On Monday, November 14, 2022, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association held its renowned Night of Hope Gala in New York City. AMWA was honored with the Hope for Advocacy Award and AMWA leader Dr. Paula Amato was honored with the Risa A. Levine RESOLVE Advocacy Legacy Award.
It seems just yesterday, that our AMWA team began putting together information for a webpage on physician fertility and putting out a call for members to join a new task force to help address this issue. Co-founders Morgan Levy and Alyssa Brown helped me organize over 150 responses to create subcommittee groups and a leadership for this group. Physicians, residents, and students stepped forward to become leaders in this work – and formed an executive committee led by past and present co-chairs, Dr. Cindy Duke, Dr. Torie Comeaux Plowden, Dr. Paula Amato, Dr. Hina Talib with advisory input from Dr. Arghavan Salles, Dr. Ariela Marshall, Dr. Vineet Arora and subcommittee cochairs, Dr. Chrissy Guidry, Dr. Christina Yannetsos, Dr. Erica Kaye, Dr. Bat-Sheva Maslow, and Dr. Roohi Jeelani, and many more leaders representing each division within AMWA.
Since 2020, our Physician Fertility Committee has:
- Organized the first Physician Fertility Summit
- Hosted the Seminar Series: Turning Fertility Challenges Into Change with a focus on communication, advocacy, and reproductive health plans
- Developed an AMWA-RESOLVE Coverage-at-Work Toolkit
- Launched research studies and numerous peer reviewed publications
- Launched fertility coaching groups
- Held webinars, CME events, Annual Meeting presentations, and roundtables
- Promoted social media campaigns to raise awareness and share stories
- Gained AMWA recognition in major media outlets, including the New York Times
- Written op-eds and blog posts
- Promoted access to the FertilityNow app to help understand individual reproductive health options
- Partnered with Frame Fertility to offer members 50% off resources, including access to fertility counseling
…and much more.
Watch the AMWA Physician Fertility Program highlights reel that played at the Gala!
We have been thankful for the support of RESOLVE, ARC Fertility, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Progyny, and Fertility Source Companies for this work.
Our goal is that access to programs, resources, and benefits coverage be available to any physician and trainee who seeks it. And this year, AMWA partnered with ARC Fertility to make sure that we also put words into action and made fertility benefits coverage available to AMWA full-time employees.
A sincere thanks to each and every member of the Physician Fertility Committee for making all of this work possible. And congratulations to Dr. Paula Amato.
Excerpt from Dr. Eliza Chin’s acceptance speech for AMWA at RESOLVE’s Night of Hope Gala:
“Founded in 1915, AMWA has worked for over a century to advance women in medicine and improve women’s health. Our work in fertility began when we learned of data showing that women physicians experience infertility at double the rate of the general population. We knew then that we needed to do something. When a call to action was put out, AMWA responded, and we were joined by a groundswell of physician leaders, some who had successfully lead efforts to secure fertility benefits within their own institution or state. We organized the first Physician Fertility Summit, held workshops, promoted social media campaigns, launched research studies, provided coaching groups, wrote op-eds, and more. We partnered with RESOLVE on a toolkit so that more physicians would speak with institutional leaders about the importance of fertility benefits coverage. Many of you here supported our work – and for that, we are grateful.
The story of how we got here to this day – research, advocacy, partnership, and leadership – is the story of how we will continue with all of you, whether that work is supporting individuals, transforming healthcare systems, or changing public policy. If we can mobilize healthcare, one of the largest sectors within our society, we can help change the landscape of infertility.
So thank you RESOLVE, for your partnership, and for your generosity in honoring AMWA with this award. Thank you for giving us hope for a better future for women in medicine.”
Help support AMWA and RESOLVE in one of two ways:
- Use giving Tuesday to help raise money for the work of AMWA and RESOLVE through the Fertility-Five Peer-to-Peer fundraising program. These funds will be towards AMWA’s infertility work and a joint AMWA donation to RESOLVE
- Make a donation directly to RESOLVE in honor of AMWA, here.
L-R: AMWA President-Elect Elizabeth Garner, MD; Vrunda B Desai, MD; Adjunct Assistant Professor in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale University SoM and Medical Director, Cooper Surgical; RESOLVE CEO Barbara Collura; AMWA Executive Director, Eliza Lo Chin, MD
The Hope Award for Advocacy presented to American Medical Women’s Association by RESOLVE The National Infertility Association during their 2023 Night of Hope Gala
Accepting the Risa A. Levine RESOLVE Advocacy Legacy Award, AMWA Physician Fertility Committee Co-Chair, Paula Amato, MD, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oregon Health and Science University
