Fertility in Focus by Fertility Matters Canada
Building a Fertility Community: An Oasis on Your Journey With Erin & Tiffany
In this week's episode, we are joined by Erin and Tiffany, the Co-Founders of Oasis Fertility Support Network, to discuss the importance of community on your fertility journey.
They share their own fertility journeys and how they found support in each other after years of struggling with infertility. They also talk about how finding a community helped them cope with their fertility struggles.
They also share why it's important to find a support network, how to find one if you don't have one already, and how you can help loved ones on their fertility journey.
Whether you're currently trying to conceive or not, this episode is an important listen for anyone who is trying to build a family. It's never too early or too late to start building a support system!
Connect with Oasis on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
More About Erin
“Hi, I’m Erin. My fertility journey began in 2011, when I was 28. My Australian partner Daniel and I had decided to move back to Canada and start a family after five years down under. We spent a few years trying to conceive naturally; when that didn’t work, we went in for testing and discovered that a male fertility factor was the primary issue. Four IUIs and two rounds of IVF later, we welcomed our 6th and final embryo – a baby boy – into the world in May of 2021.
Throughout the toughest years of my treatment, I attended and then later facilitated conversations for the Hope for Waiting Arms fertility support group in Barrie, Ontario. Being part of a support group where everyone ‘got it’ gave me so much community and hope. This is what drove me to create Oasis Fertility Support Network in June 2022. I’m a firm believer that community is the key to persevering through the suffering of fertility treatment and that the friends you make through this network of support will be the ones who truly get you through it.
Outside the fertility world, I am an Employee Benefit specialist for my firm in Orillia, Ontario and I am very involved in the small business community in the area. I enjoy being by the water in any shape or form, sunshine, snuggling my French bulldog and I have a hard time turning down a glass of red wine.”
More About Tiffany
“I’m Tiffany. I’m an outdoors enthusiast with a marketing communications background and nearly a decade of experience in the not-for-profit sector. I always dreamed of being a mom, but after trying to conceive naturally for a few years, I realized the path to motherhood wouldn’t be as easy as I expected.
My husband and I went in for testing and were diagnosed with unexplained infertility. Our next step was IUI, but after four failed rounds, we were ready to move on to IVF. I struggled a lot physically during my IVF retrieval, and even ended up hospitalized. There were moments I came close to giving up. But being part of a community of people that understood was a saving grace for me and gave me the strength to keep going.
We ended up with 13 fertilized embryos – we were so excited – but somehow only one made it to the blastocyst stage. This was heartbreaking news, but we didn’t want to lose hope in our one little embryo. And we’re so glad we kept the hope alive, because that miracle embryo became my first successful pregnancy.
My dream is to help create a safe environment for anyone struggling with infertility, where they can find community, support, and reliable resources. That’s why I helped found Oasis: because I truly believe that no one should feel alone through the process of trying to start a family.”
In this week's episode, we are joined by Erin and Tiffany, the Co-Founders of Oasis Fertility Support Network, to discuss the importance of community on your fertility journey.
They share their own fertility journeys and how they found support in each other after years of struggling with infertility. They also talk about how finding a community helped them cope with their fertility struggles.
They also share why it's important to find a support network, how to find one if you don't have one already, and how you can help loved ones on their fertility journey.
Whether you're currently trying to conceive or not, this episode is an important listen for anyone who is trying to build a family. It's never too early or too late to start building a support system!
Connect with Oasis on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
More About Erin
“Hi, I’m Erin. My fertility journey began in 2011, when I was 28. My Australian partner Daniel and I had decided to move back to Canada and start a family after five years down under. We spent a few years trying to conceive naturally; when that didn’t work, we went in for testing and discovered that a male fertility factor was the primary issue. Four IUIs and two rounds of IVF later, we welcomed our 6th and final embryo – a baby boy – into the world in May of 2021.
Throughout the toughest years of my treatment, I attended and then later facilitated conversations for the Hope for Waiting Arms fertility support group in Barrie, Ontario. Being part of a support group where everyone ‘got it’ gave me so much community and hope. This is what drove me to create Oasis Fertility Support Network in June 2022. I’m a firm believer that community is the key to persevering through the suffering of fertility treatment and that the friends you make through this network of support will be the ones who truly get you through it.
Outside the fertility world, I am an Employee Benefit specialist for my firm in Orillia, Ontario and I am very involved in the small business community in the area. I enjoy being by the water in any shape or form, sunshine, snuggling my French bulldog and I have a hard time turning down a glass of red wine.”
More About Tiffany
“I’m Tiffany. I’m an outdoors enthusiast with a marketing communications background and nearly a decade of experience in the not-for-profit sector. I always dreamed of being a mom, but after trying to conceive naturally for a few years, I realized the path to motherhood wouldn’t be as easy as I expected.
My husband and I went in for testing and were diagnosed with unexplained infertility. Our next step was IUI, but after four failed rounds, we were ready to move on to IVF. I struggled a lot physically during my IVF retrieval, and even ended up hospitalized. There were moments I came close to giving up. But being part of a community of people that understood was a saving grace for me and gave me the strength to keep going.
We ended up with 13 fertilized embryos – we were so excited – but somehow only one made it to the blastocyst stage. This was heartbreaking news, but we didn’t want to lose hope in our one little embryo. And we’re so glad we kept the hope alive, because that miracle embryo became my first successful pregnancy.
My dream is to help create a safe environment for anyone struggling with infertility, where they can find community, support, and reliable resources. That’s why I helped found Oasis: because I truly believe that no one should feel alone through the process of trying to start a family.”