Today is Donor Conception Awareness Day (27th April) and so we’ve rounded up everything you can do at this year’s The Fertility Show to learn about this special route to parenthood.

Around 1 in 6 children born as a result of IVF treatment were conceived using donor eggs, sperm or embryos in 2019 (these are stats from the HFEA, the UK's independent regulator of fertility treatment).

“I’m sorry, there’s no heartbeat," were those five gut wrenching words. From the moment you hear them, your life changes forever.

I can sit here and categorically tell you that pre-baby loss me and “the right here, right now me” are two entirely different people. Pre-baby loss, I had an air of innocence, maybe even ignorance. As if it would never happen to me? Until it did... 

And more importantly, why wouldn’t it?  Because that was the first question I asked myself: Why was this happening to me? What did I do wrong, and why my baby? 

My journey with infertility started when I was diagnosed with Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) at the age of 29 after 18 months of trying to conceive naturally. We were very naively unaware of any fertility issues, but after 18 months of negative pregnancy tests followed by our first round IVF with my own eggs without a single embryo, we were shocked to hear the news that we should consider an alternative route to parenthood.

I’d heard about the Fertility Show whilst having my IVF treatment but had never attended, so when it came on the market I felt I had a lot to offer in helping it grow and develop. I would use my personal experience of infertility to shape its future. During my times at the Show, I discovered donor conception and it started to dawn on me that donor eggs could potentially work for us. Now in my mid 40’s, the chance of having success with my own eggs was very low. But a donor egg would be younger, and I started to think that maybe, just maybe, we should give it one last try…

Hi, I’m Hayley and I discovered late in life that I am donor conceived – in the early 1980’s, as part of pioneering IVF treatment my parents had used an anonymous sperm donor to have me due to my dad’s infertility. Whilst it was a huge shock to find this truth out in my 30’s, it was sadly very common for parents to keep this information hidden from everyone based on the advice of professionals and doctors at that time

It wasn’t the longest journey.

I did not lose any pregnancies.

How then, can I profess to understand the grief of infertility? Or write about how I lived through it?

Grief is ‘very great sadness, especially at the loss of someone’.

I don’t think I even realised at the time, month after month, that I was in fact grieving someone; someone who I didn’t yet know, who didn’t yet physically exist.

Someone who I longed to hold, care for, love.

The emotional roller coaster of trying to conceive can take its toll on our mental health and yet it’s often something that gets forgotten about amongst a sea of clinic appointments and cycle tracking. Burnout, anxiety and even depression are all incredibly common within the fertility community and if we don’t make our well-being a priority, it can make the challenges we face feel a million times harder.

Hi. I’m Shaun. I’m a man. I’m infertile. That’s not something you hear very often, is it? That’s exactly why I’m here. Struggling with fertility is tough for anyone who experiences it. There’s a lot of undue shame and secrecy about infertility in general, but when the complications stem from the male side, that shame and secrecy increases exponentially – and that’s why I decided to share my story.

One of our Ambassadors new to the stage is Shema Tariq. We were delighted to speak to Shema recently and find out a little more about her and her fertility story.

This month, Conservative MP Miriam Cates raised concerns that women are being exploited by large corporations who offer them money to freeze their eggs. This is to put off having children to a later age, presumably to concentrate on their careers should they want to.

The MP, herself a mother-of-three, said she was concerned that women would be “falsely reassured” into deciding to delay pregnancy until later life. Her main concerns were “if you freeze your eggs after the age of 35 or so, they are not good quality enough to likely result in a later pregnancy”.

But just how true is this? Well, if there’s one thing we are aiming for here at The Fertility Show, it’s to help you gain an understanding about your future fertility. With this in mind, it’s unsurprising there’s been a significant interest in egg freezing over the last few years.

In a heartfelt discussion on Let's All Talk Fertility last week, Andrew Merriman - one half of the adoptive dad duo known as “The Merrimans” on Instagram - shared with us his journey through the adoption process and the joys and challenges that come with it.

Our journey started in 2015 after a missed miscarriage at our 12-week scan two weeks before we got married. It completely turned our world upside down. We then continued trying, and I got pregnant again a year later, but unfortunately, early on I knew something was wrong and this time I was diagnosed with a blighted ovum miscarriage. After trying again for another two years and without success, we went to the doctors for help and after initial tests for both of us, we were referred to the fertility clinic, who then diagnosed us with unexplained infertility.

This week on Let’s all Talk Fertility, I spoke to Psychotherapist Alejandra Losada Andrade. This conversation is important, as infertility is not just a physical challenge, it's a profound emotional journey that can deeply affect a person’s mental health. Alejandra Losada Andrade, an integrative psychotherapist specialising in infertility, gynecological, and antenatal issues, gave good insight into the psychological impact of infertility and offers guidance on coping strategies.

This week on our Let’s all Talk Fertility webinar channel, I spoke to Dr. Katharina Spies, the Medical Director of Vida Fertility Institute in Madrid, who shared with us her insights on fertility testing, new technologies, and how they can be leveraged to enhance the chances of conception.

This week on ‘Let’s all Talk Fertility’ I caught up with Fertility Nutritionist Sandra Greenbank from The Fertility Nutrition Center. And when it comes to fertility, Sandra cannot stress enough the importance of nutrition. "It's paramount really because your baby is built from you, from what you've got in store," she says. The nutrients from your diet are the building blocks for your baby's development, and deficiencies can have significant consequences.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, usually known as PCOS, is a common hormonal condition that affects the normal function of the ovaries in reproductive-age women. It is the most common endocrine disorder in females, affecting around 10% of the population, and is characterised by an excess of androgens (male hormones) produced by the ovaries. This can then lead to symptoms such as irregular periods, acne, weight gain, and hair loss. It is also one of the reasons a person may struggle to get pregnant naturally. So this week on “Let's all Talk Fertility” I spoke to Dr. Francisco Anaya from Vista Hermosa in Alicante, Spain about how to best treat it.

This week on Let's all Talk Fertility, we spoke to Vidya Seshadri from CRGH about endometriosis. Endometriosis, or ”endo” as it’s also known as, is a fairly common condition that affects nearly 10% of women globally - that's an estimated 119 million women worldwide.

Today, we want to talk about an important topic for those who are struggling with fertility issues: donor conception overseas. This is a path that many individuals and couples consider when they are unable to conceive naturally or with their own eggs or sperm. In this article, we will explore the process of donor conception overseas and provide some insights into what you can expect.

“Happy” New Year? Not always…As a new year begins, I am reminded of those years gone by when I was still in treatment, fearful of the year to come. So much hope and anticipation. Would this be the year of the baby?

We first started trying in 2013, at the start of our “Happy New Year”. Our year was not so happy, and it wasn’t long before we knew something was wrong. My periods had been painful and erratic for a long time, and we weren’t falling pregnant as quickly as my friends before me. But what to do about it?