After celebrating more than 20 years as one of Canada’s top criminal defence lawyers, Cindy Wasser thought she was retiring in 2008 to become a mother to the first of her two daughters created with the help of an egg donor and surrogate. Driven by her difficult path to parenthood, she instead founded Hope Springs Fertility Law, to guide, protect and advocate for everyone building families with the help of donors and surrogates. She has since grown Hope Springs into a leading fertility law firm, providing legal advice and services to hundreds of intended parents, donors and surrogates from across Canada and around the world, year after year. With her background in criminal law, and personal experience with surrogacy and egg donation, Cindy occupies a uniquely revered position within the fertility law community. She regularly uses this influence to advocate for stronger rights and protections for intended parents, donors and surrogates within Canada, and has become well-known internationally as a respected leader in this complex and evolving area of law.

Dr Shadi graduated from the University of Alexandria, and gained invaluable experience working in hospitals internationally, including the United States, Gulf countries and Australia. At the University of Illinois, Chicago, Shadi undertook an advanced training in male fertility where he trained in advanced microscopic surgical techniques and developed a patent for a specialised device to assist in male fertility preservation.

Since his arrival to Australia he obtained a fellowship from the Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Obstetrics & Gynaecology after further training at St George and Sutherland Hospitals. He also went on to complete three full years of training in advanced and difficult fertility cases, as a part of his subspecialty in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. He is also a conjoint lecturer at UNSW, where he is writing a Master’s program to teach specialists more about fertility issues using the latest research and evidence in clinical practice.

Shadi currently consults out of Alexandria, Sydney CBD and Kogarah clinic. He also operates from Prince of Wales Hospital, Hurstville Private Hospital and Sussex day surgery.

Dr. Librach is the Director of the CReATe Fertility Centre.  A graduate of University of Toronto, he completed undergrad, graduate and a specialty degree in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Dr. Librach went on to spend 3 years at the University of California in San Francisco becoming a board certified Reproductive Endocrinologist and Infertility Specialist. Since 1991 Dr. Librach has been an Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Toronto. He is a Co-Director of the University of Toronto Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Clinic. He is the principal investigator in various clinical and embryology studies and researcher at Women’s College Hospital and University of Toronto. Dr. Librach has played an active role in presenting abstracts at various conferences and meetings. He is frequently interviewed for television, radio and print media.

Dr. Uliana Dorofeyeva started her professional career as coordinating first international cooperation in Ukraine based on import of sperm and export embryos which developed into numerous international partnerships and has become recognized worldwide. She studied me started her professional career as coordinating first international cooperation in Ukraine based on import of sperm and export embryos which developed into numerous international partnerships and has become recognized worldwide. She studied medicine in Lviv National Medical University and practiced in such countries as Ireland, Israel and Great Britain. Dr Uliana has over 12 years of experience in the IVF field, performed over 3000 treatment cycles for patients from 32 countries.

Heather has an extensive background in customer service with a passion for developing partnerships and solutions. Supporting  intended parents and co-ordinating sperm, egg and embryo shipping globally are Heather’s areas of expertise with our network of couriers.

Kristin oversees the financial aspects of Simple Surrogacy, as well as solely managing the escrow accounts of clients. Her legal responsibilities include determining state laws and required legal proceedings in the Surrogate’s and Intended Parents’ state of residency; locating separate legal counsel experienced in surrogacy law for Intended Parents and Surrogate; review and assist in negotiating the surrogacy contract between Intended Parents and Surrogate; assure both parties that contractual agreements are met; and overseeing all necessary legal filings and procedures to establish parental rights for Intended Parents. Kristin’s escrow responsibilities include opening of escrow; manage escrow account; monitor and authorize disbursements in accordance with your contract; reimburse expenses to Surrogate, including prescription medications and co-payments; and ensuring Intended Parents have access to all itemized monthly statements of the escrow activity. Kristen is an experienced three time Egg Donor,  and parent, and is very experienced with all aspects of surrogacy involving Egg Donation. One on One Consultations are Available with expert speakers.

Professor Paula Gerber has been an academic in the Monash University Law Faculty since 2004 and the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law. Professor Gerber is an internationally renowned legal scholar with expertise in international human rights law. She was the co-author of Souls in the house of tomorrow: The rights of children born via surrogacy (Surrogacy, law and human rights , 2016)

Rita has 30 years experience as a psychologist and 25 years experience working in IVF settings. She is the Manager of Monash IVF Counselling Services. Rita maintains a special interest in female and male reproductive health and reproductive grief and loss. Currently primarily involved in providing counselling and assessment for surrogacy and  complex donor cases for local and overseas recipients. She is a member of Fertility Society of Australia, Australian New Zealand Infertility Counsellors Association, Australian Psychological Society, the APS and the College of Counselling Psychologists

Sam Everingham is the Global Director of Growing Families.  He has become one of the globe’s foremost commentators and researchers on donor & surrogacy trends and capacity. Through conferences, seminars and consulting he has assisted over a thousand singles and couples to plan safe and reliable routes to building families through surrogacy & donor IVF.

Sam has two daughters, Zoe & Ruby, via surrogacy and therefore is very aware of the issues, struggles and frustrations along the surrogacy path.  With a background in public health and research he is also the author of several books.

Tamari is an experienced international fertility manager,  with a long history working in local and international health care industry, a Medical degree and a Master’s degree in Public Health and Health Policy. She initially ran programs solely in Georgia and has recently opened a groundbreaking surrogacy and donor program in Argentina. Her specific interest is in the inter-dependencies of global and national practices, in how policies are written  based on different regional contexts and translated into real medical solution to ensure better health outcomes.

Andy is a single gay dad from Australia. he had his first child via surrogacy, a son, in Canada and in July 2023 he welcomed a daughter, Frida, via surrogacy in Argentina

My name is Gaia and I was born in Mumbai in 2009 with my twin sister Evelyn. When we returned to India I loved the animals and Goa especially. My interests are gaming learning about the human body and all animals, especially cats which we have two. We also have two rabbets and I am wanting a dog soon. I also love to cook.

Maria & Mark engaged in surrogacy in Greece, with the recently closed MFI, Crete. When their world tipped upside down overnight with the clinic closing just two days before the birth of their child, they turned to Growing Families for help. Maria will discuss their journey and surviving a crisis in an overseas environment when custody of your newborn is at stake.

Paul is a recent dad through Tammuz Family’s Colombia program. He and his partner’ Rahuls son Milan was born in March 2023 in Bogota. Paul will discuss the highs and lows, navigating the journey, costs, timelines as well as setting expectations for the Colombia process

I was born in Delhi in 2010 and when we returned in 2019 I loved the beaches and the busy cities. My interests are gaming, sport in general but basketball is my favourite. I play for the Bacchus Panthers.