Last week we hosted an event at the Brooklyn Community Pride Center in downtown Brooklyn. It was a pleasure to arrange this event with the help of the Center’s Event Coordinator, Tomas Raskevičius, who was incredibly helpful and attentive to the details of organizing a lovely event.
We were joined by Dr. Mark Leondires, a reproductive physician with a practice at RMA CT in Norwalk, Connecticut. Dr. Leondires spoke to the group in attendance about egg donation, IVF procedures, what to expect in a surrogacy journey from a medical perspective, the timeline for surrogacy, and more.
I spoke about gestational surrogacy from a service perspective, i.e., what the agency does in terms of finding a sound and stable gestational surrogate, how we support intended parents throughout the journey, how we coordinate with the fertility clinic, how we support the gestational surrogate, and how we manage and supervise all of the legal matters involved. We also discussed surrogacy insurance, whether or not to try for a twin pregnancy, and the variations in the laws from one U.S. State to another.
I believe that a competent team of professionals should manage surrogacy arrangements. Surrogacy is very doable and feasible; the only real drawback is the cost. But while feasible, it is also complicated and there are risks that must be attended to by doctors and lawyers. Two of the most important aspects are achieving a pregnancy and establishing the legal parentage of the intended parents. It is clear that given these two complicated issues, intended parents need trained physicians and lawyers who specialize in the area of assisted reproduction technology law to have a successful and positive experience.
Surrogacy is also becoming more apparent in the news. There is the case of Baby Gammy in Thailand (the case where an Australian couple had twins and allegedly left the twin with Down’s Syndrome in Thailand). There is also the film “Breeders” by Jennifer Lahl that presents, in my opinion, an inaccurately awful and unnecessarily negative view of gestational surrogacy. There really is nothing negative about surrogacy if the parties are consenting and they are all treated fairly and with respect. This is often up to the professionals to make sure the arrangement and the relationships are positive and fulfilling for all involved.
Last, but not least, I want to give a nod to the event caterer, Red Hook Catering. Although the refreshments arrived late because the driver got lost, they could not have been more gracious and helpful.
The event was a success and we plan on taking our program on the road and hosting events at many other gay community centers, reproductive centers, and forums where there is a need to disseminate this important information to people who desire to become parents and who want to turn to surrogacy to build their families.