Creating families around the world
Marisa believes that life begins when a single woman, a single man, or a couple who loves each other dream of having a baby. She says, “Each of them is a miracle, a love story.” Unfortunately, fertility problems have increased over the past years. This is due to different factors, such as the delay in the age for having the first child, as well as the sperm quality, which has been decreasing in recent years, especially in industrialized areas. In addition, one must also take into account the appearance of new family models that expand the profile of women who opt for motherhood, either as a couple or on their own. “For me, motherhood is a right, not a duty, and I am proud to help women who decide when, how, and with whom they want to have their child,” she quotes. Along with her team, Marisa follows the principles of honesty and transparency, quality, and safety to help families with fertility issues; fulfill their dream of parenthood. Dedicating a large part of the company’s resources to new processes and R + D + I to continuously improve its treatments and services is part of its identity. Institut Marquès has the added value of being a reference in the study of male sterility. It also has its sperm bank and a broad donation program of oocytes and embryos. With a broad portfolio of services, Institut Marquès obtains the best success rates, reaching 91% per cycle in IVF treatments with donor eggs. Nowadays, Institut Marquès has centres in Spain (Barcelona and Sabadell), Italy (Milan and Rome), and UK (London).
The journey was not easy for Marisa as she was faced with many roadblocks and challenges. “We have overcome them with a lot of work, a lot of enthusiasm, and a team with the best professionals. That is how we manage that hundreds of children are born every year in more than 50 countries,” she addresses. Additionally, she had to break down many barriers to succeed in a male-dominated world. “Men with a title or a position are taken for granted; women have to prove they are worth it,” expresses Marisa. For many years, she was the only woman in charge of a fertility clinic and has faced many irrelevant and sexist questions which she handled with presenting overwhelming counters, for examples, she quotes, “at congresses I was asked whom I had left my children with, and I answered with the same question. I think that advanced societies like ours will become more and more egalitarian.” She understands the presence of discrimination in many workforce ecosystems and asks women to pursue excellence—as excellence is not perfection; excellence is not predicting the future but inventing it by carrying out innovative and courageous projects. She also believes that excellence is a state of mind that involves determination, ingenuity, and fun. “Excellence is to exceed expectations,” says Marisa. To eradicate such obstacles and achieve success, she beautifully harnessed her determination and passion for her work. She greatly celebrates dedicating her life to the ‘embryonic passion’. “And I do it with a great deal of work, a lot of enthusiasm, and surrounding myself with the best professionals,” adds Marisa. She relies on her creativity and ability to think out of the box. She quotes, “Creativity is neither a subject taught at school nor an occupation but an art of living”. It requires a lot of discipline and she keeps the curiosity alive with the question like ‘why do things happen’, not taking anything for granted. “I have always hated the idea of ‘it has always been like this' or 'it is impossible’, as well as all established norms,” she adds. Marisa also comprehends the significance of being a team worker. She believes through proper teamwork one can sustain the disruption happening in the world. Whereas in the healthcare industry, progress in technology is changing how things work and innovation in healthcare should be oriented towards facilitating processes for patients. “This is my personal goal: to keep on innovating and working in research and development. Consequently, my best lesson is that we must be prepared for continuous changes in all aspects. Therefore, we are constantly carrying out innovative scientific studies to improve Assisted Reproduction treatments. Music, mobile technology, telemedicine, and the use of virtual reality are some of the innovations that Institut Marquès is already using in its clinics,” she adds.