Page 15 - FSANZ UPDATE Spring 2022

Honorary Life Members of our Society
John Yovich
Professor John Yovich is internationally recognised as a pioneer in assisted reproduction establishing Western Australia’s first IVF unit – PIVET Medical Centre – more than 40 years ago.
WA was the second state after Victoria to generate IVF pregnancies with WA’s first IVF baby born in July 1982.
John has been the Medical Director of PIVET since its inception and he has introduced many unique modalities to assist infertile couples including microsurgery, the use of ultrasound for evaluating the reproductive system in men and women, new rapid hormone assays, and advanced laparoscopic surgery
for pathologies in the female pelvis.
He has made an outstanding contribution to the science and clinical practice of human reproduction mentoring many trainees from Australia and overseas to become fertility specialists, and his pathfinding work on reproductive medicine has been published in over 300 articles in acclaimed national and international journals.
Through the sharing of knowledge, PIVET has helped to establish IVF units in Malaysia, Greece, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and Italy.
In recent times, John has reported on the use of growth hormone to improve oocyte quality and advanced gonadotrophin algorithms to safely optimise pregnancy rates.
Gaining membership of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in Melbourne in 1976, John dedicated his career
John Yovich
to Reproductive Medicine. He served as President of our Society in 1985 and is one of the earliest FSA members to gain certification in reproductive endocrinology and infertility by examination in 1992.
An MD and PhD graduate of the University of Western Australia, John is now an Adjunct Clinical Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences, in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Curtin University.
Teaching resources to promote fertility health
Students across Australia will soon have access to better education on fertility health thanks to education resources developed by Fertility Matters.
Fertility Matters, a health and education charity founded by first generation ivflings, Candice Thum and Rebecca Featherstone, has created easy-to-use teaching resources for high schools throughout the country.
Available via a digital platform, educators will be able to access videos, teaching notes, further study ideas, classroom activities and evaluations in three key areas of fertility health related matters.
Fertility health introduction
The introduction to fertility health covers concepts such as fertility preservation, health and lifestyle impacts on fertility, diversity of the modern family and a video on Fertility Matters by Candice and Rebecca.
Fertility Myth Busters
A video busting the top 10 myths associated with fertility is featured along with conversation starter activities for the classroom.
LGBTQIA+ Community and fertility
Developed with support from Virtus Health, the digital resource includes a Q&A session hosted by advocate for the LGBTQ community, Christian Wilkins, with fertility specialist Dr Shadi Khashaba from IVF Australia and fertility counsellor Melissa Stephens, also from IVF Australia.
It features questions from the LGBTQIA+ community on fertility health.
The education resources have been moderated by leading fertility and education industry experts and they are expected to be trialled in classrooms by the end of the year before being available for wider distribution.
Fertility Matters is a registered deductible gift recipient (DGR) body. For further information, contact Fertility Matters at fertilitymatters01@gmail.com
Fertility Matters thanks the fertility sector for its ongoing support.
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