Meet our Experts

Our team of fertility experts are committed to your goal – taking home a healthy baby.

Fertility Specialist Team

Our team of fertility specialists, are led by our founder and medical director, Dr Howard Smith, and are a mix of skilled obstetricians, gynecologists and endocrinologists. As a result, our fertility specialists take a whole-of-body approach to your fertility investigations and treatment. Seeing one of our fertility specialists does not necessarily mean you will need treatment with assisted reproductive technology, such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Many of our patients can use lifestyle interventions or non-invasive procedures to achieve a pregnancy. Knowing that you are in expert hands goes a long way towards peace of mind. There are so many benefits to having your treatment at Westmead Fertility Centre – please let your fertility expert know your preference for our centre at the time of your consultation. You will be asked to sign treatment consent forms specific to Westmead Fertility Centre and be advised about our affordable treatment fees.

Scientific and Research Team

The embryology laboratory of the fertility clinic is where the most delicate and crucial processes of treatment take place, making it critical to success. At Westmead Fertility Centre, we have a team of passionate and dedicated scientists in our state-of-the-art laboratories. When deciding where to have treatment, it is important you consider the education, training and years of experience of all members of staff. At Westmead Fertility Centre, we are so passionate about the role of education and professional development that all of our embryology team have a postgraduate degree, such as a master’s or a PhD. Our team keep up with new advances through regular ongoing professional development, reading the latest medical journal publications, and attending Australian and international industry conferences. The extensive training our team undergoes is essential to creating the ideal conditions for your embryos to flourish. Our embryologists will prepare the laboratory by regulating the environmental conditions, such as air quality, temperature and humidity. They will collect the oocytes (eggs) during your egg retrieval, fertilise the oocytes by in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), culture and care for your embryos in the laboratory, be there for your embryo transfer and carefully freeze any embryos you may have for subsequent cycles. Our embryologists are all highly educated, specialist trained and experienced, therefore maximising the chances of fertilisation when they carry out the IVF and ICSI techniques in the laboratory during your treatment. Throughout your treatment at Westmead Fertility Centre, our embryologists work closely with your fertility specialist to safely look after your sperm, oocytes and embryos and keep you updated on progress at each step of your journey. Read more about Westmead Fertility Centre’s Scientific Director, Associate Professor Cecilia Sjoblom. Westmead Fertility Centre operates as a social enterprise. That means we provide affordable access to high quality fertility treatments and employ the latest, most effective assisted reproductive technology innovations while also using effective business practices to accrue operating surpluses to help future patients by reinvesting into research. Through our own and broader University of Sydney research, we look to the core of fertility problems, with the goal that one day more patients will be able to realise their dream of holding a baby in their arms. Read more about how you can make a donation to support our or broader University research.

Having my baby daughter was the best thing that happened to me. What better job than to help other people in their quest to bring a new life into this world and make families complete.
Dr George Liperis, Embryologist

Nursing Team

Our fertility nurses provide constant support and advice on each step of your fertility journey, including:

  • providing you with education and information about your treatment
  • taking your blood for hormone analysis and monitoring
  • performing your ultrasounds
  • liaising with your fertility specialist to develop the next steps in your treatment
  • referring you to a counsellor if you need more or specific support
  • supporting you during your procedures, such as egg collection, embryo transfer or insemination
  • sharing in the news of your pregnancy outcome and guiding your next steps.

Our expert fertility nurses are the force behind our care. They are caring, supportive and compassionate, and we regularly receive positive, unsolicited feedback on our team. If you are considering your next steps or wondering how to get started, you can schedule a free chat with one of fertility nurses. This is a great opportunity to discuss where you are up to, if it’s time to seek specialist medical advice and how to get started if you are ready.

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Team

Patient Support Team

Our administration team are your first point of contact at our clinic, and will help you with any questions or concerns you have. From the very beginning of your treatment, they will help you understand the information you need to provide to get your treatment started and the financial implications, such as cycle costs and applicable Medicare rebates. Our administration team are always available to answer any questions you have, so your fertility treatment can be as smooth and hassle-free as possible. We regularly receive feedback on how helpful they are about keeping our patients informed and supported. Like all of our team, they love meeting our patients’ babies when they come back to our clinic for a visit.

Fertility Counsellors

To help you look after your emotional wellbeing along your fertility journey, Westmead Fertility Centre offers you access to specially trained fertility counsellors. We encourage you to see this service as an essential part of our care for you. Counselling offers the opportunity to identify areas that may be causing you distress, and find strategies that may be useful to you. Sometimes just being able to talk with someone who is non-judgmental and finding out that your reactions are ‘normal’ is all that you need to manage the rest of your treatment. Counselling appointments can be face-to-face, over the phone or via Skype. There’s no charge for counselling during your treatment at Westmead Fertility Centre.

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Genetic Counsellors

Genetic counselling offers the opportunity to discuss genetic conditions and diseases that may affect you, and potentially any child(ren) you may have. Our genetic counsellor is uniquely trained to understand genetic testing and help translate the scientific data in order to help our patients understand the implications of their results so they can make the best choice. This vitally important service is available for our patients who are undergoing preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) or preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) treatment at Westmead Fertility Centre, at no additional cost.

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Start your fertility journey with Westmead Fertility Centre