October is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month

Today I speak with Samantha Payne, Pink Elephants CEO.  Sam is also co-founder and is driven to ensure no one faces the journey of early pregnancy loss alone and received the support and understanding they deserve.  

Sam shares her own experience and journey with early pregnancy loss and the lack of support during that time, which lead her to create Pink Elephants.  Sam is an empathetic, engaging, knowledgeable, and impactful advocate for those experiencing early pregnancy loss. She is an experienced public speaker with an ability to engage all. She speaks from the heart and she is challenging cultural norms, breaking the silence, and initiating much-needed change.

About Pink Elephants

Pink Elephants provides the latest resources, information and peer-support for anyone impacted by early pregnancy loss. Using evidence, empathy and connection, our unique digital-first approach offers a single source of specialist support, whenever and wherever it’s needed — for anyone who has directly experienced it, for family and friends, corporate partners or healthcare professionals seeking proven ways to help.

For more information please go to Pink Elephants website https://www.pinkelephants.org.au/

If you need some support https://www.pinkelephants.org.au/page/66/all-the-support

If you want to get involved and support Pink Elephants https://www.pinkelephants.org.au/page/107/get-involved

Advert Details:

All About Fertility Expo are proud partners of Access My Super, if you would like more information about accessing your super for IVF, please contact the team below. Mention All About Fertility Expo and Access My Super will waiver your application fee of $549. Terms and conditions apply.

Access My Super

https://accessmysuper.com.au/

1800 845 121

I had the pleasure of speaking to Edward Zia about his fertility journey.  Ed shares his long journey to parenthood with his wife and how they managed they managed their relationship and what they did in order to conceive.  They have two beautiful children.

About Edward:

Ed’s a Marketing Mentor Certified Practising Marketer (CPM) & Master Coach and has mentored thousands of winners globally to help them get more clients, win top positions and become leading personal brands. As Master Grade Coach, Edward has exceeded the threshold of 10,000+ Personal Coaching Hours making him a leader in his field. He’s helped individuals generate millions and millions of dollars and loves it so much.

To contact Ed:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardzia/

If you're thinking about acupuncture and would like to contact Eli Huang,  please go to  https://acupunctureandbeautycentre.com.au/ for more information.

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If you would like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you.  Please reach out and message me via Instagram or email me [email protected]

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Advert Details:

All About Fertility Expo are proud partners of Access My Super, if you would like more information about accessing your super for IVF, please contact the team below. Mention All About Fertility Expo and Access My Super will waiver your application fee of $549. Terms and conditions apply.

Access My Super

https://accessmysuper.com.au/

1800 845 121

As someone using ART on my fertility journey, finance can be a burden especially during uncertain times we see ourselves in during COVID.  But like many other women going through IVF, it's an expense I have to factor into my financial plan.  Even if you’re trying naturally but using alternative therapies to complement your journey, it all adds up and at times when IVF doesn’t go to plan and you see yourself having multiple rounds, how do you manage your finances? How do you become financial fit to achieve your family dreams?

I speak with Antoinette Mullins, a Certified Financial Planner, at Beyond Today FP, who was able to give some great advice and strategies to help achieve your family goals.

Antoinette says “The clients I have enjoyed working with the most are the ones who have experienced or experiencing a life-changing event such as planning a family, redundancy, death of a spouse, divorce or retirement-when-you’re-scared-you-don’t-have-enough. Time and time again, I’ve held their hands as they shared their personal stories with me.  I’ve laughed with them and even cried with them.  When they were ready to focus on tomorrow, we sat down to set some goals and then I designed a plan to get them there.  And we’ve learnt this lesson together: This too shall pass.”

Get in touch with Antoinette at

https://www.beyondtodayfp.com.au/

[email protected]

+61 414 748 655

Other Resources:

Money Smart

https://moneysmart.gov.au/

Financial Planning Association of Australia

https://fpa.com.au/

All About Fertility Expo are proud partners of Access My Super, if you would like more information about accessing your super for IVF, please contact the team below. Mention All About Fertility Expo and Access My Super will waiver your application fee of $549. Terms and conditions apply.

Access My Super

https://accessmysuper.com.au/

1800 845 121

Shona is a senior marketing executive at an ASX Top 100 company in Sydney. For as long as she remembers, she knew she wanted children.  At 30yrs old she began the process of budgeting and saving to allow her to be a solo parent by choice via a sperm donor.  Her daughter was born in 2013, and her son in 2018.  Shona has a strong passion for sharing her story with others and ensuring her kids are proud of who they are, and how they came to be.

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If you would like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you.  Please reach out and message me via Instagram or email me [email protected]

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Sarah Jefford is a family and surrogacy lawyer living with her partner, Troy, and their two children, Archie and Raf.  Sarah was an IVF mum and later became an egg donor and a surrogate, giving birth to baby girl in 2018 for two Dads.  Sarah provides legal advice for intended parents, surrogates and donors to help them grow their families.  Sarah produces the Australian Surrogacy Podcast and published the Australian Surrogacy Handbook.

Socials are:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sarahjefford/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarah_surrogacylawyer/ (or @sarah_surrogacylawyer)

Website – www.sarahjefford.com

Email – [email protected]

Get in touch with the suggested groups for more information:

VARTA - https://www.varta.org.au/

Egg donation Australia - https://www.eggdonorsaustralia.com.au/

Facebook Group Australian Surrogacy Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ftsaust

Every individual, every couple's journey is different while trying to conceive.  It can bring us together as we experience the highs and lows together, but when there's another layer and levels of stress, pain and grief when the plan takes longer than expected, that's when the true test of communication and unity is stretched.  

Today I speak to two friends Kristy and Kit Peters who is the founder of Together We Wait (TWW) a solution-focused community that brings women in IVF together to connect, get curious and create clarity in the IVF process.  

It's through Kit's own experience in IVF that she discovered during her IVF treatment and the obstacles she faced, she noticed a lack of social connection and emotional support in the community and thought there's a need for better support in this space for women in IVF.  

We discuss their journey and relationships with their partners, it ups and downs and the reality when there is a breakdown in communication.  

Thank you, Kit and Kristy, for your honesty and sharing your story that I'm sure will help others going through a similar experience.

To find out more about the Together We Wait community and claim your free gift '7 Ways to Inner Peace in IVF', visit www.togetherwewait.com.au

Ever wondered what a naturopath does?  This episode I speak to Tasha Jennings a fertility naturopath and nutritionist.

Tasha helps proactive women and couples optimise their fertility wellbeing to create healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.

Through her private consultations, she creates personalised fertility care plans, to help people take control of their fertility health.

Her 20 years of professional experience as a Naturopath and Nutritionist, combined with her personal experience overcoming fertility challenges, instilled her a strong empathy and desire to help women and couples facing fertility challenges.

Tasha is the Author of The Fertility Diet and The Vitamins Guide, host of the Conceive Baby Podcast, keynote speaker at medical conferences and expert contributor to major media publications. Tasha works closely with leading IVF clinics and specialists to help get the best outcomes for patients.

Being the best Mum starts well before birth, you are already carrying all the precious DNA which has the potential to become your future child. Tasha is passionate about helping you realise that potential.

You can contact Tasha Jennings via her website https://tashajennings.com.au/  also follow her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tashajenningsnd/

June marks 40 years of IVF and I had the pleasure of speaking with the 1st generation of IVFlings*.

I caught up with Candice Thum Nèe Reed  Australia’s first IVF baby, born in June 1980. She is a former journalist turned community developer and a mother of two children. Married to a Kiwi she now lives in Auckland and Rebecca Featherstone Jelen conceived at Bourn Hall in England, where the world’s first IVF baby was conceived.  Rebecca juggles a busy Sydney life with her two children. After a career in artist and event management, she recently completed further study and now works with IVF Australia.

It's incredible how much has changed since then, today we discuss what it was like growing up as an IVF baby, navigating teenage years and high school and dealing with awkward questions.

Together Candice and Rebecca are ideally placed to advocate for change in fertility health education and awareness having lived it all their lives. They are approachable and relatable to all walks of life and since they are not fertility specialists they do not scare people aware by using industry jargon.

Candice and Rebecca make a formidable team and often joke they were literally made to be friends!

If you like to discuss topics in today's episode and like to contact Candice and Rebecca please head to their social platform.

Website     https://www.fertilitymatters.org.au/

Facebook   https://www.facebook.com/fertilitymatters15/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/fertilitymatters/?hl=en

*a term meaning anyone conceived through fertility treatment to refer to themselves.

Dr Gavin Sacks shares his wisdom, discusses what the Bondi Protocol is and what happens after consultation.  For me, it was demystifying the complex treatment of IVF and giving me insight behind the scenes of his practice.

I hope you enjoy listening, just as much as I enjoyed speaking to Dr Sacks.

For more information head to Dr Sacks website http://drgavinsacks.com.au/

Or if you would like to discuss more topics you've heard in this episode please get in touch with his staff on 02 8305 9800 to make an appointment.

Stefanie Valakas, is a Sydney-based Accredited Practising Dietitian & Nutritionist, known as The Dietologist. She is focused on pre-conception and fertility nutrition and health. Stefanie supports women across Sydney and Australia through her online consultations and uses the latest scientific evidence to inform her recommendations to women and men to improve their health, wellbeing and fertility outcomes. Stefanie is a part of an Australia-wide network of dietitians committed to early life nutrition, known as Nutrition Plus, recognised as leaders in the space.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact her via email [email protected] or call on 0431 990 461.