Can you introduce yourself and share a little bit about what you do?
My name is Dr. Marjorie Dixon, and I am a reproductive endocrinologist and fertility specialist––and the CEO, founder, and medical director of Anova Fertility and Reproductive Health.
How has your journey—as a fertility doctor and as part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community—shaped your perspective on inclusivity? And how has the fertility space evolved in terms of inclusivity for 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals and couples?
My journey was shaped by the fact that I am a lesbian woman, a Black woman, and a physician who didn't see my patient population represented as a provider. It was really important for me to be all-inclusive and to welcome any patient that wanted to build their family. I knew how to access care––I was a fertility specialist, and I always knew I wanted to have a family. But I recognized that there was a typical heterosexist approach to fertility care, and that my friends and my community weren't represented in the clinics. When I brought it forward to the people that I was working for, it wasn't really seen as a priority.
This was the year 2002, and it wasn't even legal for gay people to get married at the time in Canada—that came in 2003. As someone who had been othered and didn't feel like I fit in in a lot of places in my life––or that I was included––it was very important for me as a care provider to find and recognize my patients in their place of need. Everyone was welcome; anybody who wanted to build a family—everybody has a right to family, and I was going to be the conduit to that. I was going to be the facilitator for those who weren't seen or heard in the fertility world– and that became my mission.
Who or what inspires you—whether in medicine, activism, or style—especially as someone paving the way for more visibility and inclusivity?
I am inspired by more than one individual. I'm inspired by strong women—empowered women, women who facilitate and pave the way for other women. I went to private girls' school, and I drank that Kool-Aid that we would be the next CEOs. We were going to break glass ceilings. We were going to be astronauts. We were going to be scientists and engineers. We were going to be the champions of what's coming in the future of the world.
I am inspired by other powerful women who have overcome adversity, who have shown grit, who have evolved in their careers, who have not let the boundaries—both implicit and explicit—that presented themselves to them hold them back. I have adopted that approach to life: out of adversity comes opportunity. Sometimes you feel that imposter syndrome, where you feel that you don't have a right to a seat at the table. But I have managed to have the insight as I age to speak my truth, to push boundaries, to be non-complacent, to not let adversity trump opportunity, and to have the strength and conviction to speak for what I believe in, even if it may be an unpopular view.
What can allies do better to support 2SLGBTQIA+ people—not just during Pride Month, but year-round?
I think what people can do as allies of the LGBTQ2S+ community is to show up not just during Pride Month. Pride Month is a time where we step back and acknowledge the tremendous sacrifices that other members of the community made generations ago and continue to make. We must stick our necks out and be in an unpopular place sometimes to rock the boat; to say: we have a right to be here. We deserve family like everyone else. We deserve care. We deserve to have seats at the table.
You have to make concerted efforts to include everyone because it doesn't happen accidentally. The reason there has to be advocacy is because there isn't inclusivity or. equity. That's what the community can do to include the LGBTQ community all the time—recognize that Pride Month is not just the month of June. The month of June is when you see the parades, where things are fun, but it's an ongoing commitment every day of the year.
What have your 2SLGBTQIA+ patients taught you about resilience, advocacy, or redefining family?
Everybody has, or needs to have, a seat at the table, and everybody needs to push change in a way that is consistent and non-complacent, because there always is room for improvement. Resilience, advocacy, and redefining family from my patients has taught me that I don't know everything and that it's a constant journey of learning and evolution––because inclusivity is not just one or unidimensional. It also means understanding pronouns, understanding people's comfort, understanding you can't make any assumptions about what people's view of family is. You don't know everything about what people desire. You have to have an open mind and ask open-ended questions. Recognizing and finding people in their place of need means making no assumptions, even if you're part of a community.
I can't purport to know everything about every one of my patients, but what I can do as their friend in fertility and as their expert is listen. When I learn something, I share it with the people who can make policy and facilitate access for everyone.
For me and ANOVA––my baby, my business––being patient-centered means having a constant evolution and a journey of learning from your patients. As physicians, we're just human beings, and the physicians at ANOVA are really trying to be your friends in fertility. That means finding every single patient in their place of need, no matter what their sexual orientation, gender identity, geography, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, religion—whoever they are. We believe that everyone has a right to family, and we're going to facilitate their path to parenthood at ANOVA.
At Andrews, we help women feel their best through fashion—but from a wellness perspective, what do you recommend to help women feel good in their skin at every stage of life? This Pride Month, what message do you want to share with those navigating their identity, career, and self-expression all at once?
I think women need to be comfortable speaking their truth at all stages of life. I spent my twenties trying to fit in and make other people comfortable. In my thirties, after I started having children, I was like, "I have a little more to say." In my forties, I was like, "I have the power to make a big difference now, because I've been here for a while and advocating for people for a while, sitting at different tables." And now in my fifties, I believe that anything is possible. I have learned that anything and everything is possible, and women need to believe that about themselves.
We, especially through our life changes, second-guess ourselves. When you think about reproduction, we learn about contraception, conception, and planning. When we deal with infertility, women don't have a lot of information and education about the limitations of the reproductive lifespan. Then in the peri- and post-menopause time, those changes throw people for a loop. It's been really important for me to validate women through all the stages of the reproductive lifespan, and then to provide solutions and access to information and access to appropriate care—the care that women need from an empathic place.
Not just to be an expert, but to be a friendly expert that empowers women to ask the questions and not to feel badly about how they're feeling, or question if they're normal. This is all part of the process and the fabulosity of being women. I want to empower women and share the information truthfully and transparently so that women can feel empowered, and engaged, and involved, and have agency over their lives and their bodies, and feel beautiful every single day as we change. I love coming to ANOVA and dressing up. I show up to my work every day fantastically– in heels and sometimes scrubs. No matter who you are, women need to feel great about themselves and not make excuses for themselves anymore.
This Pride Month, as I'm an older person who's had many Pride months in my life, I think I would tell people just to live their true authentic self. Embrace who you are. Don't make excuses for who you are. Don't think that you don't have a right to be in any place or in any shape or form that you are. Be your true authentic self—you're beautiful in who you are, really truthfully.
I know I spent a lot of my life wondering what other people thought. Now I can't give up a minute of time, because if I spend my energy worrying about other people, I won't be able to do the incredible things that I have in my brain.
What I would say to those navigating their own self-expression: Shine brightly. Make no excuses for who you are. Rock the boat. Make noise. Don't be small, and if people don't like it, their neck rotates—they can look away.
