National Surrogacy and Egg Donation Conference- Sydney

Amanda is a 31 year old mum to four kids of her own and lives in South-east Melbourne. She used her own eggs in a traditional surrogacy arrangement for a same sex Victorian couple and gave birth in March 2018. She is a mentor with the Surrogacy Australia Support Service

Anna is a part-time high school senior Math teacher, is married with two children in Adelaide, and birthed as a surrogate in September 2020 for two Dads. She has been closely involved in the Australian surrogacy community for some years now, has conducted research with surrogates, has been involved in government enquiries on surrogacy reform and provided talks at annual surrogacy conferences. Anna is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Surrogacy Australia Support Service (SASS) and now runs weekly webinars for the community.

Ashley had  always known she didn’t want children, but recognised others had a strong desire for family. Ashley decided she had eggs ‘going to waste’ and wanted to help. She has since completed 8 donor cycles and will be doing a 9th in early 2019. Four babies have been born from her donations so far with three recipients awaiting frozen embryo transfers. She has completed donations in NSW, VIC, and Tasmania.

Miles and Brittany are a husband and wife team, former patients at PFCLA, and now President and CEO of PFCLA. Miles’ background is in Neuroscience and healthcare technology, while Brittany comes from venture capital. Miles and Brittany were drawn to this space by their desire to help people build families, and chose to work with PFCLA because of its international reputation for top success rates and caring clinicians.

To arrange a one on one appointment during the event please email Brittany at: [email protected]

Caroline Bilkey is a highly experienced Newborn Specialist and OCN Registered Maternity Nurse (United Kingdom), who has spent the last 16 years specialising in both local and international contract maternity roles and surrogacy journeys for intended parents. Born in Auckland, New Zealand but residing in Sydney, Australia, Caroline discovered a niche and real demand in providing premium pre and post natal maternity care and services for families, as well as providing support for the ongoing development of their children. Her studies in London to train as a Maternity Nurse, Sleep Consulting and Baby Massage have led her to working with Maternal Mental Health for Oranga Tamariki (New Zealand), partnering with various international childcare agencies, as well as accumulating many of her own international high profile clientele and royalty who frequently book her services. She has worked extensively within the surrogacy industry, as well as for same sex couples, making her the go to in Australasia for this line of work. No matter whom the family is; her ethos is always the same. Listen to the families and their needs and provide a standard of care that lets the parents enjoy their new baby, whilst making sure the baby is happy, healthy and safe. Having worked with over 500 babies internationally in her career; Caroline particularly enjoys coaching new parents to give them encouragement and support with what a new baby brings, whether it be their first or fifth child. Mummy’s Whispers was founded as a natural progression to provide online services and resources for new parents, as well as having the ability to book her highly specialised team directly for Maternity services.

Over the years Cassandra’s passion for family law has deepened and she has niched solely into the practice of Family and Surrogacy law. Cassandra is passionate about surrogacy. Knowing first-hand the heartache associated with trying to conceive a baby, Cassandra offers a kind, welcoming space to discuss any of your surrogacy concerns, questions and to provide advice.  Her firm offers advice to both surrogates and intended parents. They are not just interested in surrogacy, they have experienced surrogacy first hand. They understand your journey, your goals, your vision, your dreams. Their surrogacy clients generally stay in touch  for years to come.

Complimentary One on One Consultations are available. 

Charmaine is 38 years old and moved to Brisbane from NZ 14 years ago. She has four children of her own and one son who’s no longer with us. Charmaine has wanted to be a surrogate from the age of 15 and when she lost her son it made the urge to help others even stronger.  She has been on this adventure for nine years now and in that time experienced ten transfers and four miscarriages. Charmaine has carried successfully for two Australian couples.

Chrissy is 33 years old. She is the Sydney-based partner of Australian surrogate Carissa Perdulovski. They have been together 7 years. Chrissy discusses the impact of surrogacy on relationships with a partner

Christina’s mum Leia has been a surrogate multiple times. This altruism inspired  Christina to donate her own eggs. She has done both known and anonymous donations in Canada and can’t imagine not giving back. She loves hiking, and the outdoors, Christina’s mom and two of her sisters have also been egg donors. It really is just a part of who she is.

Cindy Wasser practiced as a Canadian Criminal Defence lawyer from 1987 until 2008. In that year, she  became a mum to the first of two daughters through an egg donor and gestational surrogacy. This journey led her to her legal specialisation in Fertility Law. Cindy provides legal advice and services to intended parents, Canadian carriers and donors. Cindy has also provided legal advice to fertility medical practitioners and fertility consultant agencies. She has lectured in the area of fertility law at medico-legal conferences and hospitals.

Donna has 21 years experience as  a registered nurse & midwife. She  now work as a fertility nurse at Centre for Infertility with Dr Nick Lolatgis. She has two children, one conceived via IVF using clinic-recruited donor sperm. She  conceived her  second child with a donor embryo, gifted by a close friend. But thats not all. Donna has offered to carry as a surrogate for a close friend, asn is currently engaged in the Victorian PRP approval process

Dr. Kumar is board certified in reproductive endocrinology and obstetrics and gynecology and practices near Los Angeles, California. In recent years Dr. Kumar has focused his efforts for those that have had difficulty conceiving and require an egg donor and/or gestational surrogacy. Over half of his current patients are from overseas which include Australia, Austria, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, & the UK. He has been asked to present his work across the world including Australia, India, China, and Italy and has contacts in numerous clinics that collaborate closely to provide seamless care.
He has worked with world-renowned leaders at both UCLA and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Kumar has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals on endocrine and surgical aspects of infertility. Dr. Kumar has written several textbook chapters on management of tubal factor infertility and ovarian function including premature ovarian failure, and has a special interest in hormonal and functional causes of infertility such as polycystic ovary syndrome, tubal disorders, male factor infertility, and donor/surrogate reproduction. He is also a member of the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society and American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

Complimentary One on One Consultations are Available with our expert speakers. To book your expert speaker contact them via [email protected]

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 Gynecology. 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 Gynecology 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 on-going research at Women’s College Hospital and university of Toronto. Dr. Librach has played an active in presenting abstracts at various conferences and meetings. He is frequently interviewed for television, radio and print media.

An obstetrician – gynecologist for more than 30 years, Dr Giakoumakis studied at the University of Athens and specialized in Ob / Gyn. He worked as a visiting doctor in the HolweideKrankenhaus Koln and in Chania. He speaks English, Italian, German and French. In 1992, he created the Mediterranean Fertility Institute in which he is Clinical Director. The Institute has high-tech equipment and a scientific team specializing in infertility treatment and prevention of genetic diseases. It is one of the few fertility centers with the potential to manage all aspects of infertility including surrogacy. Increasing numbers of Australians are engaging with MFI

After graduating high school in Switzerland, Lori volunteered in Mexico and South America for the International Health Agency. Over 25 years ago, Dr Arnold performed her first surrogacy case for an Italian couple, and since then, surrogacy has grown both nationally and internationally, as has her interest in third-party reproduction. In the early days, Dr Arnold needed to recruit, screen and follow-up with surrogates and egg donors since there were not many agencies who performed these services.  CACRM now recruit, screen, and perform the medical evaluations of surrogates and donors. Lauri’s team assist  Intended parents throughout the entire surrogacy journey until after delivery of their baby. CACRM feels everybody should have an opportunity to have a family, and we do not discriminate regarding age, sex, race, or gender

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.

Thea Charkviani M.D. is a leading obstetrician gynecologist, reproductive endocrinologist at ReproART Georgian-American Center for Reproductive Medicine with over 25 years of experience, a highly acclaimed and demanded doctor both in Georgia and now abroad. She studied at the Tbilisi State Medical University, did an internship at the State Clinical Institute, and graduated from the Tbilisi State Medical Academy with qualifications in reproductive healthcare. Dr. Charkviani has helped thousands of infertile couples in making their dream come true and becoming parents.  Her extensive knowledge and practical experience ensures that couples receive up-to-date treatment using the latest assisted reproductive technologies.  She is also engaged in scientific publications, and her works in cooperation with the ReproART team were presented at the ESHRE (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology) and ASRM (American Society for Reproductive Medicine). Free consultations are available with advance booking at: [email protected];

Elijah is nearly 11 years old. He and his twin brother Huxley were born via traditional surrogacy in Brisbane to an experienced surrogate and egg donor. Elijah and Huxley live with their two dads, Jared and Michael, and enjoy regular catch ups with their surrogate Rachael and her family.

Emma Solly is a graduate of the University of Queensland, where she studied Biomedical Science. Following graduation, she worked in private pathology for seven years in London, UK, until her return to Australia in 2011. Since that time, Emma has been prominently involved in all aspects of service provision of the DNALabs laboratory, including administrative, operational and scientific components. Emma is the Administration Manager of DNALabs, a NATA-accredited DNA parentage testing reporter, and has an extensive and detailed knowledge base in the fields of relationship and parentage testing. Emma’s long-standing experience has seen her facilitate DNA testing for surrogacy cases internationally, including in Thailand, India, Nepal, Cambodia, Canada, USA, Ukraine and Georgia.

Hanneke has more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry. She worked as Director of Marketing for Philips Healthcare and was based out of Europe, Asia, and the US. She joined the SurroPlans team after building her own family with her husband in Seattle. Originally from the Netherlands, Hanneke brings her fun-loving attitude and friendly approach to the SurroPlans team.

Isabella is now aged 14 and just last year her mum Megan carried as a surrogate. Isabella loves Marvel films and chatting to her friends. She is also learning Spanish. She will talk about her feelings about having her mum carry someone else’s child

Katrina Hale is a Sydney-based Psychologist and Infertility Counsellor with over 20 years counselling experience. She is passionate about surrogacy and a strong supporter of all walks of the community that wish to create a family through surrogacy. She is committed to helping Intending Parents and Surrogates and their partners successfully navigate their surrogacy journey together.

Leanne, single mother of 3 from Sydney, birthed as a surrogate for two Intended Fathers who live in NSW. They were initially strangers, built a relationship, navigated COVID, and welcomed a little girl into the world in July 2020. Leanne is proud of being a surrogate, how she and her children helped to create a family, and is planning a second surrogacy journey with new IP’s. Leanne has been an active member of the surrogacy community for 5 years and is passionate about building positive relationships through welcoming, guiding and educating new surrogates and IP’s.

Leia is a mother to five, a two-time gestational surrogate, and a six-time egg donor. She began Canadian Fertility Consulting and Egg Helpers in 2007 after her second surrogacy, with the intention of creating a more rewarding experience for surrogates, egg donors and intended parents. With a background in business development and management, Leia turned her professional passion for alternative family building into a full-time business. Leia believes that surrogacy and egg donation is more than a medical transaction – bringing someone’s child into the world through surrogacy and egg donation is a milestone that deserves to be honoured and celebrated.

Alexandra (Lexie) has just turned 11.  She and her twin brother Cameron were born via surrogacy in India after her parents, Kara and Brett shipped their last remaining embryos to New Delhi. Lexie loves to hear all about her special journey into this world and telling people that she was born in India. She has a very special photo of her surrogate Binita in her room, which she cherishes and also a very special book that was made from her Mum’s Blog of their time in India.

Lynne is a Lactation Consultant and Endorsed Midwife in Sydney, Australia. Specialising in antenatal breastfeeding and birth classes and ongoing breastfeeding support. Lynne is an internationally certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and helps parents to recieve milk through the Mothers Milk Bank Charity. Her philosophy and motivation to help comes from her own breastfeeding experience with an insufficient breast milk supply with her second child. Lynne wants to give the support and options you need to maximize your opportunities to breastfeed or provide breast milk to your baby the way you want and for however long you want.

Megan started this journey in November 2018 when she offered to be a surrogate for her cousin David and his husband Will when discussing future family planning. Megan has four children with her husband Jorge (Alexander 16, Isabella 14, Gisele 11 & Mateo 3ys). While they lost some time due to covid, after three years, four transfers from embryos created with the help of egg donor Karla, Megan fell pregnant in April 2021 with Baby Harrison  arriving just in time for Christmas (23/12/21). 

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.

Renee Adair is the founder and director of the Australian Doula College, the Groundwork Program and the ADC’s charity-arm Doula Heart Network. She first began working with women and babies in 1994 as a massage and Aromatherapist and Reiki Practitioner and in 1998 after the birth of her two children began studying and working as a Doula and Childbirth and Early Parenting Educator. Working In collaboration, Renee helped produce the first research on Doulas in Australia which was published in the Journal of Perinatal Education in 2013. She has spoken on a variety of radio programmes, at conferences and seminars and is a regular contributor for a range of publications, websites and podcasts. Renee has moved to change the way we think about Doula support, helping launch Preparing the Way with its founder Helen Callanan some years ago, with a view to create the space for the wider community to see Doula support though a broader lens, supporting all major life transitions, not just in the birthing space.

In 2019 Renee proudly partnered with Charles Darwin University to co facilitate Accredited Doula training for Indigenous women in the remote First Nations community of Galiwin’ku. She has sat on the Consumer Advisory Board of the Australian College of Midwives, trained thousands of Doulas and supported hundreds of women, their partners and families through pregnancy, birth, early parenting and end of life over the course of her career.  A fierce advocate for human rights and the rights of all sentient beings, Renee blends her life’s work, spending downtime with her family, friends and fur babies.

Roman established FAR AND WIDE MIGRATION in 2006, inspired not only by his years of experience as a volunteer in the Australian migration advice sector, but also his own personal experience migrating to Australia. With a strong professional background in client service, he has instilled a company philosophy of empathy, honesty and excellence. Roman has valuable contacts in DFAT & Home Affairs and has man years experience assisting in citizenship and passports processes for Australians using international surrogacy as a means to build family.

Ruby is nearly 11 years old, and was born via egg donor surrogacy in India at a time when hundreds of Australian singles and couples were relying on Indian surrogacy. She lives with her dads Sam & Phil in Sydney. She will talk about growing up without a mum, and telling friends and teachers about where she came from.

Ruth  has qualifications in Social Welfare and over 30 years’ experience working with authorised carers, children, young people, and families in Child Protection and Out of Home Care (Permanency Support Program) service provision in NSW in a variety of roles. For the past 9 years, Ruth has worked for Barnardos Australia (a leading child protection charity) and is the Manager Carer Recruitment & Intake for NSW. Ruth holds responsibility for the oversight of recruitment (training, assessment and support) of authorised carers and prospective open adoptive parents, and, management of referrals for care placements for children and young people with Barnardos.

Sam is the dad to two girls Zoe & Ruby via surrogacy and as the global Director of Growing Families has become one of the globe’s foremost commentators and researchers on surrogacy trends, capacity and bst practice. 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. With a background in public health and research he is also the author of three books.

Sarah completed her Bachelor of Social Work (Honors) at University of New South Wales graduating  at the beginning of 2018 having completed placements in the out of home care team at Department of Communities and Justice and in research and policy in Sweden. Sarah has been working in foster care since 2018 and joined Key Assets in 2019. She has experience working with a diverse caseload of children and families and  understand the amazing strengths it takes to be a foster carer and the numerous challenges they face. It is a massive undertaking and I thoroughly enjoy walking through this journey with carers and children in my role.

Sarah has practised solely in family law since the commencement of her career nearly 20 years ago, and has been an Accredited Specialist in Family Law through the Law Society of NSW since 2005.  She also is an accredited arbitrator, regular presenter of ongoing legal education papers on family law to the legal profession and is on the panel of lawyers appointed to act as the Independent Child’s Lawyer in proceedings under the Family Law Act.  Sarah Bevan Family Lawyers are experts in surrogacy, having assisted many Australian and international intended parents and surrogates. Sarah led the team responsible for the landmark NSW decision for the first same-sex couple to be registered as parents on their child’s birth certificate, after that child was born through a surrogacy arrangement.

Complimentary One on One Consultations are available during the event. To book please email Sarah: [email protected]

Shirley is Dutch but has been living in Crete, Greece for more than 10 years. She has experiences fertility issues herself in the past and now coordinates all Dutch and English speaking patients through MFI’s different fertility programmes. Due to her past experience in dealing with overseas customers for travel arrangements as a tour operator Shirley helps couples with concierge services, logistics and Cretan hospitality. Shirley has great compassion and care towards couples due to her personal experiences in this field.

Stephanie is an experienced fertility branch manager with a background and Master’s Degree in Applied Psychology. In addition to having worked in both the IVF and surrogacy sectors, she has lived in 7 different countries to which she credits her expertise in managing an international patient base. Her youngest daughter was also born via surrogacy in 2010, lending unique sensitivity to her role at Be Parent and the guidance and education she provides intended parents.

Stephen Page is a dad through surrogacy. He has also had infertility. Admitted as a solicitor in 1987, Stephen is a  principal of Page Provan, family and fertility lawyers, Brisbane and has been an accredited family law specialist since 1996. Since 1988 Stephen has advised in over 1750 surrogacy journeys for clients throughout Australia and at last count 32 countries overseas. He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (including of its LGBT, Forced Marriage and Parentage Committees), a Fellow of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys, and is an international representative on the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Committee of the American Bar Association. Stephen is a board member of Access Australia’s Infertility Network Ltd and of the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand Ltd. Stephen lectures in Ethics and the Law in Reproductive Medicine at the University of New South Wales. In his spare time, he loves reading his husband Mitchell’s book about their family: Lizzie’s Day at the Zoo.

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. What she enjoys most  is the variety of roles and the type of environments she is exposed to. Being involved in the fertility sector allows Tamari to work with different teams on new projects/programs, work in different cultural environments, be exposed to various systems, and manage her time and efforts against very specific deliverables, thus being able to gain insight into managing projects from different angles.  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.

Complimentary One on One Consultations are available. To book please email [email protected]

Yukio Soares is a supportive spouse to a 3 time gestational surrogate, among his many other callings including father, friend, and Amazon employee. When he was in the early stages of dating his now wife, she entered her first journey as a surrogate, carrying twins. He supported his wife through 2 additional journeys and has helped support other surrogates and spouses as they navigate the life changing journey that is surrogacy. His ability to be a calming force to those around him gives him the unique ability to provide perspective to emotional situations.

Anita contracted had cancer and had a hysterectomy in 2011 when she was 28. She and her partner Anthony initially tried surrogacy in Asia but were at a loss with the system and costs. After that unsuccessful attempt and 9 years of infertility and hopelessness, Anita & Anthony refused to give up. They flew to Georgia and completed a few rounds of sperm collection and donor egg surrogacy at Christmas 2019. Their clinic made 7 good quality embryos and their clinic transferred two. This lead to the natural birth of Annabelle in Sept 2020 (Anita’s surrogate wanted a holistic, drug-free birth). They arrived home out of quarantine on Christmas day 2020 to celebrate a family lunch. It was a dream come true. The couple were both 39 years old. They  look forward to  using their remaining embryos to create a sibling for Annabelle.

Sydney couple Mark (aged 38), and his partner David (33), are now dads through gestational surrogacy. They started their journey in 2016  engaged with their egg donor that year with IVF Australia, creating 10 embryos. In early 2018, they met their amazing surrogate Shell, her husband Chris, and their family in Taree, NSW. After a lot of getting to know each other, Shell and Chris offered to help them start a family. In April 2019,  their first transfer took. Mila Rose was born in December 2019 at 39 weeks.

Michelle is a single IP who had her daughter through surrogacy in Greece in November 2020. After an unsuccessful journey in USA, Michelle turned to the Greek program facilitated by Mediterranean Fertility Institute in Crete and is now raising her daughter as a solo mum. 

After a miscarriage that resulted in an Asherman’s diagnosis and too many IVF rounds to count, Sydney-based Trudy & her husband Tom welcomed a beautiful baby girl called Bonnie in August this year, thanks to her sister-in-law, Sarah, who carried their child in New York, and birthed in Sydney after two weeks of hotel quarantine.  She will share their extra-ordinary journey, including the geographical, logistical and legal challenges …. not to mention a global pandemic .  The conversation about surrogacy and the offer to be our surrogate, began when her sister-in-law found a surrogacy branded pen at Trudy’s house from a Growing Families event four years ago

Daniel and Tyson always wanted a family since they began their relationship 12 years ago. They joined the Australian Surrogacy Facebook group in 2018 where they began their journey. They created embryos with their donor and they met their surrogate online through the surrogacy Facebook group where they began an amazing friendship. They welcomed their baby girl London in December 2021. They will outline how they connected with a local surrogate, what relationship they formed and how the support process worked.

Will and his husband, David, became proud dads to Harrison at Christmas 2021 via domestic surrogacy in Australia. Throughout a four-year journey to become parents – and adopting three dogs in the process – their amazing cousin, Megan, was a dedicated surrogate. Will works in the space of LGBTQ inclusion and as a parent via surrogacy, he can bring a unique and personal perspective for intended parents, donors and surrogates in telling his story.