Counselling SIG
The experience of infertility is often highly stressful, and involves more than just medical issues. Infertility Counsellors respond to the complex social, psychological and ethical dimensions of Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR). They provide a range of services including individual, marital and group counselling, emotional support, assistance with decision-making, and referral to community resources. Many counsellors are knowledgeable about alternative options such as Donor Conception, Surrogacy or Adoption. They may also be actively involved in research and policy development. Most AHR clinics in Canada require that implications counselling be provided to patients, donors and gestational carriers involved in fertility treatment.
The Counselling Special Interest Group (CSIG) has been established to foster collaboration and exchange between Canadian counsellors working in this field, and to promote a high standard of professional counselling. CSIG also aims to facilitate education and professional development opportunities amongst members. CSIG is a member group of the International Infertility Counselling Organisation (IICO), a global network of infertility counselling associations.
The annual business meeting of CSIG is held each fall in conjunction with the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society conference. Counselling professionals are strongly encouraged to attend the annual meeting to network with colleagues in the field, participate in workshops and presentations, and keep abreast of new developments in Assisted Human Reproduction.
Membership of CSIG is open to all members of CFAS. The executive committee of the CSIG is comprised of members with academic credentials and clinical training in a counselling discipline such as Psychology, Social Work, Psychotherapy, Marital Therapy or Counselling.
Blair Wexler-Singer, BSc, RSW, MSW
Chair
Blair Wexler-Singer (BSC, MSW, RSW) is a registered social worker and psychotherapist licensed in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia, specializing in reproductive counselling. With over 18 years of experience, she has worked extensively with individuals impacted by trauma, grief and loss, addiction, mental health challenges, and attachment issues. She holds a certificate in Perinatal Grief and Loss and brings both clinical expertise and deep empathy to her practice.
Blair is passionate about supporting individuals, couples, and groups as they navigate family building through collaborative and assisted fertility options. She offers sensitive education and thoughtful guidance through every stage, from pre-conception and pregnancy to post-birth, and also supports those exploring adoption or considering a life without children.
She earned her Master of Social Work from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science in Therapeutic Recreation from Dalhousie University. Her therapeutic approach is strengths-based, mindful, and solution-focused. Blair is a registered member in good standing with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, the Alberta College of Social Workers, and the British Columbia College of Social Workers. She is also an active member of the Ontario Association of Social Workers and the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS), where she currently serves as Chair of the Counselling Special Interest Group (CSIG). Additionally, she is a professional member of Fertility Matters Canada, the national advocacy organization for fertility patients.
Prior to her work in fertility counselling, Blair spent over a decade as the Foster Care Coordinator at Jewish Family & Child Service (JF&CS), where she provided mentorship and support to foster and adoptive families. She developed and facilitated psycho-educational training workshops and conducted mandatory assessments for prospective foster, kinship, and adoptive caregivers.
Her professional focus deepened after her own personal experience as a gestational carrier for close friends. That journey profoundly shaped her path, leading to extensive training in Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) and ultimately a full-time transition into fertility counselling. In 2022, she joined Informed Fertility, a group counselling practice dedicated to reproductive mental health.
Today, Blair provides compassionate counselling and assessments for third-party reproduction (donor and surrogate arrangements), pre-IVF and egg freezing consultations, as well as ongoing support for those coping with infertility, miscarriage, or reproductive grief.
Warm, flexible, and grounded in an inclusive, anti-discriminatory approach to care, Blair lives in Toronto with her family and beloved dog. She is proud to have been a gestational surrogate and is a passionate advocate and practitioner in the field of family building.
Elaine Falzon
Vice-Chair
Elaine Falzon is the Manager of the Beginnings Family Services Embryo Donor/Recipient Program, where she provides oversight, leadership, and guidance to ensure compassionate, ethical, and effective support for donor and recipient families. In addition to her program management role, Elaine is a practicing therapist in Ontario, Canada, providing counselling to individuals and families as they navigate the process of creating and expanding their families, while managing a wide range of emotional and relational challenges.
Elaine’s clinical and professional background is rooted in attachment, post-adoption support, infertility counselling, and trauma-informed care, with a particular focus on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), complex trauma, and developmental trauma. Her work integrates empathy, evidence-based approaches, and a focus on supporting individuals as they work through difficult experiences.
Elaine is a Registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW) and holds memberships in both the Ontario Association of Social Workers (OASW) and the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS). Prior to joining Beginnings, Elaine worked with the Adoption Council of Ontario (ACO) and the Children’s Aid Society, where she served in both front-line and supervisory roles supporting children, youth, and families through adoption, permanency, and reunification processes.
Her personal experiences with infertility and adoption profoundly shaped her career path. After adopting her daughter in 2000, Elaine was inspired to pursue social work with a focus on helping others through their own journeys of loss, hope, and family-building. Today, she remains deeply committed to supporting intended parents, prospective adoptive parents, and children who have experienced loss, helping them heal, connect, and thrive within nurturing relationships.
Arielle Buch-Frohlich
Secretary/Treasurer
Founder & Clinical Director of Anna & Salomon: Sex and Couple Health
Dr. Arielle Buch-Frohlich is a clinical psychologist licensed in Ontario and Quebec. She completed a doctorate in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D) from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) in 2019 and received specialized clinical training from the Sex and Couple Therapy Service at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), and advanced perinatal mental health training from Postpartum Support International (PSI).
Dr. Arielle mainly treats sexual and relational health, helping individuals and couples thrive. Additionally, she supports young couples through the transition to parenthood, with expertise in fertility, perinatal, and postpartum mental health. She also assists cancer survivors with sexual, relational, and fertility health. For those seeking care that aligns with Jewish laws around intimacy, fertility, and women’s health, she offers therapy that is sensitive to Halachic considerations in collaboration with local Rabbinic and community guidance.
Delia Petrescu, MA, RP
Executive Member
Delia Petrescu is a Registered Psychotherapist and the founder of Get Reconnected Psychotherapy Services, providing virtual therapy sessions throughout Ontario. With over a decade of clinical experience in mental health, she specializes in reproductive trauma, fertility counseling, donor conception counseling, and relationship difficulties.
Delia brings a unique depth of expertise to her fertility counseling practice, having spent over 15 years as a psychometrist conducting neuropsychological and neurocognitive assessments in both hospital settings, including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), and the private sector. This specialized background informs her comprehensive approach to supporting individuals and couples navigating the psychological complexities of fertility treatment and third-party reproduction.
She holds specialized training from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and maintains Master-level certification in Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), an evidence-based trauma treatment approach. Delia conducts donor conception assessments and provides ongoing counseling to support clients through all aspects of third-party reproduction.
Delia is a member in good standing with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO), the Psychometric Society, Fertility Matters Canada, and the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS).
Dr. Katherine Peloquin, PhD
Executive Member
Katherine Péloquin, Ph.D. is a Full Professor in the Department of Psychology at the Université de Montréal and a licensed clinical psychologist. Her research focuses on couple and sexual well-being in the context of infertility, and she has led several funded studies examining how couples cope with fertility challenges, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Counsil of Canada (SSHRC), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Fonds de recherche du Québec en santé. She is the developer of Couples Coping Together, a group intervention for couples undergoing fertility treatments. Dr. Péloquin teaches graduate courses in couple therapy, supervises students in the field of reproductive mental health, and co-directs a Summer Institute on Assisted Reproduction. She currently serves as President of the Canadian Sex Research Forum and is actively involved in interdisciplinary initiatives aimed at enhancing psychosocial care in fertility settings. She frequently participates in podcasts and in the media in relation to topics related to infertility and assisted reproduction.
Nicole Waldston, MSW, RSW, CC-BRT
Executive Member
Nicole Waldston (MSW, RSW, CC-BRT) is a social worker and psychotherapist registered in the provinces of Ontario and New Brunswick, practicing in the field of reproductive counselling. She is a Canadian Certified Birth and Reproductive Trauma Therapist with over 15 years’ experience supporting people who have experienced and continue to experience the impacts of trauma, mental illness, attachment challenges, familial crises and breakdowns and much more.
Nicole’s approach to therapy embraces the diverse and unique experiences of each person she sees. As no two individuals have lived the same life, it is Nicole’s belief that this should be reflected in the therapy that they receive. Informed by evidence-based frameworks, Nicole approaches session through a non-judgemental, anti-oppressive and trauma informed lens.
Nicole earned her Master of Social Work degree at the University of Toronto and completed her bachelor’s degree in Social Work at McGill University. She is a current member of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers and the New Brunswick Association of Social Workers. She is a member in good standing of the Ontario Association of Social Workers as well the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS).
Through personal experience, Nicole has come to specialize in and is extremely passionate about infertility and female reproductive issues. Nicole prioritizes self-advocacy and self-care, however that may look for each client, to help create a sense of balance, control and ownership at a time where it often doesn’t feel possible.
Nicole's sessions are not only geared towards goal-setting and addressing struggles but also provide a space for processing daily experiences and collaborative reflection. Employing diverse therapeutic modalities such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, narrative therapy, trauma, and attachment-informed practices, Nicole ensures her clients feel supported, validated, and uplifted as they work towards their therapeutic objectives.
Dara Roth Edney, BA, BSW, MSW, RSW
Past Chair
A social worker since 2000, Dara Roth Edney is the founder of Informed Fertility, a group practice specializing in family building by supporting people through infertility and loss, those accessing assisted reproduction due to sexual orientation, gender identity, relationship status, or undergoing treatment to freeze egg or sperm for social, medical or identity reasons. Dara provides counselling assessments for Intended Parents, donors and surrogates, and when treatment ends, supports clients through pregnancy, parenthood, or moving forward without children. She provides grief and relationship counselling, pragmatic and educational guidance, help developing coping strategies, anxiety reduction techniques and boundary building skills. She also supports donor conceived adults, offers conflict resolution services, and facilitates support groups. Dara is a regularly invited speaker and consultant, involved in industry research, ethics committee work, and is an instructor at Wilfred Laurier University, having developed their 1st course on fertility counselling.
Dara holds a master’s degree in social work (MSW), is a Registered Social Worker (RSW), and a member of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS), holding the position of Past Chair of the Counselling Special Interest Group (CSIG), after serving as Chair and Vice-Chair. She is also a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s Mental Health Professionals Group (ASRM/MHPG), and a Board Member of Donor Conception Canada, a volunteer organization supporting donor conception.
Personally, after many years of infertility, loss and IVF, Dara became a parent through surrogacy and now has two daughters, each carried by a different (and wonderful) gestational carrier.