By now you’re probably familiar with Dr. Ginevra Mills. She's an obstetrician gynecologist with a specialty in reproductive endocrinology and infertility, a special interest in PCOS and lifelong health, and she's got three young kiddos of her own! We’ve been talking to her about fertility: how it changes with age, causes of infertility, and today we discuss what the next steps look like if you’ve been referred to a fertility specialist.

1. Initial Consultation: this initial meeting with a fertility specialist, such as Dr. Mills, will take approximately 30-45 mins and will largely be a discussion about your medical history. Have you had any surgeries, have you been pregnant in the past, have you or your partner had children before with other partners, have you had any terminations of pregnancy, and any history of sexually transmitted diseases, to name a few. 
1. Please know that none of these questions are asked with judgment - they are there to inform the...

In Part II of our three part series on fertility, Dr. Genevra Mills, an obstetrician gynecologist with a specialty in reproductive endocrinology and infertility with three kiddos of her own, discusses with us causes of infertility. She gives us a most helpful breakdown of the main reasons for infertility in both the male and female partner.

Often causes of infertility can be somewhat obvious and easily identified, and most times patients have an idea that something's going on even before they get to that point of twelve months of trying without success. Here are the main medical conditions that can affect fertility between heterosexual partners.

Issues with Ovulation

There are multiple reasons why an egg may not be released every month, and issues with ovulation make up about 15% of a couple’s cause of infertility.

1. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS): the first and most common ovary dysfunction is Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in which ovaries have too many follicles in them causing...

Fertility is a fascinating topic that touches almost everyone’s lives in one way or another. It is an evolving field of study that can be clouded with misinformation, lack of education, and new findings that have altered some of our fundamental understanding of the science behind it. This is why we have brought in Dr. Ginevra Mills, an obstetrician gynecologist with a specialty in reproductive endocrinology and infertility with three kiddos of her own, to help us wade through some of this information starting with: Fertility as we Age!

Let’s define infertility.

While this may seem like a basic place to start, many people may carry some misconceptions about how infertility is defined. The true definition of infertility is the failure to conceive after twelve months of intercourse without contraception. This doesn't mean that you're actively trying to get pregnant for a year. This means that you are not taking a birth control pill or using any type of barrier...

Fertility.

The fact of the matter is that humans are not that great at reproduction. Even in the best circumstances, a young healthy woman only has about a 15-20% chance of becoming pregnant within one ovulation cycle. All types of fertility require a certain amount of patience and effort - and the good news is that modern medicine has evolved to provide women with a variety of safe and successful options for preserving fertility! To learn more about top tips on getting pregnant check out our blog post.

On today’s podcast, we discuss the three main options for safeguarding fertility as well as their benefits and drawbacks:

1. Egg freezing
2. IUI with donor sperm 
3. IVF with donor sperm to create embryos that can be transferred at anytime in the future

Joining us is Dr. Meivys Garcia, FRCSC Obstetrics, Gynecology, Infertility Specialist and medical director and co-owner of the Markham Fertility Center in London, Ontario, Canada. She’s had a passion for fertility...