MBE For Chief Executive Of Infertility Network UK

Main Category: Fertility
Article Date: 15 Jun 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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Clare Lewis-Jones, Chief Executive of Infertility Network UK (I N UK) and More to Life, the largest national charity providing help, support and information to those suffering the effects of infertility, has been awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to healthcare.

Clare (formerly Clare Brown), an infertility sufferer herself, has worked for over 25 years to raise awareness of infertility and its impact on those who suffer from it and the fact that there is more understanding of the illness illustrates her success in doing so. Her commitment and dedication to all patients who suffer from infertility has played a major factor in the recognition which Infertility Network UK receive from the Department of Health and from health professional organisations. The increased level of NHS funding for fertility treatment has been acknowledged by many as partly down to the work of I N UK and Clare.

Clare was instrumental in instrumental in bringing together all patient organisations to form the Association of Fertility Patients Organisation (AFPO) in April 2005 and represents infertility patients not only through Infertility Network UK but also on a European level through Fertility Europe.

Commenting on her award, Clare said "This award is a huge honour for me personally. However it is also an award which I feel indicates that infertility is something which is most definitely a healthcare issue and one which is deserving of NHS funding. It is also an award which I share with all my colleagues at Infertility Network UK. We literally struggle from one year to the next to survive. Infertility can happen to anyone but it is only when it happens to you that it becomes a real issue, a real illness. Hopefully this award will make people sit up and think - infertility is a healthcare issue - it is something that can happen to me - and it is something deserving of understanding and treatment by the NHS".

"I thank each and every person I work with - a fantastic team - without whom this wouldn't have happened. I N UK is a fantastic charity and a charity which is a vital to those affected".

For general information and support on infertility call 0800 008 7464 or visit our website at http://www.infertilitynetworkuk.com

Clare Lewis-Jones Biog

Clare discovered she had fertility problems in 1978 and over the next 8 years had three attempts at tubal surgery and 4 IVF attempts which all failed. In 1985 she was successful in adopting her two children, who are now aged 24 and 25.

Having been a member for three years, she joined the National Management Committee of CHILD, the national infertility support network, in 1984. Between then and 1989 she held the posts of Membership Secretary and Chair. In 1989 she became Executive Director working part-time from home. From that time to December 2003, when CHILD and iSSUE merged to form Infertility Network UK, this developed in to a full-time post, office-based with a staff of 8.

On the merger of CHILD and ISSUE in December 2003, Clare became Chief Executive of the new organisation Infertility Network UK.

Clare was appointed as a Member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in December 2002.

Clare is President of the National Infertility Awareness Campaign, Chair of the European Infertility Alliance, patient representative on the Management Committee of the British Fertility Society and consumer representative on the NICE Fertility Guideline Development Group.

Clare has written numerous papers and articles on infertility and its effect on sufferers, as well as taking part in equally numerous interviews for the media.

In June 2007 Clare was presented with the World Fertility Awareness Month Achievement Award at the occasion of the 23rd annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. This award is presented at the ESHRE conference each year and has historically gone to very eminent clinicians working in the sector.

*Infertility Network UK - GlaxoSmithKline Impact Awards Winner 2009*

http://www.infertilitynetworkuk.com