Austin, TX (May 8, 2018) – Texas Fertility Center (TFC) and Ovation Fertility are proud to announce the recipient of the Advocacy Day grant. Erin Steward, a TFC and Ovation Fertility patient, will receive the grant to cover the cost of attending RESOLVE Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C., on May 23.
To be considered for the grant, which was cosponsored by TFC and Ovation Fertility, applicants were asked to submit a fertility story. An independent, 12-person committee with a background in infertility reviewed all of the submissions to make the final selection. Erin’s story about her struggle to conceive her daughter and her efforts to have another baby helped secure her place as the grant recipient.
Writes Erin in her submission: “I hope that you, in your positions of power, will see me and hear my story, and understand that I am not unique— I am not an exception. I am not the first to suffer marital problems or experience depression as a result of my infertility. I am not the first to struggle with how to pay bills or make ends meet… I am a wife, mother, daughter and now, an advocate. I am asking for your help in addressing infertility.”
Erin will not be attending RESOLVE Advocacy Day alone. She will join her husband, Justin and Kaylen Silverberg M.D., the medical director of TFC – and the fertility specialist who treated her. As a well-known champion of accessible fertility care, Dr. Silverberg regularly attends the annual event to speak to members of Congress about important issues in reproductive care.
According to Dr. Silverberg, “We were thrilled with the response to our request for Advocacy Day grant submissions. Although we are only providing one grant, all applicants will travel to Washington, D.C., in a different way, as Erin and I will be bringing their stories with us to share with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.”
During RESOLVE Advocacy Day, Erin will attend lobbying workshops in which Dr. Silverberg and other experienced advocates will teach attendees how to effectively lobby their congressional delegation. She will then have the opportunity to speak to members of Congress on behalf of the infertility community.
“Not everyone has the resources or skills to attend Advocacy Day, but every fertility patient has a story to tell. Texas Fertility Center and Ovation Fertility are proud to give Erin the opportunity to attend this special event and make her voice heard on Capitol Hill,” Dr. Silverberg said.
About Texas Fertility Center
Texas Fertility Center (TFC), one of the nation’s leading full-service infertility practices, provides advanced infertility and reproductive endocrinology services to patients throughout Texas, the southwestern United States and the Americas. Since 1980, TFC has been recognized nationally and internationally for outstanding pregnancy rates, leading-edge laboratory procedures and innovative research programs. For more information, please visit www.txfertility.com.
