Our UK & Ireland seminars providing information on various surrogacy pathways were a huge success. Taking place in London and Dublin through March.
In London, the event covered family-building options in range of locations including the USA, Canada, Greece, Georgia and Argentina. In Dublin, all of these locations except Greece were discussed in detail.
Highlights included the overview at the start of each seminar, as well as the parent and surrogate panels. Parent panels included gay dads and heterosexual mums providing honest insights into the realities of international surrogacy.
Attendees at the London event heard from two US surrogates (Dawn & Kendra) and a Canadian surrogate (Sara) discussing their motivations for working with foreign couples and the ups and downs of the process. Dawn, who now works wioth PAcfici Surrogacy & Egg Donation, had undertaken an extra-ordinary nine surrogacy pregnancies, resulting in the births of eleven children. For most of these journeys, she matched with intended parents via word-of-mouth referrals!
Atttendees were able to meet local experts with detailed knowledge of how surrrogacy agreements work, citizenship and passports as well as the correct mechanisms to transfer parentage from surrogate to the intended parent, both at home and abroad.
In London in particular, there was much discussion about Argentina’s fledgling surrogacy programs, given they provide newborns with an Argentine passport and the UK has a visa-free agreement with Argentina, allowing rapid return home, as is already possible for those utilising US and Canadian surrogacy.
The most useful aspects of each event were the opportunities to meet with recent parents face-to-face, as well as experts from around the globe.
A survey of attendees provided useful ideas for further topics as well as indiividual feedback. We have provided some quotes below.
‘Great range of providers present, sharing useful information. Also a good opportunity to meet others going following similar paths’
Tom, London Mar 2023
‘The event was amazing and super informative! I had so many questions.’
Louise, London Mar 2023
‘The event was incredibly informative. I learned an awful lot about the surrogacy journey – both the positives and the potential pitfalls. It was great to hear the options available and parents’ stories/experiences. It was a huge benefit to speak with some of the parents and make introductions to groups who can offer further support and guidance’.
Jason, Dublin Mar 2023
‘Access to information that can otherwise be daunting. It gave us the starting point that we were previously struggling to find. Now we feel equipped to start our journey and are much more confident engaging with agencies/clinics etc, and perhaps even more importantly, we now also understand what role each plays’.
Alan, Dublin Mar 2023
