
We were fortunate to attend several surrogacy educational events this Spring. We would like to share the latest updates in Assisted Reproduction with you! Find out more and schedule your “Lunch and Learn” now.
We started off April at the Men Having Babies conference in Chicago. If you’re not familiar with Men Having Babies, they are a nonprofit organization that assists gay men with building their families through safe surrogacy practices. The organization also has a financial assistance component called Gay Parenting Assistance Program (GPAP). Qualified recipients of the GPAP program receive discounts from participating providers. We were proud sponsors of the Chicago even and proud participants in the GPAP program. The event was well attended by over 200 men seeking information about building their families through surrogacy. We were able to have a group and one on one meetings with many of the participants. It was incredible to be surrounded by so many future intended parents. The highlight of the event was being in the audience to support one of our Intended Fathers while he participated in a panel about his surrogacy journey.
Next, we attended the SEEDS (Society for Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy) conference in California. SEEDS is a nonprofit group created for agencies, medical professionals, psychological professionals, and attorneys to have a voice in defining a set of ethical standards for egg donation and surrogacy programs. The topics were thought-provoking and timely. We are proud to be members of this organization to provide better service for our clients, our gestational carriers, and the reproductive field. We’ve listed some of the topics below:
- How to handle genetics and anonymity in donor situations
- What are escrow best practices?
- What is legal and ethical in newborn Health insurance?
- What are an agency’s liabilities?
- Psychological Remote Evaluations – are they acceptable?
- Should agencies dictate what goes into GSAs?
Lastly, we were able to attend the American Bar Association Family Law conference in the Dominican Republic. The conference has an entire track dedicated to ART. Some of the topics discussed:
- Conflicts of interest in ART – attorneys, clinics, and agencies
- ART and the Constitution
- Social Media and ARTLatest ART legal updates/cases
We are busy updating our policies and agreements to reflect the best practices and latest updates in surrogacy. However, we would love to tell you more about any of the above topics. Email our Director, Leah Potter, at lpotter@familychoicesurrogacy.com to schedule a meeting or video call. We look forward to hearing from you!