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. Sandy Chuan, a distinguished fertility specialist holding double board certifications and boasting extensive expertise in complex IVF cases and third-party reproduction. Dr. Chuan is renowned for her personalized approach to patient care, blending scientific excellence with compassion to maximize success for each individual.Throughout her career, she has been recognized with numerous accolades, such as Castle Connolly’s “Top Doctor” from 2017 to 2023 and as a “Top Doctor” by the San Diego County Medical Society (SDCMS) in San Diego Magazine. Dr. Chuan’s areas of expertise encompass a wide range, including PCOS, diminished ovarian reserve, fertility preservation, mini-stimulation, male factor infertility, and PGT. She is also deeply committed to helping patients achieve their dreams of parenthood through egg donation and/or surrogacy.As a leading fertility specialist, Dr. Chuan provides cutting-edge care with an impressive record of success, serving patients not only in the U.S. but also from around the world. She remains dedicated to staying at the forefront of medical and technological advances in fertility to deliver outstanding clinical care. Dr. Chuan’s educational background is exceptional, graduating from the prestigious UCLA School of Medicine in 2003, and completing her subspecialty training in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of California San Diego. She holds double-board certifications in Obstetrics and Gynecology, as well as Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility.Beyond her professional achievements, Dr. Chuan is fluent in both English and Mandarin Chinese.

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.

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)

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.

Steven is the Territory Manager for Tammuz Family Australia & New Zealand and also an  parent via surrogacy journey in Colombia with his partner. He has a wide range of career experience in business, international airlines and hospitably before finding his passion for all things family and surrogacy. He is very excited to share his own unique story from the view of an intended parent while also being able to educate other parents on the many affordable destinations and guaranteed plans that Tammuz can offer.

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

After multiple unsuccessful IVF attempts in Melbourne, Angela and Rahul turned to Dr. Said Daneshmand at San Diego Fertility Center in the US and had their first child, a daughter, with the help of donor IVF five years ago. Subsequently, due to an autoimmune condition, they required surrogacy and worked with US surrogacy attorney Rich Vaughn International Fertility Law Group and San Diego Clinic in creating further embryos. Their fist embryo transfer was successful and in Feb 2022 they welcomed Bodhi six weeks early in Los Angeles. Currently, Angela and Rahul are in the process of donating their remaining 18 embryos to IP’s via Empower embryo donations. Angela and Rahul will share their experience and recommendations for future parents. 

Bree is a 39 year old single mother of 3 daughters. A neonatal nurse living and working in regional Victoria. After a 3 year journey she birthed a baby as a gestational surrogate in August 2017 for a same sex couple. She will discuss what she looked for in recipients, what expectations she had of support and give a picture of the process from the surrogate viewpoint

Proud parents, Jay and Michael, recently celebrated the first birthday of their son, Leonidas. Initially considering commercial surrogacy abroad, Jay and Michael ultimately began their Australian surrogacy journey in 2019 upon meeting surrogate Kim in an online surrogacy chat group. A compatible donor was then found, and after navigating lockdown restrictions across 2020 and 2021, Kim successfully delivered Leo in August 2022. Jay, Michael and Kim are now lifelong friends, and although Kim has now personally completed her journey as a surrogate, Jay and Michael are now seeking another potential surrogate to help them continue surrogacy journey. 

Marco’s surrogacy journey started in February 2018 when they attended a Growing Families seminar in Richmond and after 5 years of IVF they thought to try the surrogacy path. They started looking immediately into the Canada option and two months later started their journey and engaging clinic, lawyer, agency etc. and two months later started talking with a surrogate. They were very lucky to be matched in a very short time and had the same luck with their second surrogate . Marco will discuss what they learned along the way

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.

Morgan always wanted to be a mother and as she grew older she found that conceiving did not come easy for everyone. Morgan watched her uncle and aunt struggle for years through many rounds of failed IVF before finally getting pregnant. Morgan decided that if she could get pregnant easily and have healthy pregnancies and deliveries she was going to pay that forward.  After the birth of her second child Morgan and her husband knew their family was complete so began a journey into surrogacy to help other families. Eleven years later she has helped four families and carried six babies for them. 

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