SAFAR
South Asian fertility and reproductive health
Safar means journey. And no one should walk this one alone.
- Stigma reduction
- Access to evidence-based facts
- Family & community dynamics
- Advocacy & patient empowerment
- Resources & support networks
01 · The gap
Same IVF. Worse odds.
UK clinics deliver lower IVF birth rates for Asian patients, and the regulator says the reasons are still not fully understood. Research was never built around our bodies, and silence keeps it that way. That gap is why SAFAR exists.
HFEA, Fertility treatment 2024: trends and figures. Birth rate per embryo transferred, patients aged 18–37, 2022–24.
Your journey is not a secret to be kept.
SAFAR is how we change that. Together.
02 · The silence
Spoken about only in whispers
In many South Asian families, fertility is spoken about only in whispers, if at all. When a couple struggles, the questions land on her first, and hardest.
- Not one story: Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, and more.
- Different pressures, different beliefs, different silences.
- Awareness that flattens us helps no one. SAFAR breaks the monolith.
03 · The people
The voices of SAFAR
Real people, not stock photos: lived-experience voices and advocates already doing the work.
Seetal Savla
Six years, four IVF cycles, a donor egg, a miscarriage, and then a daughter conceived naturally. She writes and speaks about the fears South Asian families carry through fertility treatment, so no one has to carry them in silence.
Full story coming soon
Integrative counsellor and coach · Lived experience
Anita Guru
Bringing the emotional side of fertility into the open, the part that is usually kept private.
Full story coming soon04 · What's true
Truth or myth?
Three things our community hears all the time. Tap what you think, then see what the evidence says.
1 of 3
If your weight is “normal”, your metabolic and fertility risk is normal too.
2 of 3
When a couple struggles to conceive, a male factor is involved in around half of cases.
3 of 3
The standard vitamin D advice was designed to protect bones, not to optimise hormones or fertility.
05 · What's coming
Two things we are building
The SAFAR Retreat
Understand your options. Unload the burden.
A one-day gathering for our community: South Asian fertility clinicians, lived voices and advocates in one room, every session through a clinical and a cultural lens. Dates and venue announced soon. Shape it below and be first to hear.
In the room
What you leave with
- Real questions answered out loud, through a clinical AND a cultural lens, at the same time.
- Your options laid out clearly, tests, treatment, next steps.
- The weight you carry, named and shared. Made for us, by us.
Episode 1
The SAFAR Series
Fertility, hormones and heart health in South Asian bodies
A recorded conversation between Dr Divpreet Sacha and Dr Kurren Sandhu, two South Asian doctors talking the way our families never could.
Sponsored by In Vitro Health, a preconception supplement company, supporting education and awareness. The conversation stays editorially independent.
invitrohealth.co.uk06 · Answers
South Asian fertility questions, answered
Four questions we hear constantly. Tap one to open it. Yours is not here? Ask it below, anonymously.
Is fertility different for South Asian people in the UK?
Yes. South Asian bodies develop insulin resistance at a lower body weight, affecting ovulation before weight looks unusual on a chart. Over half of UK South Asians tested are severely vitamin D deficient. And regulator data shows lower IVF birth rates for Asian patients: 30% per embryo transferred versus 36% for White patients (HFEA, 2022–24).
When should a South Asian couple seek fertility help?
The 12-month rule was not written with South Asian bodies in mind. Insulin resistance can disrupt ovulation at a ‘normal’ weight, endometriosis is diagnosed years later, and our IVF birth rates run lower, so lost time costs more. Trying 6 months at any age, irregular periods, or family history? Ask your GP, and test both partners from day one.
Why do South Asian families find fertility hard to talk about?
Because it gets treated as sharam, a private failure, not a medical condition, and the blame lands hardest on women. That silence delays help, and delay shrinks options. It shows in the system too: the HFEA patient survey found Asian patients the least satisfied of any group with their fertility care.
Does male-factor infertility affect South Asian men?
Yes, and the burden is rising fastest in South Asian populations globally. Male factors are involved in roughly half of all fertility difficulties, yet testing is delayed because investigation starts with the woman. A semen analysis is simple, quick, and should happen in the first round of tests.
The questions we never ask out loud
Ask anonymously
The questions no one asks out loud are the ones this campaign exists for.
No name, no email: we cannot see who you are, and we cannot reply to you personally. Selected questions are answered, anonymised, by clinicians in campaign content.
This is not medical advice. If you need help now, call Emergency services 999 or NHS 111 111, or speak to your GP.
07 · Join us
Walk with us
Register your interest
The journey is documented on Instagram first.
@appyandyaar