Egg Donor / Surrogacy Event - Sydney 4 November - Growing Families

SYDNEY CONFERENCE

Fulfilling Your Family Building Dream

Date: 4 November 2023

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Fulfilling Your Family Building Dreams! is the only event of its kind in Sydney.
You will receive reliable advice, support and guidance from Australian and world-leading experts to grow your family – all under one roof.

Visit us in Sydney!

Saturday 4 November
10.30am to 4.30pm

The journey to having a child is not always easy, but the desire is real

For many, the path to parenthood is not straightforward. There are many hurtles, heartaches, lots of information and many people involved along the way. Every path to parenthood is unique and the journey to ‘Fulfilling Your Family Building Dreams’ to bring your little bundle of joy home.
Ireland Surrogacy and egg Donor - Growing Families

Fulfilling Your Family Building Dream

Introduces you to Austrlalian and International Fertility Experts, to start answering those questions you have on egg donation and surrogacy. The event provides you with accurate knowledge, guidance and a path to start your family building journey.

Talk with Experts Face-to-Face about Your Unique Situation

Interactive ‘Ask Me Anything’ panels, that includes recent parents who have been on their alternate family building journey,

There will be networking opportunities and plenty of time to talk one on one with experts at their information stands to find out the different ways to fulfill your family building dream!

This event will guide you on:

  • Surrogacy & Egg Donor Options by Country
  • Medical & Donor Considerations
  • Legal Issues
  • Parent Panels

One-on-One Consultations:

Included with your ticket is the opportunity to arrange meetings with as many experts from the seminar as you like. Read the profiles on each of our speakers and email us to arrange your consultation meetings.

SPEAKERS

Dr. Sandy ChuanSan Diego Fertility Center. USA 

Cindy is a mum via egg donor surrogacy and principal of 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,. She regularly uses her influence to advocate for stronger rights and protections for intended parents, donors and surrogates within Canada, and is well-known as a respected leader in this complex and evolving area of law.

Cindy Wasser, Hope Springs Fertility Law, Canada


Dr Uliana coordinated the ground-breaking first international IVF procedure in Ukraine. Dr. Uliana has over 12 years’ IVF experience, performed over 5000 cycles, treated patients from 36 countries and has clinics all over the world.

Dr. Uliana Dorofeyeva, Medical Director, International Fertility Group, Georgia

Tamari initially ran programs solely in Georgia, recently opening a groundbreaking surrogacy and donor program in Argentina. Her specific interest is in inter-dependencies of global and national practices – how policies are written based on different regional contexts and translated into real medical solution to better health outcomes. 

Tamari Kachlishvili, Global Surrogacy Consulting, Argentina 

Dr. Devine is a leading voice in improving access to ART services for members of the LGBTIQ community. She is a gynecologist, fertility expert and specialist obstetrician.

Dr. Bronwyn Devine, Reproductive Endocrinologist, IVF Australia 

Click for our full list of expert speakers

Fullfiling Your Family Building Dream

Date: Saturday 4 November 2023
Time:  10.30am to 4.30pm
Location:  Novotel Sydney Central
Tickets: $30 + gst

Ticket price includes;  one-on-one consultation with expert providers post event, lunch, afternoon tea, and complimentary networking drinks and nibbles. The networking drinks provide an opportunity to freely talk with all expert speakers, donor, surrogates, recent parents and children.

Agenda & Speakers

10.30am

Avoiding Heartbreak & Stress – Considerations in Selecting a Country

Where can I engage? What are the pros and cons of each destination? What due diligence is required? What is the situation in Australia, Georgia, Colombia, Argentina, US, Greece & Canada? What legal protections are offered? How do costs compare? How do hybrid programs work?

Sam Everingham, Growing Families

11.00am

The Future of Surrogacy in Europe

With the Ukraine war ongoing, Georgia so overwhelmed with demand that the government wants to close it, and Greece’s largest surrogacy program now closed, will surrogacy in Europe ever recover? What are the problems with options being offered in Kazahkstan and Armenia?

Panelists: Dr Uliana Dorofeyeva, Tamari Kashlishvili

11.20pm

Latest Trends In US Surrogacy

Which kind of IPs are best suited to programs in the US? What is the variability in program costs? Will surrogates agree to carry twins? What issues affect surrogate match times? How and when are surrogates screened?

Kirsten Hanson, Simple Surrogacy, USA

11.50pm

Donor & Surrogacy Options in Argentina, Colombia & Mexico

How stable are these programs? How long have they operated? What are the realities around birth certificates, match times? How is surrogate screening and care managed? Can sperm or embryos be shipped?

Tamari Kachlishvili (Argentina), Stephanie Martin (Mexico, North Cyprus) Steven Swanepoel (Colombia)

12.20pm

Maximising Success/Minimising Risk in overseas arrangements

What is PGT-A testing? Why do US clinics so highly recommend it in surrogacy arrangements? What role does genetic carrier screening play? Can these processes be done in Australia? Why are Canadian clinics more likely to accept surrogates? What guarantees are available from IVF programs in Canada and the US?

Dr Sandy Chuan, SDFC, Calif; Dr Clifford Librach, Create IVF, Canada

12.50pm

LUNCH

1.40pm

Embryo Creation Options in Australia

Will discuss the regulated process in Australia on how to make embryos; your donor options, donor availability, suitability, screening and the process that follows which will include counselling as well as semen analysis and how to interpret embryo grading.

Dr Bronwyn Devine, IVF Australia

2.00pm

International Donor Options

What are the options for donor eggs to come to Australia? Are there benefits of making the embryos offshore? What ethnicities are available? What clinics offer such programs? What are the costs?

Dr Uliana Dorofeyeva, Ovogene

2.15pm

Ethical Guidelines in International Surrogacy

Given the essentially unregulated nature of cross-border family building, Growing Families International Advisory Board has spent the last 5 months finessing guidelines that intended parents can use to assess programs This session provides an overview of these and how you can evaluate providers with these in mind.

Cindy Wasser, Growing Families International Advisory Board, Canada

2.30-3.00pm

Donor & Surrogacy Perspectives

Hear from surrogates and donors about why they help, what they look for in IPs and managing expectations

Amy White (donor) tbc (surrogate)

3.00-3.50pm

The Reality ‘Ask Me Anything’ Panels

Hear from recent parents who engaged in Australia, Argentina, US, Canada or Colombia for family building

Andy Leonard (Argentina); Adam Jones (USA) tbc (Canada) Will Novella-Reilly (Australia)

3.50-4.30pm

DRINKS & NETWOKING

With speakers, parents, surrogates & donors

Why Attend Even If You’ve Been Before:

Surrogacy & Donor options, wait times and agency capacity change regularly given the high demand. Our events focus on providing the latest information and updates. We constantly review feedback on risks and other hurdles to allow you to better plan. 

So, no matter where you are in your family building journey, these events provide essential updated information + an opportunity to talk with recent parents and older children via surrogacy.

Date:          Saturday 4 November 2023
Time:        10.30am to 4.30pm
Location:  Novotel Sydney Central
Tickets:    $30 + gst

Ticket price includes;  one-on-one consultation with expert providers post event, lunch, afternoon tea, and complimentary networking drinks and nibbles. The event provide an opportunity to freely talk with all expert speakers &, recent parents. 

Meet Our Expert Speakers

Cindy Wasser
Hope Springs Fertility Law, Canada
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Dr Sandy Chuan
Reproductive Endocrinologist, SDFC, USA
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Dr. Bronwyn Devine
Reproductive Endocrinologist, IVF Australia
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Dr. Clifford Librach
Create Fertility Centre, Canada
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Dr. Uliana Dorofeyeva
Director, Clinical Operations, Ovogene, Slovakia
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Kristen Hanson
Owner, Simple Surrogacy, Texas
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Richard Westoby
IP support manager, SDFC, USA
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Sam Everingham
Global Expert & Growing Families Director
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Steven Swanepoel
Territory Manager, Tammuz Family Aust & NZ
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Tamari Kachlishvili
Global Surrogacy Consulting, Argentina
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Family Members Sharing Their Stories

Adam Jones
Dad via USA
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Amy White
Altruistic Egg Donor
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Andy Leonard
Dad via Argentina
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Will Reilly
Dad via domestic surrogacy
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If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with us via email: Info@growingfamilies.org.

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