20 Jan Simone Attard – Being The Change
A lot has been said about In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) lately, but for most, especially those who haven’t been personally touched by it, the procedure and its legal implications remain somewhat vague. Very simply put, IVF is one of the most popular medical options sought after by couples who have problems conceiving naturally. When a couple conceives naturally, sperm from the man and the egg from the woman meet in the woman’s fallopian tubes that join the ovaries to the uterus (womb). For successful conception sperm needs to penetrate the egg and fertilise it. During IVF, this process happens outside the woman’s body – a woman’s eggs are surgically retrieved and fertilised in a laboratory using sperm that has been given as a sample. Next, the fertilised egg, called an embryo, is transferred back into the woman’s womb.
For the past twenty years or so, in Malta, IVF treatment was only offered in the private sector. It came at a great financial cost for those seeking it, and more worryingly, it was not regularized. The Introduction of the IVF Law (Embryo Protection Act) in 2012 was therefore a great achievement for Malta because even though the Law is very restricted, it motivated the Government to introduce IVF on the National Health Service and in May 2013 The Embryo Protection Authority was set up and gamete freezing (cryopreservation) was also introduced.
Simone Attard (42) is the Vice Chairperson of the Embryo Protection Authority (EPA), but despite her very important role in this sector, Simone, who is now married with an eight-year old son, had never envisaged herself on this career route. It was a life-threatening situation relatively late in life, that opened her eyes to the grave need for improvement in the caring profession and which motivated her to change careers.
“As a student my intention was to become a lawyer,” she explains, “but it wasn’t meant to be, because the year that I was meant to enrol in to University, the Law Course was not offered. Having obtained all the necessary certifications, I decided not to waste a whole year just waiting for the next university intake, so I started working with one of the leading banks of the time. After office hours I also attended a specialised course in Banking Law and Banking Accountancy eventually also obtaining a Diploma in Banking. At that point I felt that my career was moving forward, so I decided to continue my studies in the economic sector and did not apply for the next intake at University.
On 14th May 1993, I married my husband Joseph, whom I had met six years before while pursuing one of my hobbies – drama. Our married life was perfect, until one day, tragedy hit. In the summer of 1998 I was fighting for my life when an ectopic pregnancy resulted in a ruptured fallopian tube. After undergoing major surgery, it took me a while to recover and had quite a long stay in hospital. This left me with very mixed feelings because medically I was taken care of very well but, at the time, the hospital staff were not sensitive to the fact that apart from being a medical patient, my husband and I had just gone through the loss of an unborn child. As a consequence they did not offer any emotional support for the bereavement and, even worse, no one actually acknowledged that what we had lost was in fact an unborn child.”
“Following this experience I decided to leave my career in the economic sector and start my studies in a caring profession. I started by taking a course in Group Dynamics for Self-Help then moved on to a course in Counselling skills, followed by a Post Graduate Certificate and Post Graduate Diploma in Family Therapy from the University of Tavistock. I also volunteered with Appogg and The Cana Movement, which exposed me to couples who were having problems conceiving. In 2003 I was appointed as a member of the Curia’s Diocesan Family Commission where my role was to represent the interests of infertile couples within the Maltese Church.
Whilst my career in this new profession was taking off, my husband and I were faced with the trauma of another two miscarriages until finally, in 2005 our precious baby boy Jeremy was born seven weeks prematurely. And this was when another life changing situation struck.
When Jeremy was still a toddler we noticed that he was not communicating well with us. At first the doctors said it was linked to him being premature, but then we noticed that when we used to call him he would not respond to his own name. My maternal instinct immediately told me that something was not right, and after several tests and diagnostic procedures, Jeremy was diagnosed with mild ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). This brought on a lot of challenges as Jeremy is non-verbal, and communicates only with visuals and through specialised software on his Ipad.
Our biggest challenge is dealing with society at large because no one notices that there is something not ‘normal’ with this good-looking boy. When at the age of four we tried to enrol him in sports activities, at first he was accepted, but then when we explained that Jeremy has special needs, all our requests were refused.
Throughout all this I remained focused on helping couples faced with problems of infertility. One in every seven couples are affected by infertility issues and most are not aware that this condition can occur at any age and for a variety of reasons ranging from endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, naturally low ovarian reserve, blocked tubes and other male factor issues such as azoospermia, low sperm count, low morphology and motility issues. Some are also not aware that couples go through relentless tests, interminable waiting, multiple disappointments, frustration and desolation as a result of trying repeatedly without success.”
Between 2004 and 2008 Simone was one of the main contributors to the Parliament Social Affairs Committee responsible for establishing of an IVF Law for Malta. During this time she also become a Member of the British Infertility Counselling Association (BICA) and followed a course for infertility counselling. In 2010 she was asked to contribute to the Parliament Select Committee on Medical Assisted Procreation and the establishing of an IVF Law for Malta. This led to her appointment in 2013 as Vice Chairperson of the Embryo Protection Authority which is responsible for ensuring that high standards of ethics are maintained by all, establishing codes of practice and protocols that are to be followed by all licenced clinics and hospitals, to ensure traceability of human cells and to carry out inspections in order to ensure that the standards of best practice are being respected.
“With IVF treatment now being offered free on the NHS, eligible couples can concentrate more on the process itself and the therapeutic support that they need,” explains Simone. “Different people handle the problem differently, not only depending on their individual characters and coping mechanisms but also depending on the particular stage of the infertility. During the first phase of the journey, when the news that something is wrong with their fertility is just broken to them, couples tend to temporarily retreat from family and friends in order to manage the pain. At this stage they are afflicted with shock, disbelief, denial, anxiety and also confusion.
During the second phase of the journey women tend to try to work through the pain by confronting and enduring the problem. They process it by thinking, talking, sharing and expressing their feelings with friends and / or a therapist. Men tend to keep their pain to themselves, to protect themselves from vulnerability and feelings of powerlessness. They also tend to engage in secret grief, to spare others and also to protect their partner. Some men also try to take physical action to try to fix it; they try to get back in control and not to let the treatments take control over their lives.
In the third phase of the journey the handling of infertility is common to both men and women, but men have a greater tendency to resolve the issue by re-organising and re-structuring their lives by investing in new goals and immersing themselves in new activities.”
Together with her role at the Embryo Protection Authority, Simone is also The Special Olympics Global Family Leader for Europe and Eurasia. In this role she is responsible for motivating family members of children and adults with intellectual disabilities, to get involved and engaged in Special Olympics. The organisation provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
“Having so much to juggle with my career and also a busy family life comes with a price tag of sleeping late at night and waking up early in the morning,” adds Simone with a smile. “However no matter how tough career demands get, my priority remains my family and the attention needed to care for a son on the Autism spectrum. And of course, none of this would have been possible without the total support of my husband Joseph, who has always been my main support beam encouraging me to move forward in all the decisions I have taken.”
