Fulfilling Your Family Building Dream

Specialising in family law, Annette Hickey has twenty years’ experience in practice. She heads up the Surrogacy & Fertility Law team at Poe Kiely Hogan Lanigan and is a leading expert in the field. She has assisted many clients through the Irish legal complexities of surrogacy arrangements and has a reputation for providing a reliable, efficient and sensitive legal service. Complimentary One on One Consultations are available . To book please email: Gfahy@pkhl.ie

Dana is a lawyer practicing since 2003. Dana specializes in surrogacy and assisted reproductive technology.  She is the founder and  legal adviser of Lotus Surrogacy as well as the owner of an Israeli law firm. Dana has handled the legal and  logistical aspects of over 700 surrogacy cases over the last 17 years.  She has vast experience in solving the legal issues that may arise during surrogacy abroad. With long prior experience in India, Nepal & Ukraine, Lotus have launched a new legally secure program for heterosexual couples in Kazakhstan as well as in Georgia.

Complimentary One on One Consultations are available before, during or after the event. To book please email Dana@lotussurrogacy.com

Dean E. Masserman is a highly experienced and respected trial and family law attorney. He has handled in excess of 40 jury trials, 100 court trials and an estimated 5000 court hearings over the course of his 28 year career in both federal and state court.

Mr. Masserman serves as chairperson of the firm’s family law and complex litigation practices, and also acts as a mediator in dissolution matters. Mr. Masserman also counsels physicians and IVF clinics regarding their guidelines and protocols to avoid litigation.

Mr. Vorzimer and Mr. Masserman were also part of a small group of attorneys who assisted Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes in drafting AB1217 which codified the current best legal practices regarding surrogacy agreements in California, and was added to the California Family Code as Section 7962.

Dr Tomicic graduated as a medical doctor in Zagreb in 2005, then specialised in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. His experience in treating patients with severe endometriosis changed his career focus, resulting in moving from reproductive surgery to managing subfertility. Dr Tomicic worked in the University Department of Infertility and Human Reproduction in Zagreb, completing his sub-specialist training in 2019. Helping patients to become parents is Karlo’s professional goal and joy, advising those with the greatest need, who often requiring donor & surrogacy options at home and abroad.

Dr Tomicic moved from Croatia to join SIMS IVF in Ireland in 2021, and joined Familees.Org in Dublin as a Fertility Consultant in 2023, specialising in family building using both donor and surrogacy options. The Marriage Equality Act passed in Ireland was important to Karlo given assisting gay & straight couples achieve family is his passion.

Dr. Dixon is the Founder, CEO and Medical Director of Anova Fertility & Reproductive Health which opened in 2016 as Canada’s newest full-service fertility and IVF center. It is home to the first next-generation embryology laboratory in Canada and is a leader in innovation, education, and communication for high quality humanized fertility and reproductive care.

Dr. Dixon is a graduate of McGill University’s School of Medicine. She completed her postgraduate training at the University of Toronto in Obstetrics and Gynecology and then went on to complete a 3-year sub-specialty with The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Vermont to obtain an Accredited Fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. Today she is a member of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center and is also Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto.

Dr Uliana 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.

Dr. Vuk Jovanovic is an internationally respected fertility specialist who focuses on providing exceptional care to the LGBTQ community in Southern California, with the desire to have a child or children of his own.  Dr Jovanovic completed his postgraduate medical training at Duke University and Columbia University in New York City. He is double board-certified in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and OB/Gyn in both, in the United States and Europe.

Dr. Jovanovic ranks among the top fertility doctors in Los Angeles. Beyond providing services in Southern California, many patients travel from all over the world to seek his expertise as a reproductive care provider.  He is constantly working to find new ways to maximize patient success rates and use the latest technology and optimized treatment protocols

Dr. Jovanovic is a member of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) and actively attends meetings on both continents.  Apart from his expertise and excellent success rates, he will provide compassionate and personal care to every single client. He has helped numerous couples in the United States and across the world achieve the dream of parenthood and is happy to serve his patients in Southern California and beyond.

Ester Nunez is the owner of SudAmerica Surrogacy, an agency which has supported South Americans, UK and French couples with the help of a multi-lingual team. She is a family and surrogate lawyer and a partner in Abogados Numa. Ester is a member of the Bar Association of the City of Buenos Aires and the Bar Association of San Isidro as well as the Argentine Association of Lawyers for Gestational Surrogacy. Ester is a regular participant in congresses, seminars, courses and conferences, is the author of several legal publications and is fluent in Spanish, English & French.

Megan founded Surro Connections after seeing first-hand the need for this unique company both Domestic and Internationally. Megan is directly involved with every Intended Parent and Surrogate Mother who becomes a part of Surro Connections. Megan is the mother of 3 beautiful children, 1 born through IVF and has been a Gestational Surrogate for three other families as well. Her experience in deeply rooted careers after graduating with her MBA in both Business Administration and Accounting were not nearly as fulfilling as the work she does today with each individual involved in Surro Connections.  She has also met all qualifications to be a Mediator within the State of Oregon.

Monica has dedicated her life to guiding and supporting Intended Parents and surrogates through their surrogacy journeys. Monica is the Agency Director of Accel Conceptions, she is open-minded and leads with her heart – the epitome of compassion and fierce advocacy. She has two decades of industry experience and nursing background, there is no such thing as a silly question — seriously, just ask her!

Natia has eight years of working experience with number of intended parents who have successfully completed surrogacy and egg donation programs in Georgia. Her activities include full program management and coordination, including donor and surrogate management for the successful completion of a defined program.

Over her years of journey in the field, she has successfully implemented more than 2000 egg donation and surrogacy programs. 95% of the clients involved in the programs are international patients from different countries, most of the couples participating in the programs are from Israel, China, USA, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Canada, Australia, Greece, Spain, India and other countries. Many years of work experience helps her to determine the couple’s priorities, identify their needs and help them achieve the desired result. Free consultations are available at: N.janadze@reproart.ge

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.

Christian Bair and his husband Stefan made the decision in 2018 that they no longer wanted it to be just the two of them in life. They started their fertility journey at the beginning of 2019 Christian engaged in California USA and found a great clinic with a great team.  They were fortunate to find a great surrogate who they are still in regular contact with. On April 20, 2020 their daughter was born in Kings County California. Based on Christian’s experience he likes to help others pursuing surrogacy. Christian is the European Support Manager for Pacific Surrogacy & Egg Donation.

Louise has a chronic illness and low AMH which means she could not carry a child of her own.  She and her partner  started researching surrogacy in 2019 – looking at both Ukraine and Georgia. By June that year they had chosen a clinic and the first embryo happened in July. This first transfer was successful and their son  Theo was born 31 March 2020 at 37 weeks gestation. Louise will talk about her experience

Stephen and his husband Graham have always known that growing their family was the direction they wanted to go. They started their surrogacy journey in 2020, when they contacted Annette Hickey to discuss what options were open to them. From that point on, they worked with Egg Helpers, CFC and Create in Canada, along with an amazing surrogate also in Canada, and in November 2022 all the hard work came to fruition, and their daughter was born in Ontario, Canada.
Being a new parent, from Stephen, you can expect tales of the other side of surrogacy; the late nights, the screams, the poo explosions (that always happen at the worst possible time) and the smiles from a little girl that make it all worth it.