Please join us for the fifth annual informational seminar about biological parenting for gay men. The program is hosted by Center Kids, the Center's family program for LGBT parents and their children and for those considering parenthood. Dozens of gay men attend every year, and the event is also a great opportunity to socialize and meet other couples or single dads-to-be!

This year the event will include four  parts:

* An overview of the surrogacy and egg donation process by a panel of legal and medical experts (1:00 - 2:00 PM).

* Short presentations by agencies and organizations who provide services and support for gay men who want to have babies (2:00 - 2:30 PM).

* Personal stories from NY gay parents, a surrogate and an egg donor (2:30 - 4:00 PM).

* Exhibit space and socializing (including a lounge for single dads-to-be) (4:00- 5:00 PM).

In addition to a general overview of surrogacy options, the panel will also be taking a closer look at the issue of egg donation options & considerations, and will be addressing the rising costs of surrogacy, and effective strategies to reduce or control these costs.

The exhibition space will be available during a 30 minutes break  (2:00 - 2:30 pm) and following the personal stories panel .

About the sponsors and exhibitors:

"Center Kids is the Center's family program for LGBT parents and their children and for those considering parenthood. Center Kids programs include support groups for LGBT parents and prospective parents, including "Planning Biological Parenting for Gay Men, which meets at the Center every fourth Wednesday of the month, at 6:30 PM. In addition, programs also include other parenting options support groups, such as adoption and co-parenting; trainings for teachers and school administrators; advocacy and activist efforts; support around alternative insemination and other biological parenthood options; forums on custody issues when LGBT parents separate; financial planning for alternative families; and recreational programs for children 8 and under (Halloween Parties, Holiday Parties, Play Days, etc.)."  

"The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in NYC was established in 1983, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, 208 West 13th St. in New York City, is the largest LGBT community center on the East Coast. More than 6,000 people visit the Center weekly and 300 groups meet there."

"Circle Surrogacy is the nation's oldest full service gay owned and gay focused surrogate-parenting agency, serving clients from around the USA and 32 countries worldwide. Since 1995, Circle Surrogacy has helped bring to the world over 250 babies, with unmatched success rates of close to 100% in clients becoming parents through egg donor surrogacy. Its dedicated staff of professionals in Boston, New York, Indiana, Texas and Arizona is made up of lawyers, social workers, parents through surrogacy, surrogates and past clients. Circle Surrogacy provides a choice of specialized clinics at locations throughout the country, a large selection of egg donors, swift matching with carefully screened surrogates, and a variety of flexible programs and financial options."

"New England Fertility Institute located in Stamford, Hamden and Shelton Connecticut is one of the largest and most successful egg donation and surrogacy programs in the northeast. We maintain a large pool of well selected and carefully screened egg donors who are ready to be matched with recipients. A detailed profile of prospective donors is available online. We work with the largest and most reputable gestational surrogacy agencies to provide complete service for couples who need both an egg donor and surrogacy. Our program provides a variety of services including the most recent innovations such as egg freezing and banking, gender selection utilizing Microsort*, Pre- Implantation Genetic Diagnosis, Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay testing and endometrial activation"

"Ms. Brisman’s law practice provides assistance in locating gestational carriers (GC); negotiating and drafting GC/ovum donation/embryo donation contracts; legal issues related to same-sex GC arrangements and contracts; court orders for GC arrangements; an|d many other legal issues related to reproductive medicine. Ms. Brisman is an attorney admitted to practice in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania."

"Growing Generations is the oldest and largest surrogacy and egg donation firm dedicated exclusively to assisting the GLBT community. The agency maintains offices in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, and the Ohio Valley and has assisted clients from 19 countries around the world with the creation of more than 600 babies. Founded in 1996 by gay and lesbian parents who created their families through assisted reproduction, the agency offers a compassionate, full-service approach. National recognized as a leader in assisted reproduction, Growing Generations has been honored with awards from Family Pride Coalition, American Fertility Association, and Congregation Kol Ami."

"Connecticut Fertility Associates (CFA) is based in Connecticut but also operates a convenient satellite office in midtown Manhattan, which offers full access to all of its donor matching options, each of which has been designed to maximize your results, choice and control. Dr Doyle's state-of-the-art reproductive services include IVF, ICSI, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), egg freezing and banking, and embryo adoption. CFA currently offers over fifty carefully screened donors for immediate matching, many of whom are open to both meet you prior to donation and to maintain contact with you afterwards.

  About the panelists:

• Melissa Brisman, Esq.
  Melissa Brisman graduated valedictorian from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and graduated with honors from Harvard Law School. Her legal practice focuses on matters related to family building and third-party reproduction options, such as gestational carriers (GC), surrogacy, and ovum, sperm and embryo donation. She is the mother of twin boys and a daughter who were delivered using a GC. Ms. Brisman has argued and won several landmark cases, and was the first attorney in NJ and Maine to obtain court orders allowing the genetic parents of children delivered by GC to go directly on the birth certificates. She also has won several important cases for many gay and lesbian couples: Lesbian partners were both named as parents on the birth certificate for their child (NJ) and a gay man was named as the only parent on the birth certificate for his twins, who were delivered using a GC (PA).
   
• John Weltman, Esq.
  John Weltman is the president and owner of Circle Surrogacy. Ltd., and a partner in the Boston law firm of Lawson & Weitzen, LLP. John was the first to establish the right of couples to get insurance coverage for gestational surrogacy in MA, and has repeatedly obtained pre-birth orders and second parent adoptions for gay couples and singles having children through surrogacy throughout the country. John and his partner of 25 years (now husband!) began their surrogacy journey in 1991 and had two boys, now 13 and 12, through the same surrogate. They were among the very first gay couples ever to have children through surrogacy and only the second to have two children with each man being a father with the same surrogate. As a widely considered expert in surrogacy for gay men John was interviewed and appeared in numerous publications, TV programs, and conferences throughout the USA, Europe, Canada, and Israel. John was educated at Yale, Oxford and the University of Virginia and holds a masters degree in history and a JD in law.
   
• Dr. Gad Lavy
  Dr. Lavy established New England Fertility Institute in 1990, as the first non –hospital based assisted reproductive program in Connecticut.
  Dr. Lavy is board certified in Reproductive Endocrinology and Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Lavy received his medical degree from Hadassah Medical School and completed residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at Yale University School of Medicine as well as specialty training in endocrinology and infertility. Dr. Lavy directed the Yale IVF program before leaving to start the New England Fertility Institute.
  Dr. Lavy is a member of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association ,American Society of Reproductive Medicine, Society of Reproductive Endocrinologists, Society of Reproductive Surgeons, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Gynecology Radiology Society. Dr. Lavy serves on numerous speaker’s boards. Dr. Lavy and the New England Fertility Institute were recently featured in “Google Baby” an award winning documentary detailing the journey of Israeli gay couples who seek surrogacy services in the US and India. Dr. Lavy’s practice is research based, resulting in innovative treatment and technology.
   
• Dr. Kim Bergman
  Kim Bergman Ph.D. is the founder of Fertility Counseling Services, Inc., providing all aspects of psychological services to individuals and agencies in the field of fertility and assisted reproduction. Dr. Bergman is also a co-owner of Growing Generations LLC and Fertility Futures International. Dr. Bergman is the current co-chair of Family Equality Council, the only national non-profit organization solely dedicated to equality for LGBTQ parents and their families, through advocacy, education and support. Dr. Bergman's professional affiliations include the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles County Psychological Association, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and the Southern California Society for Clinical Hypnosis. Dr. Bergman and her partner of 24 years have two daughters, ages 11 and 8. Born in Los Angeles, California, Dr. Bergman completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology at UCLA. She then went on to obtain both her Master's and her Doctoral degrees in psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology Los Angeles. Dr. Bergman has been a licensed psychologist since 1992, and board certified in clinical hypnosis since 1995.