•Surrogacy

•Reproductive Medicine

•Israeli Parenting Law

•Finance

•Expert Advice

•Personal Stories  

Please join us for this unprecedented seminar about parenting options for Israeli gay men through surrogacy in the USA. We are presenting this seminar as a response to the growing interest in surrogacy among Israeli gay men, and given the special legal and logistical circumstances of perusing such an option in the USA. The program will include a panel with legal, medical and practical expert advice, and personal stories from parents and a surrogate.  Also present will be Gil & Dror, a gay couple from Israel that are expecting this summer. They will answer questions and share their experience so far.

The event is co-sponsored by Circle Surrogacy and Connecticut Fertility Associates, two organizations that have been helping gay couples and singles to have children through surrogacy and /or IVF for more than a decade. Also co-sponsoring are attorney Ira Hadar and the New Family Organization in Israel, who are both actively helping gay parents establish their parental rights upon return from the USA. These organizations, already working with several Israeli couples, are cooperating to provide and improve a parenting track that is specifically suited to the needs and circumstances of Israeli gay men.

Light refreshments will be available during the event which is expected to last about two hours. Individual consultations can also be scheduled for prospective parents who would to further explore these options with the representatives of Circle Surrogacy and CFA while they are in Tel Aviv.

About the co-sponsors:

Circle Surrogacy is a full service gay owned and gay focused surrogate-parenting agency. Since 1995, Circle Surrogacy has helped bring to the world almost 200 babies. Its dedicated staff of professionals 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 to suit its clients’ unique family choices.

Connecticut Fertility Associates (CFA) provides fertility testing and treatments that have enabled thousands of their patients to conceive and carry healthy babies. CFA provides diagnosis and treatment of all conditions related to fertility and miscarriage, such as ovulation disorders including polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS); anatomical problems such as scar tissue, endometriosis and fibroids; male infertility; and even unexplained infertility. Treatment options include fertility medications; artificial insemination (IUI); laser laparoscopy, hysteroscopy and microsurgical procedures; as well as in vitro fertilization (IVF), including donor eggs and surrogacy. CFA’s strength lies in balancing the simplest approaches for some, with the most advanced treatments for others, and in listening to their patients when deciding which approach is right to achieve their goal of getting pregnant.

New Family is the first organization in Israel dedicated to advancing family rights and the rights of individuals within families. Led by experts in the field of law and civil rights, New Family is a human rights organization working to attain legal recognition of every family unit in Israel to ensure equal rights for every type of family.

  About the panelists:

• Dr. Michael Doyle
  As the founder of Connecticut Fertility Associates, Dr. Doyle has practiced Reproductive Medicine in the United States since 1991, when he completed his advanced fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology at Yale University. Since then, he and his team of specialists have helped over 4,000 couples (including many gay couples) achieve their dream of parenthood. Dr. Doyle’s patients consistently praise him as a highly skilled expert who balances his outstanding technical skill with a sincere, caring and compassionate approach.
   
• John Weltman, Esq.
  John Weltman is a partner in the law firm of Lawson & Weitzen, LLP, in Boston and the president and owner of Circle Surrogacy. Ltd., a full service surrogate-parenting agency he established 11 years ago. John was the first to establish the right of couples to get insurance coverage for gestational surrogacy in Massachusetts, 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 24 years (now husband!) are each biological fathers through the same surrogate mom of their two children, Zachary and Kyle, ages 12 and 11. John was educated at Yale, Oxford and the University of Virginia.
   
• Irit Rosenblum , Advocate.
  Irit Rosenblum is the founder and chairperson of New Family. Irit has been active in the public arena since she began practicing law over a decade ago. Over the course of her career, she has stood out as an innovative young leader fighting for equality and social justice. The former Legal Advisor and Director of the Department of the Status of Women at WIZO Israel, she has worked on crucial issues such as violence in the family, problems of single parent families. the status of women, and the plight of women denied divorce by their husbands. She led the campaign which brought about the establishment of a law requiring the rapid sentencing of offenders accused of violence against family members. Irit was elected to the Local Council of Shoham and holds the education portfolio. She is a member of the Israeli Bar Association, and a presiding judge in the police disciplinary court