The Future of Fertility Is Global

From pioneering IVF centers to a new generation of patients, the next era of reproductive care is being shaped by science, technology, investment, the need for greater awareness, and a broader understanding of who needs care.

By Andrea Syrtash, Editor-in-Chief of pregnantish, with reporting from ESHRE

Fertility is no longer a niche corner of healthcare.

It is becoming a global healthcare ecosystem, shaped by scientific innovation, new technologies, changing regulation, consolidation, government investment, and, perhaps most importantly, a rapidly evolving patient population.

That was one of the clearest themes I heard in conversations with leaders across the fertility industry this year at ESHRE, the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. From Europe to the Middle East and beyond, the future of reproductive care is increasingly being defined not by one treatment, one country, or even one type of patient, but by a much broader landscape of care.

And as the industry evolves, so does the definition of who fertility care is for.

The conversation now is expanding beyond heterosexual couples experiencing infertility to include single women and men considering fertility preservation or single parenthood, LGBTQ+ families, men confronting fertility challenges, people seeking genetic information, and people thinking about their reproductive futures long before they are actively trying to have a child.

Pregnantish launched almost a decade ago with a mission to include ‘undertold’ stories of modern family building and infertility. We promised to spotlight all the people who may need to access treatments like IVF and fertility preservation, including people under 35 years old, people navigating a cancer diagnosis, singles, non-white patients, people in the LGBTQ community, men, and others who did not fit the traditional picture of what "infertility looks like," a phrase that we popularized as our social media hashtag at pregnantish. 

When I first launched pregnantish publicly in January 2017 as the first media platform dedicated to helping people navigate infertility and fertility treatments, we were told the category was too "niche" to warrant its own channel. I was regularly on-air at the time as a relationships author and declared infertility to be the biggest relationship trend of the time. Producers told me  that nobody would be interested in the topic — even though, oftentimes, the same producer would pull me aside and share their story of struggling to conceive. 

We knew then, and know now, that people navigating fertility are not a “niche” audience —  they are an underserved one.

As we move toward our 10-year anniversary this January, we have hosted more than 50 live events to promote fertility education, spread awareness, and foster support, and our content has reached more than a billion people globally. Through our media, events, and research, we have seen firsthand that the fertility journey often begins long before someone walks into a clinic.

And that leads to one of the core beliefs that has guided our work from the beginning:

Access to care greatly matters. But access begins with awareness.

Access is not only about whether a treatment exists, whether a clinic is available, or whether a country permits a particular procedure. It begins with knowing that an option exists, understanding when to seek help, knowing which questions to ask, and feeling informed and empowered enough to make a decision.

That is particularly important in fertility, where cultural stigma, misinformation, lack of education, financial barriers, and an overwhelming volume of conflicting information can all delay people from accessing care.

But we also know that awareness is only one piece of a much larger puzzle. 

From the Fertility Field to the Fertility Industry 

Vilma Durante, Vice President and Head of the Global Fertility Hub at Gedeon Richter, has spent more than three decades in the therapeutic area of fertility and has watched it evolve from a primarily physician- and science-driven field into a much more consolidated and commercial environment.

Gedeon Richter entered fertility through its acquisition of Finox in 2016 and has since expanded its portfolio while investing in new opportunities across reproductive health.

Durante sees an opportunity to think about fertility as a continuum rather than a collection of individual treatments. That means looking beyond the traditional IVF drug portfolio and investing in new technologies and approaches, while also addressing an area she believes has been neglected for far too long: male infertility.

At a scientific symposium Gedeon Richter hosted at ESHRE, the question was deliberately provocative: Why are we treating women when the issue may lie with the man?

For decades, much of the physical and psychological burden of fertility treatment has fallen on women, even when we have significant evidence that male factors contribute to infertility. I have heard similar concerns from patients, including those who told us that it took years before their partners received deeper fertility testing.

Durante also offered a candid perspective on the field’s increasing commercialization. 

She has experienced the transition from a model in which physicians and scientists had more influence over clinical decisions to one in which large clinic groups and business owners increasingly shape how care is delivered.

"If I could choose myself, I would prefer the older way," she told me, while acknowledging that the industry has changed and companies have to adapt.

For her, the answer is ultimately science: "The only thing that pays off is science."

That philosophy is reflected in Gedeon Richter's emphasis on scientific thought leadership rather than simply product promotion. Durante believes the industry has an opportunity to bring clinicians and patients into conversations about the most important questions facing reproductive medicine.

When we do, better care is ultimately delivered. 

The Pioneers are Still Shaping the Future

To understand where fertility is going, it is also worth remembering where it came from.

At the inaugural World Fertility Awards in New York in December 2025, we created a Legacy Award specifically to recognize the pioneers whose work fundamentally changed reproductive medicine. The first award was named in honor of Professor Antonio Pellicer, Co-Founder and President of the IVI Institute. 

Pellicer reflected on the extraordinary distance the field has traveled, "When we started IVI 35 years ago, reproductive medicine was in its infancy," he shared. Today, he noted, reproductive medicine has become a path to parenthood for millions around the world. He also emphasized that the progress was collective and that there is still enormous opportunity for the next generation.

That evolution is a reminder that today's fertility landscape was built on decades of scientific risk-taking and clinical innovation. But it also illustrates how dramatically the definition of fertility care has expanded.

The field that once centered primarily on IVF now encompasses genetics, embryo testing, cryopreservation, fertility preservation, donor conception, reproductive surgery, diagnostics, therapeutics, digital health, and, increasingly, artificial intelligence.

The next generation of innovation will build on that foundation.

The Business of Fertility is Changing —  and Becoming More Global

Jane Exon, Group Chief Growth Officer at FutureLife, sees another important dimension of this transformation: patients are behaving more like informed healthcare consumers. They are researching their next steps before entering a clinic, comparing providers, success rates, technologies, costs, financing, genetics, donor programs, and patient experience, sometimes across borders.

At pregnantish, we’ve also seen the power of word-of-mouth in this category. One patient with a good experience will often tell a number of her friends, who may also see the same doctor or book a consultation at the same clinic. 

In other words, the fertility journey increasingly starts in the information ecosystem.

The companies and clinics building the next generation of fertility care will not only compete on science and clinical outcomes. They will also have to earn trust and communicate with patients in ways that make an increasingly complicated landscape easier to understand and more supportive all around.

A More Connected Patient Journey

These changes are taking different forms around the world.

In the United Arab Emirates, CEO of ART Fertility Clinics, Suresh Soni, pointed to the country’s evolving regulatory environment, genetic screening and testing, research ambitions, and expanding reproductive services.

Alaa Anjarini, Group Chief Commercial Officer of Blue Ocean Health, also reflected on one of the most significant changes in the fertility conversation: who we understand the fertility patient to be.

Both UAE-based leaders I spoke with at ESHRE emphasized the government’s support for IVF and fertility care. Their observations raise a broader question about the role governments can play in supporting access, alongside patients, insurers, and private providers. 

Blue Ocean Health, founded by Dr. Michael Fakih, encompasses Fakih IVF and a broader healthcare ecosystem spanning reproductive medicine, genomics and personalized care across the region and brings another perspective to the transformation of fertility care.

Anjarini sees the next evolution of fertility care as something bigger than IVF itself: a more holistic, connected and informed patient journey, with technology increasingly playing a role alongside clinical care.

That reflects a broader shift happening globally. Patients increasingly want to understand the journey, not just the procedure. They want better communication, more options, and technology that makes care easier without making it less human.

The ambition is to move from thinking about IVF as an isolated treatment to thinking about reproductive health as an ecosystem. And that shift is changing not only how fertility care is delivered, but what patients increasingly expect from it.

Today’s Fertility Treatment Patient is Changing, Too

The conversation used to be almost exclusively about "infertile couples." Now, it’s increasingly about people pursuing single parenthood, preserving fertility, exploring parenthood later in life, and considering their reproductive options outside the traditional fertility-treatment pathway.

It means the fertility journey increasingly begins before treatment. People are asking questions earlier. They want to know more about their reproductive options and bodies. They’re searching for information before a formal diagnosis. (We call this audience "Fertility Curious™.)

But the information available is still uneven. We often say that in this category, the patient gets too much information and not enough information — at the same time!

My conversation with Durante illustrated this perfectly. She recently encountered a highly educated couple in Switzerland who were struggling to conceive. They had been trying, waiting and returning to their regular gynecologist. They did not know what to do next. By the time Durante encountered them, the woman was already 40.

The problem was not necessarily that fertility care did not exist — they simply did not know how to access it.

Awareness Must Be Part of the Industry’s Infrastructure

I’ve always believed that storytelling is the pathway to the marketplace. This is a highly misunderstood and stigmatized category. Human stories debunk myths and demystify what’s possible when it comes to building your family with science and technology. 

At pregnantish, we have seen again and again that people often come to us before they come to a clinic. They are trying to understand which questions to ask and they want to hear from people who have been through it. They are overwhelmed but curious. 

We know that trusted stories can help people recognize themselves in a healthcare journey, understand their options and ultimately find the providers, treatments, and services that may help them build or expand their families. 

Put simply: Awareness leads to access. 

The same philosophy of elevating this conversation — now at a global level — is behind the World Fertility Project and the World Fertility Awards. 

The inaugural Awards brought together leaders, clinicians, advocates, innovators, industry leaders, media, and patients from across the global fertility community. The goal was not simply to celebrate the fertility industry. It was to make fertility a more visible, inclusive, and global conversation.

To us, that global lens matters because fertility itself is global.

We know now that people experience many of the same pain points on their fertility journeys, whether they are in Milwaukee or Mumbai. Science and technology cross borders. So do patients, ideas, investment, and, increasingly, regulation.

And, as governments around the world grapple with declining birth rates and demographic change, fertility is becoming part of a much larger conversation about population, healthcare, and the future of families.

From our vantage point, the countries and companies that understand that will help shape what comes next.

The Future of Fertility is Bigger Than IVF

The fertility field is entering an important new phase.

Pharmaceutical companies are investing in new reproductive technologies. Clinic groups are consolidating and expanding internationally. AI is entering the patient and laboratory journey, male fertility is receiving more attention, and genetic technologies continue to evolve. Pioneers like Professor Antonio Pellicer are watching a field they helped create become a global healthcare ecosystem.

But perhaps the biggest transformation is happening among the people who need this care — the patients. They are asking for more information and more agency. They want to be treated as whole people rather than as a diagnosis or a cycle number.

Cross-border fertility care is also growing, although traveling for treatment is not an option or preference for everyone. The larger opportunity is to learn from what different countries, clinicians, scientists, companies and patients are doing differently, and make the best of that progress more visible and accessible.

Ten years ago I was told this topic was too small to dedicate a platform to it.

Today, more celebrities, more stories, more research, more investment, and more public conversation are bringing fertility into the mainstream. And yet, awareness still does not reach everyone equally.

The opportunity now is to make sure that as fertility care becomes more innovative, global, and sophisticated, the people at the center of it are not left behind. That means ensuring both providers and patients are supported during what I’d argue is quite literally one of the most important journeys of someone’s life — to create life.