Meet the team

Meet the proud Founders of Wijnland Fertility – Dr Johannes and Lizanne van Waart – as well as the rest of the team – including Associated Clinicians, Embryologists, Infertility Sisters.
Fertility Specialists
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, PSYCHOLOGY & BEHAVIOR
Embryologists
Infertility Nurses
Office Administration
Caretakers
Fertility Specialists
Dr Johannes van Waart
Director and founder of Wijnland Fertility & Fertility Specialist
Throughout his career he has been involved in research and has authored and co-authored 19 internationally published research papers.
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QUALIFICATIONS

  • MSc in Nuclear Physics
  • MBChB; MMed (Obstetrics & Gynaecology)(Stellenbosch University)
  • Fellow of the College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of South Africa (Stellenbosch) – FCOG (SA)
  • Fellowship in Reproductive Biology (SA)
  • Registered Fertility Specialist
  • Certificate of Advanced Training in Minimal Access (Laparoscopic) Surgery at the European Institute of Tele-Surgery (EITS), Strasbourg, France
  • Publications (national and international)
  • President of the South African Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (SASOG)
  • Board Member of the South African Menopause Society (SAMS)
  • Certificate of Added Qualification as a North American Menopause Society (NAMS) Menopause Practitioner
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Dr Candice Morrison
Gynaecologist & Obstetrician
Dr Candice Morrison worked in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Cape Town and completed a MMed on a Gynae Endocrine topic while doing her registrar time.
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During her rotation she spent a total of twelve months exclusively in Urogynaecology were she also became familiar with vaginal and prolapse surgery. She is competent in outpatient procedures such as hysteroscopy, cystoscopy and pelvic ultrasound. Her MMed and college dissertation was based on a descriptive cohort study and included a comparison of the presentation of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in adolescents compared to women aged 35 years and older at Groote Schuur Hospital. She presented her dissertation at the SASOG 2014 congress and was awarded 2nd prize and a certificate of excellence for oral presentations by a registrar. In 2011 she represented South Africa and Western Province in age group Triathlons and competed in Triathlon World Championships in Beijing. She has competed in Ironman and half Ironman events and in 2015 placed 2ndin SA championships and qualified for World Championships in Chicago.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • MBBCH, 2005 (University of Witwatersrand)
  • Advanced Cardiac Life Support, 2007 (Academy of Emergency Medicine, Cape Town)
  • ATLS, 2008 (Trauma centre, University of Witwatersrand)
  • Surgical Skills course, 2008 (University of Witwatersrand)
  • Fellow of the College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists of South Africa (Cape Town) – FCOG (SA), 2014
  • MMed (Gynaecology), 2014 (University of Cape Town)
  • Sub-specialist in Reproductive Medicine – Fertility Specialist in training
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Dr Ludwig van Zyl
Gynaecologist with a special interest in Fertility
In 2021, Dr. van Zyl joined the Wijnland Team and brought with him a wealth of knowledge in laparoscopic surgery and urogynaecology. He deals with all aspects of gynaecology and obstetrics with special interest in urogynaecology and prolapse laparoscopy, endometriosis and menopause.
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QUALIFICATIONS

  • 1989 MBChB, University of Stellenbosch
  • 1996 FCOG (SA), Colleges of Medicine, SA
  • 1996 MMed (Obstetrics & Gynaecology)(University of Free State)
  • Fellow of the College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of South Africa (Stellenbosch) – FCOG (SA)
  • 2022 Masters in Endometriosis at the MIS Academy in Dubai
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REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, PSYCHOLOGY & BEHAVIOR
Lizanne van Waart
Founder of Wijnland Fertility Clinic & (MA) Psychology
Lizanne provides health psychology support/gamete donor and recipient assessment/assistance for all singles and couples with decision making and counselling on implications for unborn child/miscarriages and cancer.
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She is especially interested in positive psychology and resilience, women and reproductive psychology, and mindfulness therapy.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • BA Sport Science with Psychology (Stellenbosch University)
  • 1984 HED (Higher Educational Diploma, University of Pretoria)
  • 1988 BEdPsych (Educational Psychology, University of Pretoria)
  • 2001 Reflexology & Meridian Therapy, the International School of Inge Dougans, Denmark
  • HonsBA (Clinical Psychology) (Stellenbosch University)
  • MA (Psychology), Stellenbosch University
  • Specialised Infertility Counselling (Psychological Aspects of Fertility Patient)
  • Member of ESHRE (Psychological Counselling) and SIG (Special Interest Group)
  • Representative of IICO (International Infertility Counselling Organisation) for South Africa
  • Delivered oral presentation at the 28th Annual Meeting of ESHRE, Istanbul, Turkey, 2012 (only representative from sub-Saharan Africa invited to present a study): Psychological aspects presented by infertility patients of both genders before the commencement of each new phase of clinical intervention in fertility treatment.)
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DR MARELIZE SWART
Certified Sex Therapist (Diplomate)
Dr Marelize Swart is a Registered Psychologist and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist (Diplomate) with advanced training in sex therapy that she obtained in Canada and the USA.
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She earned her Masters Degree in Counselling Psychology at the University of Stellenbosch and her Doctoral Degree in Applied Psychology at the University of Calgary, Canada. She has recently moved back to Cape Town after living in North America for more than two decades.

Dr. Swart brings with her more than 20 years of international experience in individual, couples and sex therapy and has been a sessional instructor to medical students and Masters degree students in Psychology in Sex Therapy while in Canada.

Dr. Swart was for 4 years the resident Sexology expert for SA’s Health24’s Forum (Health24.com is South Africa’s premier health and wellness website, averaging over 1.2 million unique users from across the world each month. Of these, over 650 000 users are based in South Africa).

She was also SA’s DRUM magazine’s Sexologist for the past few years (along with its sister magazines, Huisgenoot and YOU, DRUM magazine is currently one of the largest consumer magazines in South Africa with a total readership of three million and ninety thousand).

Dr. Swart has been featured as the sex expert in various magazines and news papers across Canada and South Africa.

She has a private-practice in Claremont and Somerset West in the Western Cape and she is fluent in English and Afrikaans. She is currently available for online sessions. Her favourite quote is “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right” by Napoleon Hill. She is currently accepting new patients.

QUALIFICATIONS & PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS (Past and Present)

  • College of Psychologists of British Columbia
  • Health Professions Council of South Africa (Registered Psychologist)
  • Canadian Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology
  • Canadian Society of Clinical Hypnosis
  • International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy
  • The American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT)
  • The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH)
  • International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health

View her website here

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Courtney Field
Reproductive Couselling
Courtney works under Lizanne van Waart and provides health psychology support/gamete donor and recipient assessment/assistance for all singles and couples with decision making and counselling on implications for unborn child/miscarriages and cancer.
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Courtney has a special interest in reproductive counselling/psychology, oncofertility and infant mental health. She also has an interest in Attachment Theory, specifically how patients form a bond with their baby conceived via donor gametes.

Qualifications

  • Masters in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Stellenbosch University
  • Honours in Psychology (Cum Ladue) from Stellenbosch University
  • Bachelor of Arts in Humanities from Stellenbosch University
  • United Refugee Green Council (URGC) Ambassador for Mental Health
  • Member of PsySSA (Psychological Society of South Africa)
  • Member and researcher for the SIG (special interest group) for Health Psychology in South Africa, which is affiliated with PsySSA
  • Member of the Global Student Psychology Committee, which is affiliated with the APA (American Psychological Association)
  • Member of the Golden Key Society
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Embryologists
Robyn van Staden
Embryologist & Head of Laboratory
Robyn started her training at Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria in 2011. She then completed her training under the tutelage of Jannie Lourens and worked at Genesis Reproductive Centre for just over 10 years.
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Robyn has been active in the field, working with numerous doctors and facilities over the years adding to her experience as an embryologist. She joined the team at Wijnalnd in January 2022.
 
Hobbies and Interests include:  Flamenco dancing, music and family time.

Qualifications

  • N.Cert Somatology 2008 (Tshwane University of Technology)
  • N.Dip Clinical Technology 2011 (Tshwane University of Technology)
  • B.Tech Reproductive Biology 2012 (Tshwane University of Technology)
  • MSc Biotechnology of Human and Assisted Reproduction and Embryology 2022 (Universidad de Valencia)
  • Current: MBA Business Administration
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Birgit Wager
Embryologist & Head of Embryology
Birgit started her career as a Reproductive Biologist at Groote Schuur Hospital in 2003-2015. She then joined our team in January 2016.
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She completed her studies in Nature Conservation at Stellenbosch University and developed an interest in Reproductive Biology. She completed her Honours in Nature Conservation. Her honours project was a study in the histology of Cape Serotine Bats.   Thereafter she completed her M.SC. in Reproductive Biology in 2002.  Her M.Sc project was determining the optimal dosage of PMSG in the superovulation of mice and the effect of insulin on the growth of embryos in vitro. Birgit enjoys all aspects of Reproductive Medicine but has a keen interest in patient centred care and support.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • BSc(Agric) Animal Physiology, Nature Conservation and Zoology
  • BSc(NCons)(Hons) Honours in Nature Conservation
  • MSc(Agric)(Cum Laude) majoring in Animal Reproductive Physiology
  • National Diploma in Clinical Technology (Human Reproductive Biology)
  • BTech in Clinical Technology (Human Reproductive Biology)
  • Member of SASREG
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Cheyenne Steyn
Embryologist & Head of Donor Banks
Cheyenne completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Pretoria in 2015, where she was awarded Golden Key Achiever.
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She continued her studies and Honours degree in Genetics, with a project entitled: “Evaluation of microsatellites for genotyping of Rhipicephalus Microplus”, graduating in 2016. Cheyenne started her internship at the Health Professionals Council of South Africa (HPCSA) accredited laboratories of Tygerberg Hospital, Drs Aevitas and Wijnland Fertility Clinics in 2017. She completed her Master’s degree at Stellenbosch University Cum Laude in 2018. In 2019 she started her career as an embryologist at Drs Aevitas Fertility Clinic and locummed at Windhoek IVF Clinic in Namibia. We are proud to welcome Cheyenne back to the Wijnland Fertility team in December 2019. Her MSc study was conducted at Wijnland Fertility from 2017 to 2018 and focussed on the effect of human male patient diagnosis on syngamy timing and blastulation outcomes using time-lapse technology.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • BSc Human Physiology, Genetics and Psychology – University of Pretoria
  • BSc(Hons) Genetics – University of Pretoria
  • MSc Human Reproductive Biology (Cum Laude) – University of Stellenbosch
  • SASREG Member
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Elsa van Blerk
Embryologist / Head of Andrology
Elsa completed her undergraduate degree in Environmental and Biological science at the North West University in Potchefstroom in 2016 where she received a Golden Key Achiever award.
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Elsa completed her undergraduate degree in Environmental and Biological science at the North West University in Potchefstroom in 2016 where she received a Golden Key Achiever award. She furthered her studies at the Central University of Technology in Bloemfontein in 2017 in Clinical Technology. She obtained 4 academic bursaries whilst studying at CUT which includes first year Matric Award (2017), Vice Chancellors Award (2018) and the Senior Merit Award (2019 & 2020). In 2019 she started her HPCSA WIL training at Cape Fertility clinic in Cape Town. She completed her B.Tech degree in Reproductive Biology in 2021 (Cum Laude) with a project titled: “The effect of male age on Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection outcome when utilizing TESE samples versus Oligo-Astheno-Teratozoospermic samples”. She joined Wijnland Fertility in June 2021 showing particular interest in Male Infertility and Andrology. 

 In her personal capacity she likes to be active. Her hobbies include reading, exercising, Parkrun and hiking. She also loves to be outdoors, camping and spending time with family. Her love for helping others, human physiology and a fast-paced environment are only a few reasons why she decided to become an Embryologist and join the Wijnland Fertility team.

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Michka van Niekerk
Embryology Intern
Currently studying a Bachelor of Health Science in Clinical Technology at Tshwane University of Technology and is currently training as a future embryologist to graduate in 2023.
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My goal is to graduate my degree with a distinction as well as completing a masters in my field and to complete my training with well-obtained skills.

Fun fact about me: I was part of the school choir in high school and took singing lessons for 8 years.  In my spare time , I love spending time with friends and family. I live by the motto that every day is a new opportunity to build the tomorrow you want.

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Infertility Nurses
Sr Ilse Boshoff
IVF & Fertility Coordinator
Ilse started her nursing career in 1979 at HF Vervoed Hospital, as general nurse training. After completing her nursing and midwifery training, she started her career in Labour ward at Nuwe Moedersbond, Pretoria that was taken over by Netcare and expanded to Femina Women’s Clinic.
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She spent nearly 20 years in  Netcare and was privileged to complete her studies in Medical and Surgical nursing and Nursing management.

She spent most of my time in theatre, obstetrics, gynaecology and IVF areas.

In 2003, she expanded her horizon’s and moved to the Middle East where she worked in Saudi Arabia and UAE, expanding her international career in IVF and Operating Rooms (including scrubbing and anesthesia)

In 2019, she returned to South Africa and the beautiful Cape province and joined the Wijnland Fertility team as an IVF coordinator.

She am a proud mother of 3 beautiful daughters and 2 grandchildren.

QUALIFICATIONS 

  • Diploma in General Nursing (1981)
  • Diploma in Midwifery (1983)
  • Diploma in Medical and Surgical Nursing (Operating Room)
  • Diploma in Nursing Management
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Sr Darrell Marais
Maternity and Gynecology coordination
Darrell has extensive experience in health care and nursing, having worked in the Military, Occupational Health, Provincial and Private Hospital settings for the last 28 years.
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Darrell first started working at Wijnland in 2006 and then resigned in 2014. She rejoined the team in 2019, and is responsible for co-ordinating and caring for all pregnant and gynaecology patients. She is also responsible for theatre arrangements and bookings.

Darrell enjoys music and to crochet, but most of all spending time with her family, friends and dogs.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • 4 year Diploma in General, Psychiatry, Community and Midwifery – 1988 – 1991
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Sr Violet Augustus
IVF & Fertility Coordinator
Violet is known to Wijnland Fertility Clinic. As a Registered Professional Nurse and Midwife. Violet has experience in both Private and Provincial sectors in General and Community Nursing, Theatre, Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
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Violet has found her passion in fertility and loves sharing each patients individual journey. 

Qualifications: 

  • BCur Nursing Science – Registered Professional Nurse (General, Community and Psychiatry) and Registered Midwife
  • Various Short Course Diplomas from the City of Cape Town and Department of Health
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Office Administration
Yvette van Waart
Administration Manager
Yvette is our passionate and bubbly jack-of-all trades at Wijnland Fertility with excellent leadership and managerial skills. She has had experience in many different fields and managerial positions.
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From taking over the wine industry, to data administration and hospitality posts in America and the UK for 4 years, to the luxurious co-ordination of a resort hotel and spa in Knysna. Her most recent accomplishments have included having a heavy hand in the smooth running of B.Y.L Diamonds before opening her very own coffee shop in the heart of Stellenbosch finding her passion working with people. Yvette’s biggest passion is in her interest in the field of culinary arts.

Yvette knows what it takes to make something work, and we are so happy to have her as part of the Wijnland Family.

Work experience

  • Co-Owner/Shareholder/Manager (Mar 2018 – Aug 2019, Nude Coffee, Stellenbosch)
  • Accounts Manager/Sales Representative (June 2015 – Feb 2018 BYL Diamonds, Cape Town)
  • Sales & Marketing Representative (July 2014 – May 2015, Royal African Diamonds, Cape Town)
  • Tasting Room Manager (Sept 2012 – June 2014, Darling Cellars, Darling)
  • Hospitality Industry o The Marine Hotel, Relais and Chateaux, Hermanus (Dec 2009 – Aug 2012)
  • Pezula Resort Hotel & Spa, Knysna (Nov 2008 – Oct 2009)
  • Eseeola Lodge, NC, America (May 2007 – Oct 2007 & May 2008 – Oct 2008)
  • Smoke Tree Ranch, Palm Springs, CA, America (October 2007 – May 2008)
  • New Park Manor Hotel, Brockenhurst, United Kingdom (December 2004 – August 2005)
  • Data Administrator (September 2005 – November 2006 National Treatment Agency, London)

Qualifications

  • National Tourism Diploma (Boland College, Stellenbosch Campus, 2004)
  • Women in Leadership (USB-ED)
  • Business Management Fundamentals (USB-ED)
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SUNETTE VOGEL
Finances
Sunette joined Wijnland Fertility in May 2017. She has more than 20 years secretarial and PA experience in various industries. She completed her National Diploma in Marketing in 1996 and National Diploma in Trauma Counselling in 2012.
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Sunette is passionate about people in need, especially women and small children.  Sunette and her family moved down from Pretoria to Cape Town in December 2016 and enjoy exploring the Cape with her beautiful daughter.   She enjoys reading and is a keen Mountain Bike Cyclist.  She also enjoys spending quality time with her family and friends.

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Hildegard Isaacs
Finances
Hildegard has extensive experience in office administration and accounting in various settings. Hildegard loves spending time with her husband and two beautiful children.
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Anne Fletcher
Receptionist
Anne has worked as a medical receptionist for many years. She grew up in Port Elizabeth but relocated to be closer to family.
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She loves reading, listening to music and spending time with her grandchildren and family. She joined the clinic in June 2017.

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Natasha Kotze
Receptionist
Natasha is our friendly face at reception. She has 21 years of customer care and admin experience. She is married to her high school sweetheart and has two children in her free time, she loves reading and listening to music. She joined Wijnland Fertility in July 2019.
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Caretakers
Marylin van der Merwe
Recovery Room Assistant
Marilyn is the recovery room assistant and makes sure that all our patients are comfortable and that all their needs are seen to.
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Emily (Millie) du Toit
Clinic caretaker
Millie joined Wijnland Fertility in May 2018. Millie is tasked with the never-ending search for patient files, as well as being responsible for the general cleanliness within the practice.
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She has 3 children of her own and her hobbies include cooking and gospel singing. She’s been in the church choir since she was a little girl, and it is one of her greatest passions.

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