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Helping families to bring new life into the world is "a privilege" for Dr Myvanwy McIlveen.
The Medical Director of Genea Newcastle in New South Wales has recently been honoured for her work, named as the Fertility Specialist of the Year at the 2024 Australian Surrogacy and Donor Awards.
"It was really nice, a lovely honour, and I was amazed to be honest with you," Dr McIlveen said.
"It is a privilege to help people when they're struggling to have a family, and to go on that journey with them.
"The past 20 years have really been an honour; I love working with women and their families."
Dr McIlveen said working in reproductive health was often a joyful experience, but sometimes the news she delivered to hopeful couples was not always the happiest.
"It's important to be honest with people," she said.
"Some of them already know what you're going to say; some are happy you're able to draw a line in the sand under what they're going through.
"And of course others don't react positively, and that's okay."
Dr McIlveen said there had been an "enormous number" of changes in her industry.
"The access to surrogacy has changed, as has the access to sperm donors," she said.
"Many more people now are accessing sperm donors, including single women and same-sex couples.
"They are much more likely to come forward and access those services, and that's now considered a normal part of starting a family.
"I guess also one of the reasons I love this area of medicine so much is the evolution of the science, and that the success rates are so much better now."
Dr McIlveen has been an active campaigner to ensure single women and same-sex couples have access to the Medicare rebate for reproductive healthcare.
"When I first started out, the attitude was that single women were not entitled to the Medicare rebate for reproductive medicine, but you might see heterosexual couples come in, where the man had had a vasectomy, and that was classified as infertility and they were entitled to a rebate," she said.
"And that didn't sit right with me. Why was one form of infertility entitled to a rebate, and one where – just due to someone's sexuality or circumstances – they were not entitled?
"Over 10 years ago at Genea we offered everyone the rebate, they didn't need to meet that old-fashioned definition of medical infertility.
"I've always advocated for that rebate, as it significantly reduces the financial cost."
In the wake of the United States election results, Dr McIlveen said it was important to defend women's rights to access reproductive healthcare.
"I think America is a different place politically than Australia, but it's only in my lifetime that terminating a pregnancy has been taken off the criminal code," she said.
"Prior to that doctors could go to jail. So, we aren't as progressive here as we would like to think. But I do hope that reproductive rights aren't further curtailed under Trump."
Genea fertility specialist Dr Myvanwy McIlveen
Dr McIlveen said she wanted to dedicate her award to one of her patients, Amelia Crispin, whose decision to seek an altruistic surrogate to birth a child for her and partner Ben was reported by ABC News in June 2024.
"Amelia spoke about her journey with the media recently, and I think she was the one who brought my name to the attention of the awards," Dr McIlveen said.
"Amelia has been my patient since she was 17 and I have seen her through to adulthood, and marriage, and now having a baby via surrogate.
"She knows how difficult it has been complying with all the legislation and other requirements to have a family with a surrogate, and she wants to raise the profile of how just how difficult that journey can be.
"She's the person that really inspired this award, and I'd like to dedicate it to her."
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