The funding will take place starting in 2015. An advisory committee or board will be appointed to help roll the program out. There will be…
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Five Free Infertility and Fertility Apps
Fertility apps and infertility apps are a great way to track ovulation and reproductive health. Here are five free fertility apps that will help at any stage of your fertility or infertility journey. When you are struggling with infertility or trying to conceive you need a huge toolkit of resources just to get through the journey. Knowledge is power, right? Luckily power and knowledge in the age of Google are right at your finger tips. Lately numerous press releases regarding the latest and greatest fertility and infertility apps have been flooding my inbox here at thrifty momma’s tips, so I thought I’d take a peek at a few and share…
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Bruce County Travel – Exploring the Bruce
All the summers of my childhood were spent with my Mom and brother on the beaches along the Bruce Peninsula. They were leisurely Bruce County summers spent sunning ourselves, swimming, growing. Exploring Bruce County Travel Attractions From the time my kids were little, we maintained the Bruce County summer tradition. This year, before we headed up to the beach for a week at a rented cottage I checked out a few web sites to see what was new and what we might add to our week. Tweens are fun to travel with and mine have been visiting the cottage for years already, so I wanted to add something…
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Blue Mountain, Collingwood Scenic Caves #Travel
My kids have the hearts of explorers. So last week when we had the chance to stay at Blue Mountain Resorts, Westin Trillium House for a family blogger retreat and we saw that a visit to Collingwood Scenic Caves was on the schedule, well I knew we had to bring walking shoes and take photos. When I was a child my Mom drove us to Collingwood for family vacations in the summer. I vividly recall exploring Collingwood Scenic Caves and the Blue Mountain Resort area way back in the late 1980s. Collingwood was one of my Mom’s favourite Ontario destinations actually. Wondering how much the caves and the resort itself…
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IVF Funding Ontario Could Have Made a Difference to This One Family’s Journey #OHIP4IVF #Onpoli
With thanks to Kerri-Lyn Cuppage for her family photo. It is a given this time of year when temperatures dip and families begin the process of nesting through the winter, when holidays are pending and the year winds slowly to a close, that we all take stock of our blessings, our gifts, challenges and triumphs. For families whose children came to them either through adoption or in vitro fertilization, whose start was rooted in the sad realization of infertility, then compounded by medical issues and potential financial difficulties the blessings are magnified. But the challenges are not to be forgotten. What if it cost you $10,000 to build your family?…
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Schools of Thought On OverCrowding and Education #ldnont
Schoolhouse image from creative commons, copyright Caitlyn Willows There’s a school of thought out there that goes something like this: well, you make do with what you’ve got. And that should be good enough, right? Wrong. I don’t buy it. This is not a picture of our school, but it is a symbol of what that phrase stands for to me. If we all made do with what we’ve got there would never be any progress and our kids would all still be sitting in one room schoolhouses with no heating and doing math on tiny handheld slates. Guess what? We aren’t. I am stunningly sick of this platitude that…