The denial of one's own fertility can be devastating as this hurts at the very core of who we are.  After all, being able to reproduce is one of the key aspects that defines an entity as being of life. 

IFAASA (Infertility Awareness Association of South Africa) aims to support Southern Africans living with reproductive health issues through education, research and advocacy, and to educate the public about reproductive disease.

One such occassion was an evening where they facilitated information sharing on alternative pathways to parenthood at the Da Vincenzo Restaurant in Johannesburg, essentially offering solutions to otherwise infertile persons.



Guests were warmly received by Angela Kelleher, a founding member of IFAASA and also proud mommy via egg donation.  

Saskia Williams, founding member of IFAASA was the MC for the evening, highlighting that this is the only South African NPC dedicated to educating and advocating for those suffering from infertility.

Dr Rodrigues, fertility specialist at Medfem Fertility Clinic, gave hope on the various medical options available to persons from a fertility treatment perspective.  He is known for looking at the patient as a whole to ensure that mind, body and soul are aligned to optimise treatment outcome.  

Guidance around the medical process was provided to enable some understand of key concepts such as IVF, ICSI, embryo transfer and how an egg cell develops to a blastocyst (a cell mass from which the inner part will becme the embryo and the outer layer the placenta).