Lotus Health & Psychology
Fertility and Paths to Parenthood
Overview
Building a family can take many different forms. This hub brings together trusted information and support for people exploring fertility, assisted reproductive treatment, donor conception, surrogacy, solo parenthood and diverse family-building pathways.
Whether you are beginning to understand your fertility, considering IVF or egg freezing, choosing a donor, planning surrogacy, or deciding whether to continue treatment, these resources are designed to support informed and thoughtful decision-making.
Source / Reference: Fertility and Reproduction; Donor Conception; Surrogacy; LGBTQ+ Families.
Understanding fertility
Include resources covering fertility knowledge, reproductive health, factors that may affect fertility and evidence-based information to help people make informed family-building decisions.
Current resources include:
- Your Fertility
- Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand
- fertility education, fact sheets, expert videos and fertility tools
- workplace information about the psychological impact of infertility and family-building
Source: Fertility and Reproduction.
IVF and fertility treatment
Include:
- Your IVF Success
- evidence-based IVF information from the University of Melbourne
- IVF success, risks, treatment processes and optional add-ons
- ART legislation and regulation in Queensland
- resources about what happens when fertility treatment does not work
- international ART research and monitoring resources
Source: Fertility and Reproduction.
Egg and embryo freezing
Current material includes media and educational information about egg freezing, including when someone may consider freezing eggs and what the process involves.
Source: Fertility and Reproduction; In the Media.
Donor conception
This should be one of the strongest subsections because the current website already has substantial material.
Include Lotus’s six Queensland donor-conception patient fact sheets covering:
- the Donor Conception Information Register
- the 10-family limit
- Partner IVF when both partners hope to carry
- the 15-year time limit
- donor allocations
- applications for special approval under section 39B
Also include guidance about talking with donor-conceived children and families, the Telling and Talking Series, Three Makes a Baby, donor-conception organisations, donor sibling connections, ethical guidelines and Queensland ART legislation.
Source: Donor Conception.
Surrogacy
Include information on:
- Australian altruistic surrogacy
- pre- and post-surrogacy counselling
- cross-border surrogacy considerations
- Narelle Dickinson’s Churchill Fellowship work
- birth planning
- Surrogacy Birth Care Australia
- best-practice guidance for hospitals and healthcare teams
- the Australian surrogacy process
- legal-support providers in the donor conception and surrogacy space
Source: Surrogacy.
Solo parenthood
Include:
- SMC Australia
- the No Need for Prince Charming / Solo Mum Society podcast
- fertility counselling and donor conception information for solo mothers
- donor conception resources relevant to solo-parent families
Source: Donor Conception; Podcasts.
Heterosexual couples
There is no dedicated heterosexual-couples page in the current linked Resources section. Relevant fertility, IVF, relationship, donor conception and treatment-ending resources can be tagged to appear here.
Source: Fertility and Reproduction; Relationships; Donor Conception.
LGBTQIA+ family building
Include Rainbow Families and its Early Years Guide, OUTspoken Families resources, inclusive family-building information and donor-conception resources for LGBTQIA+ families.
The existing video Donor Conception: Meeting the Needs of the LGBTQI Community should also move here.
Source: LGBTQ+ Families; Video Recordings; Donor Conception.
Trans, non-binary and gender-diverse parents
The Fertility and Reproduction page currently points to fertility information that explicitly includes men, women, trans and gender-diverse people. The Neurodiversity page also includes gender-diverse perspectives within its podcast resources.
There is not yet enough dedicated Lotus content for a large standalone subsection, so this can initially function as a filtered collection.
Source: Fertility and Reproduction; Neurodiversity.
Fertility decisions and treatment endings
Include:
- deciding whether IVF is right for you
- continuing life when fertility treatment does not work
- treatment-ending decisions
- differing decisions between partners about when to stop treatment
- infertility-related grief
- pathways toward involuntary childlessness
Source: Fertility and Reproduction; Involuntary Childlessness; In the Media.
Lotus resources
Lotus-created / hosted material
- Six Queensland donor-conception patient FAQ fact sheets
- donor-conception guidance
- existing fertility and reproductive education
- surrogacy counselling information
Clearly label these separately from third-party resources.
Source: Donor Conception; Surrogacy.
Articles, media and conversations
Move relevant media into this hub, including:
- What not to say to someone trying to conceive
- Everything you need to know about egg freezing in Australia
- When should I consider egg freezing?
- IVF struggles when partners disagree about stopping treatment
- infertility and invisible grief
- Mother’s Day while struggling to conceive
- donor-conceived adults and identity/origins
- Fertility Counselling & Donor Conception — What Solo Mums Actually Need to Know
- Feeling Expectant: Services and Support During Surrogacy
- donor conception and LGBTQI community video
- Surrogacy for Queenslanders video
Source: In the Media; Podcasts; Video Recordings; Fertility and Reproduction; Surrogacy.
Information for professionals
Include:
- Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand training
- ESHRE education
- American Society for Reproductive Medicine education
- Covington Therapy infertility training
- Jean Hailes professional education where reproductive health is relevant
- ART ethical guidelines and codes of practice
- Queensland ART regulatory information
Trusted external resources and organisations
Include organisations such as:
Your IVF Success, Your Fertility, Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand, Queensland Health ART information, Donor Conceived Australia, Donor Conception Network, DCP Hub, Egg Donation Australia, SMC Australia, Donor Sibling Registry, Rainbow Families, Surrogacy Birth Care Australia and the legal providers currently listed on the Surrogacy page.
Sources: Fertility and Reproduction; Donor Conception; LGBTQ+ Families; Surrogacy.