Fertility support
Reina experienced infertility in her life, and she understands the wide range of feelings that people face when they are having difficulty conceiving their child or are experiencing pregnancy loss. Her personal goal is to help people stay emotionally healthy as they try to have a baby. She provides the following types of fertility-related counselling.
Egg freezing, IVF, and intended parents
Counselling ensures that patients are well informed, prepared, and feel supported before and during their treatment. Counselling also helps patients deal with the short and long-term emotional aspects of their decisions, and so they can provide informed consent for their treatment.
Known egg, sperm and embryo donors, and surrogates
Counselling helps patients understand the donation process or donor selection process, and to address the short and long-term emotional aspects of being a donor or using a donation. For surrogacy, counselling helps patients to clarify roles and responsibilities, establish communication strategies with surrogates, and offers emotional support and coping mechanisms for everyone involved in the process.
Pregnancy support
Counselling helps patients adjust to their body and hormonal changes, to manage the many anxieties and fears of feeling vulnerable, especially after fertility treatment and pregnancy loss, and to feel more confident about pregnancy.
Post-partum support
Counselling helps patients to manage their conflicting emotions, intrusive thoughts, and identity and relationship challenges.
Support for 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals and couples
Counselling addresses a variety of issues, including choosing a donor or surrogate; the pros and cons of working with a known donor or surrogate versus an agency or independent donor or surrogate; the personal meaning of the biological or genetic link; and the disclosure and management of questions from family and friends.
Single and couple parenting issues
Counselling addresses issues such as: learning to adjust to the challenges of sleep deprivation, new routines and relationships; improving strategies to diminish loneliness, physical and mental isolation, and feeling judged; and learning how to better manage and reduce stress, depression, and anxiety.
Grief, bereavement, and loss
Counselling helps patients deal with miscarriage and perinatal loss.
Coming to terms with the end of treatment
Counselling helps patients deal with not being about to achieve pregnancy, and to develop new beginnings.