Blog

Update on Texas Advocacy Work

An important update from the Alliance for Fertility Preservation:


On behalf of the Alliance for Fertility Preservation, we wanted to give you a summary of the great strides that we made this year advocating for coverage in Texas! 

First, and most importantly, we want to sincerely thank many of you for supporting our efforts to protect parenthood after cancer for Texas patients and survivors over the past several months. It was truly a team effort! Although the legislation did not ultimately pass, remarkable progress was made during our first attempt at securing this coverage in Texas. 

We had a tremendous lobby day at the Texas Capitol and our coalition was recognized on the Senate floor during Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Awareness Week . During our lobby day meetings, our advocates secured a commitment from the Chairman of the House Insurance committee to consider our bill in a hearing the following week.  

Oncofertility Conference at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center James Cancer Hospital and Nationwide Children's Hospital

Congratulations to our colleagues who hosted the first bi-ennial Oncofertility Conference of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center James Cancer Hospital and Nationwide Children's Hospital on Saturday May 18th at the Hilton Downtown Columbus, OH. The conference was attended by 110 attendees from 10 states across the country. Conference speakers included experts in oncology, reproductive endocrinology and infertility, reproductive urology, behavioral medicine, pediatric endocrinology, pediatric and adolescent gynecology and obstetrics and gynecology. Dr. Teresa Woodruff, founder and director of the Oncofertility Consortium at Northwestern gave the keynote address. Panelists in advocacy and legislative efforts in fertility preservation highlighted the multi-disciplinary conference.

A Message from RESOLVE: New Hampshire Fertility Advocacy

By Kate Weldon LeBlanc

RESOLVE New England is actively involved in advocating for insurance legislation in New Hampshire, in partnership with patients, advocates, and providers. The bill, SB 279, would provide group insurance coverage for the diagnosis of infertility, fertility treatment and fertility preservation in New Hampshire. Recently an amended version of SB 279 passed the Senate unanimously. You can review the bill here.

SB 279 had its House Committee hearing on Tuesday, April 23rd at 10:15am at the Legislative Office Building in Room 302. Though not intentional, it is fitting that this hearing is during National Infertility Awareness Week.

There are many ways to be helpful to the advocacy efforts!

Report from the joint meeting of the Oncofertility Consortium Japan and Japanese Society for Fertility Preservation

Congraluations to our colleagues in Japan who recently hosted a joint meeting of the OC Japan and JSFP in February. Below is the report from Dr. Nao Suzuki. Thank you for being the pioneers of oncofertility in Japan and Asia and for hosting such an important meeting.


The Oncofertility Consortium Japan (OC Jpn) meeting 2019 and the annual meeting of JSFP were hosted jointly with 480 participants on Gifu City, Japan from 9 to 10 February 2019. 

This is Infertility x The Oncofertility Consortium

Kristin Smith, the Oncofertility Consortium's esteemed patient navigator, was recently featured on the final episode of the This Is Infertility podcast to discuss her role as a patient navigator. Here is some more information about the episode:

Oncofertility Series – Part 4 of 4. Kristin Smith is the Program Manager for Fertility Preservation at Northwestern Medicine and the Oncofertility Consortium. In the final episode of our oncofertility series, we hear how Kristin helps patients navigate their treatment between their oncology team and their reproductive endocrinology team. Today’s host is Lissa Kline, VP of Provider and Member Services at Progyny. 

Apply Now for a Free Oncofertility Training Program!!

Our partners at the Moffit Cancer Center are hosting a free oncofertility training program. 

ECHO is web-based training program that includes psychosocial, biological, clinical and skill building modules to help oncology allied health professionals (nurses, physician assistants, social workers, and psychologists) communicate timely and relevant information regarding reproductive health to their adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients. This program and course materials provided at no cost to participants.

Deadline for applications is November 25. Apply today!

To learn more about this course, see the attached flyer or visit their website

Questions? Please contact ECHO at:
Phone: (813)745-6941
Email:ECHO@Moffitt.org
Web: www.echo.rhoinstitute.org

Three More Days to Register!

Only three more days to register for the 2018 Oncofertility Conference! Be sure to register before registration closes on November 1. This year's conference features two full days of lectures and a full day of didatic and applied learning sessions. In addition to the great program, this conference is always an excellent opportunity  for OPEN members and members of the Oncofertility Consortium to network and set priorities for the field for the upcoming year. Can't wait to see you all there! 

Register now! 

Royal College of Nursing Feature

OPEN Member Val Peddie, from the Royal College of Nursing in Aberdeen was recently highlighted in Royal College of Nursing electronic magazine bulletin (see pages 10-11) to discuss fertility preservation and patient experience in Aberdeen. The article highlights Val and all of the work she does with oncofertility patients at her Center. The full electronic magainze is available below to download. 

Dr. Lynn Westphal at the 2018 Oncofertility Conference

We're looking forward to the 2018 Oncofertility Conference- the agenda consists of alot of amazing speakers and talks! In particular, the Day 1 Afternoon Clinical Session on November 13 should be of great interest not only to clinicians, but also to the basic scientists who are invested in how their research translates to clinical pratice. Dr. Lynn Westphal, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stanford University will deliver a talk that afternoon focusing on the outcomes of fresh vs. frozen embryo transfers. Below is some more information about her talk:


Frozen embryo transfers have increased dramatically over the past decade.  There are a number of reasons for this change and still many questions to be answered.  Has this shift happened too quickly?  What are the risks and benefits of both fresh and frozen embryo transfer? Her talk Fresh vs. Frozen Embryo Transfer Outcomes will explore these questions and offer insight in to this shift.