Vancouver, Canada – Olive Fertility Centre is proud to announce that Dr. Al Yuzpe, co-founder and co-director of Olive Fertility Centre and Chief Medical Officer for The Fertility Partners, has been awarded the 2025 Fertility Matters Canada (FMC) Hope & Healing Award for Physicians. This prestigious national award recognizes a physician in the field of reproductive medicine who has shown exceptional dedication, innovation, and compassion in advancing fertility care in Canada.
A pioneer in reproductive medicine, Dr. Yuzpe has helped shape the landscape of fertility treatment both nationally and globally. Known for his groundbreaking work in developing fertility treatments and protocols that are now standard worldwide—including laparoscopy and the use of clomiphene citrate and human menopausal gonadotropins—Dr. Yuzpe has been instrumental in transforming the lives of countless individuals and couples hoping to grow their families.
“We are honoured to recognize Dr. Al Yuzpe, a true trailblazer whose contributions to reproductive medicine have changed the lives of countless Canadians,” says Carolynn Dubey, Executive Director of Fertility Matters Canada. “His decades of innovation, compassionate care, and advocacy, especially in British Columbia, have helped move the conversation forward on public funding for fertility treatment and have left an indelible mark on Canada’s fertility landscape.”
Dr. Yuzpe’s contributions include helping to bring in vitro fertilization (IVF) to Canada after his association with Nobel Prize-winning scientists Dr. Patrick Steptoe and Dr. Robert Edwards—the team behind the world’s first IVF birth in 1978. In 1982, he founded one of Canada’s first IVF centres at the University of Western Ontario.
“Beyond his contribution to the advancement of fertility treatment and women’s health, Dr. Yuzpe has been a mentor and an inspiration to so many of us in the field,” says Dr. Jason Hitkari, co-director and co-founder of Olive Fertility Centre. “He is also a compassionate and beloved doctor to the thousands of individuals and couples he has helped to build families.”
“For 54 years I have had the honour and privilege of helping people achieve the greatest gift in life, parenthood. I have coached baseball and basketball teams where some of “my” IVF children played, I’ve attended graduations, and marriages of children born as a result of our IVF treatment and seen the joy and pride on their parents faces. What greater reward can one receive as a result of their work. I have been truly blessed by being at the birth of IVF, in assisting the many others in our field who have brought IVF to those who need it and in removing the stigma associated with the word “Infertility”.
Dr. Yuzpe has also been a strong advocate for inclusivity in fertility care. At a time when access to treatment in British Columbia was limited to married couples, he and co-founder Dr. Margo Fluker opened a clinic that welcomed individuals of all genders, sexualities, and relationship statuses.
“When the original clinic we were part of was born in 1995, Al and his working partner vowed to make it all-inclusive—welcoming and accessible to all who wanted to create a family,” says Wendy Baker, RN, Coordinator of the Donor Sperm Program at Olive Fertility.
