Dr Giselle Newton is a digital health sociologist who investigates how digital platforms shape experiences of fertility and family. People are increasingly using digital platforms (social media, search engines and AI chatbots) to seek information, find support from others, access fertility care, yet these experiences are highly personalised and ephemeral. As they navigate digital platforms, their intimate data is collected, shared and used to shape what they see and when they see it. Giselle’s goal is to bring visibility to people’s lived experiences of assisted reproduction and ensure that fertility care is safe, equitable and ethical for everyone.
Giselle’s research has focused on donor-conceived people’s use of digital technologies, uptake of direct-to-consumer DNA testing, how digital advertising targets people with fertility ads, the rise of online sperm donation, and individuals’ engagement with AI chatbots for fertility. As a donor-conceived woman, Giselle’s research is grounded in advocacy. She has led 22 submissions to legislative reviews, inquiries and consultations. She directly shaped Queensland’s Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2024 which ensured retrospective access to donor conception information via a centralised register, and increased oversight, transparency and safeguards in the fertility industry and was a key stakeholder in the Rapid Review of the IVF industry. She serves on the Donor Conception Advisory Committee for the Victorian Department of Health and the Assisted Reproductive Technology Industry Advisory Group for the Australian Commission for Safety and Quality in Healthcare. Giselle was an invited delegate to The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Conference and an author on the resulting International Principles on Donor Conception and Surrogacy. She regularly engages with industry, fertility professionals and organisations, and the media.