Our Counsellors

Genea Counsellor Evelyn Zwahlen - Genea AustraliaEvelyn’s personal experience with infertility was the inspiration for her decision to work in the field of infertility counselling.

Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, Evelyn completed honours degrees in social work (1978) and in psychology (1983) and worked in child protection services. However, it was her own infertility journey, which began in 1984, that motivated a switch in career direction – a journey which would, over time, encompass many of the challenges facing her current patients such as miscarriage, Clomid, IUI, GIFT, IVF, OHSS and pre-eclampsia.

Her personal experience stirred her so much that, when she and her partner decided to emigrate to Australia, she chose to work exclusively in the field of infertility counselling.

Evelyn feels privileged to be able to accompany her patients on their journey through fertility treatment and beyond, providing support and compassion all along the complex path. She says that her greatest reward is the feeling that she has in some way eased the pain of this road less travelled.

Counselling Services Manager at Genea since 2002, Evelyn’s other great passion is surrogacy. At around the time of Evelyn’s appointment at Genea, the surrogacy program was being relaunched and Evelyn became the primary coordinator for all surrogacy cases. She enjoys assisting couples through this complex and challenging process.

Evelyn was also part of the team that developed and introduced the very popular Mind Your Own Body program at Genea. To this day, she is amazed at the speed at which strangers connect and become invaluable support to one another throughout this valuable program. Her long-term aspiration is to create more similar and fruitful opportunities for her clients.

Evelyn is a member of the Australia New Zealand Infertility Counsellors Association and the Australian Association of Social Workers.

Evelyn is located at Genea Sydney CBD.

Genea Counsellor Jessica Mander Jones  - Genea AustraliaJessica is a registered psychologist and holds a master’s degree of Applied Psychology from Macquarie University and an undergraduate Honours Degree from UNSW. She has over 20 years of experience working across a variety of therapeutic settings, including an adolescent team in community mental health, The Cancer Council of NSW and as a psychologist within a tertiary education environment.

Jessica is a warm and compassionate counsellor. She particularly enjoys building a safe and collaborative relationship with her clients and is passionate about supporting individuals and couples to navigate the harder aspects of trying to conceive.

Joining the counselling team at Genea, Jessica is in awe of and inspired by people’s resilience and determination in managing their fertility treatment and believes strongly in providing a collaborative and supportive space to talk about their journey.

Jessica is located at Genea Sydney CBD.
Genea Counsellor Sarah Reid - Genea AustraliaSince completing a Bachelor of Social Work at UNSW, Sarah has worked across a variety of fields including health, community, not for profit and EAP (Employee Assistance Program). Sarah has had a particular interest in grief and loss which was introduced to her through her work at St George Hospital working with Oncology and Haematology patients and their families and appreciates how grief and loss play such a big role in patients undertaking fertility treatment.

In recognizing how difficult it can be to create a family naturally, Sarah is overwhelmed by the resilience and empowerment displayed by individuals and couples who want to make their dreams of having a child or children become a reality. Sarah takes an empathic, eclectic approach to counselling and believes that each individual comes with their own narrative to tell and she is eager to listen and support them in their journey.

Sarah is located at Genea Sydney CBD.
Toni is located at Genea Newcastle.Genea Counsellor Toni Smith - Genea Newcastle Australia

Counsellors are available at all clinic locations for Genea patients. Please contact your Genea clinic for details.

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