Kreena was diagnosed with breast cancer in her early thirties and underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Prior to her treatment, Kreena also went through ovarian stimulation and IVF for fertility preservation, and was able to freeze a number of embryos.

After her treatment, Kreena was admitted to intensive care and diagnosed with acute heart failure – a delayed side effect from chemotherapy. She was also told that she would not be able to carry a baby.

Kreena and her husband wanted to build a family despite these challenges and decided to explore surrogacy. After matching with a surrogate, they were delighted to become parents to their daughter.

To complete their family, Kreena and her husband once again turned to surrogacy, this time also using egg donation, to become parents to triplet boys.

Born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden, Danijela and Nils are both former professional ice hockey players who have competed all over the world in competitions. Following their retirement from elite sport, they decided they wanted to build a family together, however after years of trying to conceive naturally, Danijela and Nils tried IVF treatment to fall pregnant. After multiple IVF treatments they were successful and four years after they initially started trying for a baby, Danijela gave birth to their daughter, Ella.

To support other potential parents on their family building journeys, Danijela and Nils have also donated eggs and sperm. They want donation to become more common, so that other people can build families too.

Mel always wanted to have children and decided to become a solo parent in her thirties. Mel opted to use a sperm donor and became pregnant through IVF treatment, following which she gave birth to her daughter.

As a qualified life coach, Mel wanted to use her personal experience to connect other women on their family building journey and tackle the stigmas around IVF and becoming a solo parent. To do this, Mel created The Stork and I, an online platform to support single women looking to understand their options when it comes to their route to motherhood.

In addition to her online work, Mel also works with fertility clinics, providing coaching for their solo mum clients.

Becky is a mum of three daughters, all thanks to egg donation. After a long fertility journey following a diagnosis of early menopause, Becky is now a patient advocate, fertility blogger and founder of online platforms DefiningMum and Paths To Parenthub.

Following her career as a HR professional, Becky is using her experience to educate employers and workplaces on how they can better support people on the journey to build their family, through a joint “Fertility Matters At Work” initiative.

She is proud to be a patient voice, and is keen to challenge the stigma and break the silence that surrounds the topic of fertility. She also wants to support others who are also facing a difficult path to parenthood.

Nicole began her fertility journey by deciding to build a family on her own. After undergoing tests for IVF treatment, she was diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis and required surgery, which resulted in her losing one of her ovaries.

Nicole initially underwent two rounds of IVF treatment and was able to conceive but the pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage. Following this, Nicole conceived naturally but the pregnancy also ended in a miscarriage.

After meeting her partner, Nicole decided to try IVF again however she unfortunately experienced more miscarriages.

Nicole and her partner considered other options for building a family and are now in the process of being approved for adoption.

As an LGBTQ+ family-building advocate based in Portland, Oregon, Trystan publicly shared his trans pregnancy story in 2017, when he gave birth to his son. Through his journey to build a family he has worked hard to engage with care and treatment providers to encourage them to improve inclusivity in their practice.

Trystan is the CEO and Chief Strategist at Collaborate Consulting, a firm dedicated to building and supporting radically welcoming individuals, communities, and organisations. Trystan also runs Trans Fertility Co., a hub of resources and information centred around the family-building and fertility concerns of the trans community.

Toyin Saraki is a leading global advocate for women and children’s health and socio-economic empowerment. For the past two decades, she has focused her advocacy and philanthropy efforts on improving reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, ending gender-based violence and improving education in Africa. She is Founder-President of The Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA); the inaugural Global Goodwill Ambassador for the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM); the Save the Children Newborn Health Champion for Nigeria; a Fellow of the West African Academy of Public Health (WAAPH); and a Global Champion for the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood. She is committed to using her personal experience of preterm birth, baby loss and post-partum haemorrhage to raise awareness of maternal health issues and the need to provide better support and quality treatment and care to women and their families pre, during and post pregnancy.

Nichelle and Harold started trying for a baby soon after they got married.

After having difficulty conceiving, Nichelle was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Nichelle and Harold then went through multiple rounds of fertility treatments including IVF to try and build their family.

Following six years of treatment and five miscarriages, their final round of IVF was successful and Nichelle and Harold were overjoyed to welcome their son into the world.

During her journey to motherhood, Nichelle won “Mrs. North Carolina 2018” and used her platform to raise awareness of fertility issues, encouraging women to speak to their doctor about fertility challenges earlier through her #startasking campaign.

Nichelle continues to use her platform to advocate for better awareness and understanding of fertility issues and baby loss, and for better support for those affected, in particular for women of colour.