News and Updates

ASPIRE is moving to a new digital breaking news format

ASPIRE is committed to keeping members informed about news and events that reflect latest developments and future trends in assisted reproduction.

Traditionally, we have presented the ASPIRE Newsletter as a key aspect of our communications delivering news, commentary, reports from our country representatives and Special Interest Groups along with vital information on education programs, accreditation, upcoming events and membership.

However, ASPIRE recognises that the way people engage with news is changing with a greater focus on accessing information in digital formats and mobile environments. News is no longer something people seek out at set times. It is now embedded within a more fluid domain in which people want news that is more flexible, accessible and personally relevant.

ASPIRE is embracing this change by moving from our traditional newsletter to a breaking news, digital format that members will be able to access on our website and social media channels. This is timely given that ASPIRE has also refreshed its website to make it easier for people to navigate our resources.

From July, ASPIRE will be regularly posting news updates, country and SIG reports and other vital details on education, professional development and events that will keep members abreast of information that reflects and guides best practice in fertility health and assisted reproduction.

As President, Dr Haroon Latif, says “our future lies in networking” as ASPIRE builds to become one of the world’s biggest and most influential societies in assisted reproduction with dynamic awareness programs and communication technologies reaching participants across the globe.

We welcome input and comments from members on this change to our digital platforms and distribution channels for the discovery and consumption of news and information that matters.

ASPIRE Secretariat
E-mail: secretariat@aspire-reproduction.org
www.aspire-reproduction.org

Fertility patients vulnerable to social media overload of misleading data where evidence and algorithms collide

Media Release, 7 May 2026

BEIJING: Patient information overload dominated by misleading social media and marketing is causing patients experiencing infertility to have unrealistic expectations about treatment success often resulting in psychological distress.

“Never before have patients had so much information on fertility medicine, and never before has so much of it been wrong, incomplete or misinterpreted,” said Indian fertility specialist, Dr Madhuri Patil.

“Fertility medicine has changed in the age of information overload where data, anecdotes and algorithms collide.

“The information ecosystem is dominated by social media influencers, commercial marketing and clinic marketing, online forums, patient communities and non-peer reviewed sources.

“Misinformation can impact on patient treatment expectations, timing decisions, treatment adherence and doctor-patient trust.

“Fertility care is uniquely vulnerable. There are high emotional and financial stakes for patients striving for parenthood, and treatment expectations based on misinformation or misinterpretation can result in psychological distress and drop-out from treatment.”

Speaking at the 2026 Congress of the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction (ASPIRE) in Beijing, Dr Patil said the types of misinformation included:

• overestimation of IVF success rates;

• misinterpretation of age-related fertility decline;

• misunderstanding ovarian reserve testing;

• so-called natural or alternative therapies with unproven efficacy;

• add-on treatments marketed without strong evidence; and

• assumptions that elective egg freezing guarantees fertility.

“These issues matter because of the rapid growth of assisted reproductive technology and fertility services globally,” she said.

“Misinformation is no longer on the fringe. It is mainstream and patients are arriving at fertility clinics armed with half-truths, over generalised statistics and misplaced certainty.”

Dr Patil is a Bangalore-based fertility specialist, country representative to ASPIRE and former Chair of the ASPIRE Special Interest Group on Reproductive Endocrinology. She is President-elect of the Indian Society for Assisted Reproduction (ISAR) and Associate Editor of Fertility and Sterility, the official publication of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).

She said counselling in assisted reproductive technology fails when population data averages are presented as individual treatment predictions.

“IVF is often a multi-cycle treatment,” Dr Patil explained. “Cumulative live birth rates – rather than IVF success rates reported per transfer – better reflect patient prognosis.

“Evidence must be interpreted for the individual patient, not an algorithm that may be technically correct, but clinically misleading.

“Social media amplification in particular results in emotional narratives outweighing statistical reality, IVF success stories being over-represented, simplified messaging and commercial bias.

“This results in patients having pre-formed treatment demands with significant clinical and personal consequences, including increased anxiety, decisional conflict and dropout.”

Dr Patil said it was important for fertility clinics to embrace a counselling framework in which:

• patients are asked what they believe about treatment;

• misinformation sources are identified;

• emotional concerns are validated;

• treatment options are reframed with evidence; and

• patients are provided with individualised prognosis.

“This is the recommended approach to evidence-based fertility care,” she said.

“It also requires standardised and transparent reporting metrics across clinics, regulation of fertility-related advertising, public education with improved patient decision aids, and fertility specialists occupying the digital space with accurate and consistent evidence-based messaging.”

Around 3,000 fertility specialists from across the globe are attending the ASPIRE Congress, which is being held at the China National Convention Centre in Beijing from 7 to 10 May.

Further information, go to https://www.aspire2026.com

INTERVIEW:

Dr Madhuri Patil is available for interview. To arrange, please contact Trevor Gill, ASPIRE Congress Media Relations Tel: (Australia) 61 418 821948 or email lighthousepr@adelaide.on.net

Plummeting fertility rates and ageing societies will see nurseries replaced by nursing homes

Media Release, 18 May 2026

The world is entering an epoch in which baby nurseries will be progressively replaced by nursing homes creating an enormous burden on young workers to generate taxable income to support swelling ranks of the elderly.

This grim forecast has been presented at a global conference on assisted reproduction as countries around the world face alarming falls in total fertility rates.

Speaking at the 2026 Congress of the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction (ASPIRE) in Beijing, Bangladeshi fertility specialist Professor Nusrat Mahmud said population fertility health was in crisis on multiple fronts primarily from negative effects of climate change, pollutants and endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs).

She said there was growing awareness that global warming could negatively influence reproductive health in men and women with links to sperm abnormalities and abnormal ovulation.

Professor Mahmud, a senior consultant in the Division of Reproductive Medicine and Infertility at Birdem General Hospital in Dhaka, said the World Health Organisation projected 250,000 additional deaths from climate sensitive diseases between 2030 and 2050.

She told the ASPIRE Congress the true impacts on human reproductive health through global warming and exposure to environmental and occupational pollutants and EDCs were not fully understood.

But Professor Mahmud particularly highlighted a likely nexus between the “warming world” and pollutants with a sharp decline in male sperm counts along with increasing levels of sperm fragmentation associated with poor embryo development and recurrent miscarriages.

“Evidence suggests sperm counts have fallen by over 50 per cent in the past forty years,” she said. “The average male today may face different fertility challenges to the average male of two generations ago.

“The big question is no longer whether this so called spermageddon is really happening, but why and what can we do about it?

“Ignoring the potential decline in semen quality and its causes can lead to irreversible damage to human and planetary health with trans-generational impacts.”

Total fertility rates across the world are plummeting, particularly in the Asia Pacific region where the number of births has fallen below population replacement levels.

This poses serious social and economic challenges as population age dependency increases and there are fewer young people to support aged care economic demands.

Professor Mahmud has specialised in research on climate change on infertility in the South Asian region.

Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. It is ranked second in global exposure to elevated temperatures with Dhaka especially singled out for urban heat.

The Birdem Hospital in Dhaka has collaborated with the Emory University in the United States in a study on a decline in semen parameters, including sperm concentration and motility among Bangladeshi men and similar observations in the global community.

“Azoospermia, or total absence of sperm in a man’s ejaculate, has been consistently increasing among Bangladeshi men for the past two decades,” Professor Mahmud said.

“We have done another study with data collected from Pakistan and India and there were higher trends of azoospermia in Bangladeshi men than among their neighbours.

“Male infertility is a complex biological and social phenomenon, and the world must act on the impacts of global warming, environmental pollutants and EDCs.”

Over 3,000 fertility specialists from across the globe attended the ASPIRE Congress in Beijing.

Further information, go to https://www.aspire2026.com

INTERVIEW:

Professor Nusrat Mahmud is available for interview. To arrange, please contact Trevor Gill, ASPIRE Congress Media Relations Tel: (Australia) 61 418 821948 or email lighthousepr@adelaide.on.net

Putting humanity back into the focus of technonatalism in assisted reproduction

Media Release, 11 May 2026

Since the world’s first IVF baby was born almost 50 years ago, assisted reproductive technologies have advanced spectacularly to help millions of infertile couples to achieve their dreams of parenthood.

Yet, despite the power of so-called technonatalism human reproduction is in a negative slide due to a combination of factors including lifestyle and career choices, socio-economic uncertainty and environmental impacts.

A global conference on fertility health in Beijing has heard policies implemented by governments around the world to encourage family building had failed to deliver expected results largely due to generational change in attitudes towards parenthood.

“The fact is many couples are simply saying they have other proprieties beyond children, and delaying the choice to be parents invariably puts them into an age of sub-fertility,” renowned fertility specialist Professor Luca Gianaroli told the 2026 Congress of the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction (ASPIRE).

“To address the crisis of population decline, the focus must turn to those who are entering their reproductive years through education about fertility health, particularly age-related decline in fertility.

“They are the future and our hope of arresting the collapse in total fertility rates around the world. They are the people who need to make informed choices about their reproductive potential.”

Professor Gianaroli was the founder of the first Italian day surgery clinic dedicated to assisted reproduction. He served as Chairman of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) and is currently Director of Global Educational Programs of the International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS).

While assisted reproductive technology has progressed spectacularly, Professor Gianaroli told the ASPIRE Congress that it should not lose its roots as an “art form” centred on human skills and personalised care.

“Assisted reproductive technology will play an increasingly important role driving progress through ongoing research and innovation, contributing to more effective, accessible and affordable care,” he said.

“At the same time, this progress raises relevant questions including the balance between precision and personalisation, and the shift from a counselling-based approach to a more marketing driven sector.

“Reflection on these aspects is important to understand whether assisted reproductive technology has become a merely technical process.

“In order to face challenges risen by technonatalism, it will need to go back to its roots as a true art guided not only by technology, but also by skills, experience and individualised care.”

Professor Gianaroli said many people undertaking treatments for infertility, such as IVF, withdrew after one or two cycles abandoning their hopes of parenthood.

“Patients need to be encouraged to make more informed choices,” he said. “I draw an analogy with a general practitioner prescribing antibiotics to a patient presenting with an infection.

“If the doctor says to take the full course of antibiotics that may take a week or two, invariably the patients will do so to get better.

“Similarly, fertility specialists need to personalise their treatments to individual hopes and expectations of patients and encourage them to keep trying beyond one or two cycles of IVF to achieve success.

“This is not a matter of commercialism. It is going back to our roots in precision and personalisation when people need to undertake a medically assisted journey to parenthood.”

The ASPIRE Congress is being held at the China National Convention Centre in Beijing. More than 3,000 scientists, clinicians, nurses and counsellors in assisted reproduction from around the world are attending the Congress.

For further information, go to https://www.aspire2026.com

Interview

Professor Luca Gianaroli is available for interview. To arrange, please contact Trevor Gill, ASPIRE Congress Media Relations.

Tel: (Australia) 61 418 821948 or email lighthousepr@adelaide.on.net

Call to create minimum standards of cross border reproductive care in the Asia Pacific region

Media Release, 11 May 2026

Cross border reproductive care is a growing global phenomenon allowing people living with infertility to travel to other countries for donor eggs, sperm, surrogacy or IVF treatment.

It provides an avenue to parenthood for couples striving to conceive but who find that fertility treatments are unavailable, illegal or unaffordable at home.

Restrictive legal frameworks, cultural or religious prohibitions, high treatment costs and long waiting lists can present significant barriers for some couples

But because of a diversity of policies, legal architectures and standards, units offering cross border fertility services in the Asia Pacific region face particular challenges. Protecting uniform quality care, reproductive rights of participants and offspring, and patient autonomy in a transparent way while avoiding exploitation are important challenges.

A global conference on fertility health in Beijing has heard an impassioned call to implement minimal standards in cross border reproductive care in the Asia Pacific and beyond.

Speaking at the 2026 Congress of the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction (ASPIRE), Thai fertility specialist Professor Kamthorn Pruksananonda also highlighted the importance of equitable access to fertility treatment in local populations.

He said equal treatment access problems could arise when destination country resources in assisted reproduction were redirected towards foreign demand (which may have greater capacity to pay) leaving vulnerable local populations under-served.

“People striving for parenthood seek timely, safe, and affordable ways to build families,” Professor Pruksananonda explained. “Protecting reproductive rights and patient autonomy requires strong safeguards.

“The Asia Pacific region is too diverse for a single fertility law,” he said. “But it is not too diverse for interoperable minimum standards that maximise safety and equity of access to treatment while protecting intended parents, surrogates, donors, and children across jurisdictions.

“When well-regulated and ethically conducted, cross-border IVF exemplifies how globalisation serves medicine offering hope without borders and creating families across frontiers.

“In the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, embracing the opportunities of cross-border fertility treatment while conscientiously addressing its challenges affirms a future where infertility becomes a surmountable obstacle rather than an insurmountable barrier.”

Professor Pruksananonda, said the issue was particularly pressing in the Asia Pacific region where fertility rates are plummeting below population replacement levels with severe economic and social consequences.

He said there were some clear advantages of cross border reproductive treatment including:

• expanded access to care;

• higher treatment success rates through treatment by renowned fertility specialists and clinics, advanced technology and opportunities for multiple IVF cycles;

• more affordable treatment even considering travel and accommodation costs;

• enhanced personal autonomy in family building empowering individuals to circumvent restrictive social norms and realise reproductive rights in supportive environments; and

• knowledge exchange among clinics.

“But standards need to evolve to drive continuous improvement in safety, efficacy and quality patient care,” Professor Pruksananonda added.

“This includes necessary safeguards and policy responses to reduce the risk of exploitation, particularly of surrogates, to provide legal certainty on parentage and citizenship, to ensure consistency of clinic standards and continuity of care, and to overcome disparities in access to fertility care.

“Infertility is a health issue. Low fertility is a demographic issue. These issues intersect politically, but the ethical framework must ensure reproductive choice and equitable care.”

Professor Pruksananonda said the strongest assisted reproductive technology systems like those in Australia and New Zealand treat data auditing, reporting of treatment success rates and accreditation of clinics as key elements of patient protection.”

He told the ASPIRE Congress that Thailand was an exemplar in boldly introducing regulatory reform in cross border reproductive care.

“Thailand emerged as a global fertility tourism destination over a decade ago attracting international patients with advanced clinics, liberal laws and low costs,” he said.

“As a result, thousands of foreign patients accessed commercial surrogacy arrangements in Thailand.

“However, in 2014 an Australian couple abandoned a twin with Down Syndrome born to a Thai surrogate sparking international outrage and exposing a lack of legal protections.

“In 2015 Thailand passed comprehensive legislation outlawing commercial surrogacy and restricting altruistic surrogacy to married Thai couples.

“International patients were redirected to other properly regulated jurisdictions that protect the rights of all involved in cross border fertility care while preventing exploitation.

“Thailand is a classic example of regulatory reversal. A country once associated internationally with permissive cross-border arrangements re-centered assisted reproductive technology within a tightly controlled legal structure.

“The result was not the disappearance of demand, but a redistribution of where and how that demand is expressed.”

The ASPIRE Congress is being held at the China National Convention Centre in Beijing. More than 3,000 scientists, clinicians, nurses and counsellors in assisted reproduction from around the world are attending the Congress.

For further information, go to https://www.aspire2026.com

Interview

Professor Kamthorn Pruksananonda is available for interview. To arrange, please contact Trevor Gill, ASPIRE Congress Media Relations.

Tel: (Australia) 61 418 821948 or email lighthousepr@adelaide.on.net

Background

Kamthorn Pruksananonda is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. He also leads the university’s Reproductive Medicine Division and the Human Embryonic Stem Cells Research Centre. Professor Pruksananonda played a key role in the drafting and implementation of Thailand’s assisted reproductive technology law and related regulations.

Emotional burden of infertility can undermine lifestyle choices that may help women conceive

Media Release, 10 May 2026

The emotional burden of infertility actively undermines the capacity of many women to make sustained lifestyle changes, including weight loss and physical activity, that can improve their chances of becoming pregnant.

A global conference on assisted reproduction in Beijing heard today that the gap between lifestyle recommendations and action among women suffering the emotional stress of infertility was not a matter of willpower, rather a matter of psychology.

Infertility affects one in every six couples worldwide with the causes equally shared between men and women. Professor Anuja Dokras, an internationally renowned researcher and patient advocate in fertility health, said up to 60 per cent of affected women experience mental health challenges including anger, sadness, isolation, shame and guilt.

“Yet only about 20 per cent of them seek professional psychological support,” she told the 2026 Congress of the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction (ASPIRE).

“Most of these women internalise blame for their inability to conceive and shame predicts emotional eating and health care avoidance.

“Women seeking fertility treatment show significantly higher levels of anxiety, depression and psychiatric disorders than men, and the severity of these conditions is influenced by the cause and duration of infertility, the treatment type and number of failed IVF cycles.”

Professor Dokras is the Executive Director of the Women's Health Centre for Clinical Innovation and the Founder’s Professor of Women’s Health in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. She is also the Director of the PENN Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Centre and specialises in understanding cardiometabolic risk and mental health co-morbidities associated with PCOS.

Professor Dokras said women who were obese or living with metabolic disorders associated with PCOS had significantly lower chances of conceiving than their healthy counterparts.

“In women with PCOS visible symptoms, including hirsutism and weight gain, intensify the dynamics of weight stigma with increased prevalence of disordered eating, anxiety and depression.

“Critically, the clinical encounter itself can reinforce barriers when lifestyle advice is delivered through a weight-centric lens without psychological scaffolding.

“A weight-centric consultation approach is perceived as stigmatising and counterproductive. Clinicians should speak the language of self-care, not weight targets.”

Professor Dokras said evidence-based, integrated lifestyle and psychological support was vital in helping women to overcome barriers to better outcomes in fertility treatment.

“Evidence from randomised controlled trials supports the integration of cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness-based interventions alongside lifestyle programs,” she explained.

“They demonstrate significant reductions in depression, anxiety and infertility-specific distress as well as improved quality of life.

“Effective support requires reframing lifestyle change as self-care, screening routinely for psychological distress throughout the treatment cycle, avoiding stigmatising language, and embedding mental health provision within fertility services as standard practice.”

Around 3,000 specialists in fertility health – including scientists, clinicians, nurses and counsellors – are attending the ASPIRE Congress at the China National Convention Centre in Beijing.

For further information, go to https://www.aspire2026.com

Interview

Professor Anuja Dokras is available for interview.

To arrange, please contact Trevor Gill, ASPIRE Congress Media Relations.

Tel: (Australia) 61 418 821948 or email lighthousepr@adelaide.on.net