We are pleased to announce a new partnership, Fertility Circle, the “one-stop fertility app, about empowering people. Your best friend with all the fertility smarts.”
Abi Childs is one of the founders of the Fertility Circle. She kindly agreed to tell us more about it.
“Fertility Circle was founded by me, Jo and Karen. I came with the idea while I was trying for a baby and then I got “distracted” by having a new-born. Karen came with the description of “Fertility Circle- the friend who gets it.” Abi and Karen met through mums’ clubs and thought of this new app. Jo, Abi’s previous work colleague, came on board from April 2020, and she is described by Abi as “incredible at business development and partnership.”
The launch of Fertility Circle
Fertility Circle app was launched in October 2020, and Abi confessed to us,“it came about because of my own fertility struggles. When I was trying, I spent endless time on google, I wasted a bunch of money on practitioners and advice that wasn’t not right for me. Also, I made poor choices that had health consequences for me. In short, the Fertility Circle is everything I wish existed when I was trying to conceive.”
The core values
The app was developed “to help others feel less lonely, desperate, vulnerable.”
According to Abi, Fertility Circle provides 3 core things:
- Community support;
- A platform to connect with experts;
- Amazing services to connect, inspire and empower.
They are partnering with more than 50 world-leading fertility experts who are on-hand to help people in their fertility journey.
Choosing their name
Abi says they thought of the name “Fertility Circle” because of 2 other “circles”: “Circle of life” or “Circle of support”. “While fertility can feel very isolated, if you build the circle of support, it really changes the support for the better.”
Abi’s personal IVF story
Abi has her own special IVF story, having a daughter born via IVF. Although Abi had endometriosis and hydrosalpinx, also experiencing medical complications with serious consequences, she says they felt lucky to be able to conceive their daughter through first cycle of IVF . “A big rollercoaster getting there,” she admits. They tried for 3 years before having their daughter, and although she knows it’s not much in terms of IVF journey compared with other people’s, she feels the journey was “massively challenging.”
Fertility Circle – Abi’s mission
Feeling grateful for where she is, Abi says that her experience motivated her to start the Fertility Circle, although she was trained and worked in finance. Abi had also a career in management consultancy in healthcare, working with the NHS. Although she enjoyed her consultancy job, she felt very “removed” from the patient. “What I love now is that I feel very close to our community, and I feel that I have a direct impact on them, that what I do has a direct effect and improves lives. I enjoy it and feel strongly that this is my mission”.
About partnering with the HSFC and becoming part of the family
“Collaboration and partnerships are important parts of Fertility Circle. We love that HSFC is a family-run clinic and that the treatment is tailored to the individual, and this is such an important part of their journey. When patients come to you they feel they know you. We feel that our values align. We are looking to work with the best” finishes Abi her interview.
Dr Suvir Venkataraman about the new partnership: “We are delighted to welcome to our HSFC family a new friend, ‘the friend who gets it’, as Fertility Circle are known for. A fertility journey is usually challenging for the people who experience it, and being able to have another friend who you feel has all the answers, is fantastic. We are so pleased we are able to offer our patients even more support than we already give them, in the form of a friend. A warm ‘Welcome to the HSFC family!’ to Abi, Jo and Karen and the Fertility Circle, and wishing all of us a long and fruitful collaboration, with our patients’ best interest at heart.”
