Sometimes, with all of the focus and commitment and determination that is required of family building efforts, we lose the perspective that our journey is worth sharing and that the experiences of others struggling with infertility just may have something to offer the next Intended Parent…..and sometimes, we just need to have a little fun with this […]

In the January 25th edition of The Boston Herald, a side-bar to two articles for which I was interviewed discusses a West Coast couple advertising at MIT for a donor and offering her a compensation of $35,000.00. I am not sure where to begin my commentary on this couple’s determination to recruit a “genius Asian egg […]

For the many of you that are on Facebook, you may be happy to know that Prospective Families now has its own Facebook page. Our page has feeds directly from our blog, videos, news, and events. If you are on Facebook you can become a fan and stay connected. If you are not on Facebook, […]

Well, my last few posts have generated quite a bit of empassioned feedback from “infertility consultants” defending the need for “professional educators” to fill the void they feel left by clinical teams, attorneys, mental health providers etal in giving patients/clients a solid understanding of alternative family building options and issues.
I returned yesterday from the RESOLVE of the Bay State […]

Are we meeting the needs of patients/clients to comprehensively educate or is their a void w/in which uncredentialed service providers (i.e. Independent Infertility Consultants) are now marketing (and charging for) services we, as licensed professionals should be providing?
As a long-term patient advocate (beginning my career in infertility working on complex legislative matters regarding insurance coverage for […]

Over the past 12-18 months there has been a buzz, made all the more loud by a recent episode of Oprah, regarding American couples going abroad, mostly to India, to pursue family building at what is being billed as a cost savings. At both the American Fertility Association conference and yesterday’s American Academy of Adoption Attorneys […]

This past weekend I had the pleasure of meeting with and advising more than several prospective parents about the choices they are faced with when pursuing alternative family building. Even though many of these folks came to hear me talk about egg donation, we began one round-table discussion comparing the choice of collaborative conception over […]

I recently read a beautifully written and perfectly balanced essay on donor compensation at: http://www.docshop.com/2007/11/13/miracle-or-madness-the-light-and-dark-sides-of-donating-eggs-for-money/. Often when clients first contact me they are concerned, perhaps even worried about the costs of family building through egg donation, even in my state of Massachusetts where often the clinical fees for the In Vitro Cycle, itself is covered by […]

Today, like many days, my voice-mailbox is full, my calendar booked, my e-mail refreshes frequently with requests from women, men and couples faced with significant infertility. They contact me hoping for my assistance to identify, for them, a healthy fertile woman willing to share her fertility to assist them in successful family building. They are […]

As you would imagine, the recent Chicago Tribune article wherein I discussed the challenges ethnic Intended Parents face prompted much debate and dialogue. Yes, the article’s premise is one which all professionals in our field are all too aware…but really, there is a broader discussion to be had.
Why? Why are their fewer donors than hopeful parents-to-be? […]