The start of the Chinese New Year is nearly upon us and begins on 12 February 2021. Babies born during this year will be born in the Year of the Ox.
In Chinese culture, the ox is a highly valued animal and babies born in the sign of the Ox are thought to be calm, fair-minded, dependable, honest and strong. These are all traits that are important to guide us through life.
If you are keen to try and have a baby in the Year of the Ox then here are a few fertility tips to help you on your way.
We have all got our fingers (and toes) crossed that this year will return to some semblance of normal!
If you, like many others have made one of your 2021 resolutions: to start or expand your family, then the City Fertility team are here to help you towards your goal.
Sometimes setting goals though, is much easier than achieving goals, particularly when it comes to getting pregnant – there is no secret it can be a struggle for some.
In these circumstances, sometimes setting smaller goals, like eating well and exercising regularly can be more achievable to start with, than to focus solely on being pregnant straight away. Small goals can often add up very quickly to give your fertility a big boost.
As 2020 draws to a close, in Australia we are all breathing a sigh of relief! It has been a challenging year for all, and for our patients going through fertility treatment, there have been many more curveballs to navigate!
We are so proud of the focus and determination the country has shown to get COVID-19 under control and be the envy of the world, but also for the wonderful attitudes and the resolve of our patients to stay on track in working towards achieving their fertility dreams.
Despite having to change the way many things were done this year, City Fertility has continued to forge ahead.
As City Fertility Sydney CBD celebrates its first birthday milestone, we are also delighted to be celebrating the best of birthday presents – the arrival of the clinic’s first babies!
Baby Sebastian was our first IVF baby born, followed closely by baby Maria and many more babies after that.
Adorable little sisters Skye (3.5 years) and Erin (8 months) are just two of the babies that have helped City Fertility Brisbane reach their 2,000 baby milestone this month. But interestingly, these babies prove again that nobody is immune to fertility issues, with their mother Alison Skuja (40) being a qualified midwife and for the past seven years a fertility nurse at City Fertility Brisbane.
Alison has delivered countless babies for others and assisted many infertile couples, but still struggled herself. She knows an exceptional amount about conception, pregnancy and birth but successfully conceiving can be elusive for even the most experienced.
While we are confident we will be able to help most patients within their first two fully stimulated IVF cycles, there will always be a percentage of cases that may take longer than anticipated to achieve success.
At City Fertility we want to maximise your chances of achieving your dream of having a baby and therefore now offer a significantly reduced up-front fee for repeated Medicare eligible treatment cycles.
In an effort to reduce the average year-long patient waiting period for donor eggs from our Australian egg donor bank, City Fertility has recently formed a partnership with The World Egg Bank.
Dr Neil Astill, Medical Director at City Fertility Brisbane Southside, said for some people waiting up to a year for an egg donor is just too long due to advancing age and declining fertility.
“As a woman ages, the quality of her eggs is reduced. For the infertile woman over 40, the chance of a successful IVF pregnancy and live birth is substantially reduced when using her own eggs and this is one of the many reasons driving demand for donor eggs,” said Dr Astill.
While the pandemic has stopped the world and our lives spinning so fast, it has also given many people the time to take stock and check-in on where they are at and what their goals might be for the future.
As a fertility specialist in a national fertility clinic, one of the trends we have witnessed in Australia in the first six months of this year, is an increase in the number of single women enquiring about and undergoing IVF and IUI cycles to have a baby on their own or undergoing fertility preservation by freezing their eggs.
PCOS affects approximately 12–21% of women of reproductive age globally. However, as the severity of symptoms experienced can vary drastically from person to person, it is estimated that a worrying 70% of women with PCOS remain undiagnosed. With the ability to affect women’s mental health, self-esteem, fertility and general health, achieving an early diagnosis and medical management is critical to protecting the health and wellbeing of women diagnosed.
Coping with a global pandemic is hard, let alone having to manage fertility treatment at the same time. But the fact is we have little choice in the matter, so at City Fertility we are here to support you in the best possible way we can during these difficult times.
Here we have included some tips from our experienced counsellors and specialists, to help ease the pressure you might be feeling during these uncertain times.