Women today are shaping their lives with more intention and choice than any generation before us. Between building ambitious careers and redefining what adulthood looks like, we’re also rewriting the narrative around the biological clock. With agency comes a new kind of responsibility: understanding our bodies, our fertility, and our long-term health before decisions are made for us. This same spirit shaped the recent Vogue Salon event—a candid, future-focused conversation on reproductive wellness hosted at GenPrime Fertility.
As part of Rhea Fertility’s global network, GenPrime delivers human-centred fertility care built on science, empathy and thoughtful design. Its services span the full spectrum: including in vitro fertilisation (IVF), egg freezing, fertility preservation and reproductive health diagnostics—aiming to bring clarity and support at every stage of a patient’s journey. GenPrime’s integrated approach ensures that patients receive coordinated guidance at every stage — from their first conversation with an IVF clinician to ongoing fertility checks, with all core services housed under one roof. Consultations, diagnostics, IVF procedures, cryostorage, and emotional support take place in one location, anchored by an on-site embryology laboratory designed in partnership with Genea Fertility. Supported by Genea’s nearly four decades of laboratory methodology, along with GenPrime’s multidisciplinary team of IVF clinicians, embryologists, and counsellors, patients experience care that is consistent, transparent and connected.
Perched on the 16th floor of Camden Medical, GenPrime Fertility looks and feels nothing like a traditional clinic. Crafted by hospitality designer JJ Acuña, the space is serene and designed for comfort. Thoughtful touches such as soft lighting and curved architecture to private rooms help ease anxiety throughout the space. It reflects GenPrime’s core belief: good design is good care.
Moderated by Vogue Singapore’s beauty editor Emily Heng, the event featured a panel bringing together five speakers who each offered a deeply personal and nuanced perspective on reproductive health: Margaret Wang, founding CEO of GenPrime and Rhea Fertility; Zaylea Kua, senior psychologist at Private Space Medical, who spoke on the emotional toll of infertility and coping strategies; Yvette King, who shared how her experience with endometriosis shaped her journey toward taking control of her reproductive health; Cheryl Goh, an IVF success story and first-time mother known for her honest chronicle of the process; and Xin Lei Goh, board member of Fertility Support Singapore, who discussed her IVF journey and shed light on the often-overlooked topic of male infertility.
Reframing reproductive health
The panel opened with Margaret Wang’s personal journey—one that illustrates how complicated and emotionally layered reproductive healthcare can be. After the conclusion of an eight-year relationship, Wang decided to freeze her eggs for the first time in New York. Her doctor had once encouraged her to freeze not only embryos but also her own eggs; advice she had initially dismissed. “After the breakup,” she reflected, “I went back to that same doctor and said, thank you for asking me that question…this is one way I could regain a sense of control.”
When she later moved to Singapore, she explored a second round of egg freezing, only to encounter the industry term ‘geriatric mother,’ used for women over 35. Hearing it in her early 30s was jarring. At that time, social egg freezing was prohibited in Singapore, as it was only recently legalised for women ages 21-37 in 2023. And so, she was also told the procedure couldn’t be done locally and would have to be performed across the border. “I didn’t know yet what that meant,” she said, another moment that made her pause and reconsider the process.
Her experience, shaped in part by growing up with parents in medicine, eventually led her to open the clinic with her business partner, who had also faced fertility challenges. Their goal was to create a space that informs, reassures, and supports.
Cheryl Goh shared similar frustrations with the system. She described feeling like ‘a number’ in public hospitals, where explanations were brief and the term ‘geriatric’ was also used on her. “It was very disheartening,” says Goh. “I started to question my life choices.” While she believes women today have more autonomy over their bodies, she also noted the unavoidable biological realities.
“A lot of women now are in control of their bodies, but there is a biological factor that works against us, and it’s not something that we can circumvent. So it’s just something to bear in mind. Looking back, maybe I would have started earlier”
The emotional weight of infertility
Yvette King emphasised that infertility is not only physical but deeply emotional. She recounted her miscarriage and the painful experience of recovering from surgery in a maternity ward surrounded by new mothers. “That type of experience was incredibly traumatising,” she said. Years of symptoms eventually revealed endometriosis and a large ovarian cyst, adding to the complexity of her grief.
King highlights the quiet loneliness many women feel: “I had inextricably linked womanhood and motherhood together, I felt like a failure. I just wish women knew they weren’t alone.”
The emotional toll on couples going through IVF
Psychologist Zaylea Kua explained how infertility and IVF strain even strong relationships. For many women, a diagnosis of infertility challenges identity: Why can’t my body do what it’s supposed to do? The comparison to peers heightens this pressure.
Partners, Kua mentions, often cope differently, which can create friction. One couple she worked with grieved an unsuccessful implantation in opposite ways: the wife needed to talk and process, while the husband wanted to move on and try again. “One person needs emotional support, while the other is more problem-solving,” she explained. “We need to understand not only our own coping styles, but how they fit together as a couple.”
On male infertility
The conversation also touched on male infertility, which carries its own stigma. Xin Lei shared that many husbands struggle privately. “Their wives say, ‘Can you talk to my husband?’ But when we meet them, they tell us they’re the ones crying in the shower.” The expectation to appear strong often prevents men from expressing fear or grief, even though “the emotional challenges hit them just as hard.”
Awareness and community
The panel agreed that Singapore lacks sufficient education and open conversation about women’s reproductive health. “We don’t do enough,” said Xin Lei. “It’s not in our conscious awareness that we need to take control of that.”
For Cheryl, community support became a turning point. Joining a small fertility support meet-up helped her feel understood for the first time. “None of my friends were going through this, but that little meet-up made me realise I’m not alone.”
In a time often described as a ‘loneliness epidemic,’ community plays a vital role in supporting people on fertility and IVF journeys. “Panels like these are so important.” Goh says.
GenPrime Fertility is now open with its full suite of reproductive health services at Camden Medical, #16-07, 1 Orchard Boulevard, Singapore, 248649. The newly opened clinic in Singapore joins centres in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, and Los Angeles.
Find out more about Genprime Singapore.
