NYC Surrogacy Highlights of the 11th Annual Men Having Babies Conference

Surrogacy Seminar & Gay Parenting Expo

The 11th Annual NY Men Having Babies 2015

The November 15th Men Having Babies Surrogacy Conference in NY featured several new in-depth panels,
including insurance, budgeting and a broader range of parenting options in the USA, Canada, Mexico and beyond!NYC Surrogacy Seminar & Gay Parenting Expo

For gay men who want to become parents through surrogacy, the Men Having Babies educational conferences are a rare opportunity to get under one roof a wealth of information, advice and access a wide range of relevant service providers from an unbiased non-profit organization. For the first time in NY, we will offer extensive information and a comparative panel about parenting options not just in the USA, but also Canada, Mexico and elsewhere.

The conference is based on a format MHB developed over the last 10 years in NY, San Francisco, Barcelona, Brussels and Tel Aviv. This year we implemented wide programmatic changes based on feedback from attendees and sponsors. The Gay Parenting Expo will be held in a separate space, and several in-depth workshops and panels have been added, and arranged in program tracks that will appeal to prospective parents on different stages of the process.

The conference is co-sponsored and hosted by the LGBTQ Department at the JCC in Manhattan. This centrally located, modern and larger JCC facility allows us to accommodate a growing number of exhibitors and prospective parents. As always, proceeds from sponsorship and exhibiting fees will benefit the Gay Parenting Assistance Program.

Men Having Babies, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that was spun off in July 2012 from a program that ran at the NYC LGBT Center since 2005. It started as a peer support network for biological gay fathers and fathers-to-be, offering monthly workshops and an annual seminar. Over time, elaborate online resources were developed, the group’s mailing list expanded to about 2000 couples and singles from around the world, and it teamed up with LGBT family associations to develop similar programs in Chicago, San Francisco, LA, Barcelona, Tel Aviv and Brussels.

Their mission includes:

  • The provision of educational and practical information to assist gay prospective parents achieve biological parenting.
  • Promoting the affordability of surrogacy related services for gay men through financial assistance and the encouragement of transparency and customer feedback.
  • Promoting surrogacy practices that minimize the risks and maximize the potential short and long-term benefits to all involved.
  • Raising awareness about the potential benefits and meaningful relationships surrogacy arrangements can bring about.

Beyond the seminars and workshops, Men Having Babies runs several programs to promote its educational, advocacy and affordability mission, including:

  • The Gay Parenting Financial Assistance Fund – grants, discounts and free services to gay men who require assistance in their quest for parenthood.
  • The Surrogacy Advisor directory of reviews and ratings of agencies and clinics.
  • A Surrogacy Speakers Bureau – over 100 surrogacy parents who are willing to speak to the press about their experiences.
  • A Community forum on Facebook for gay surrogacy dads, surrogates, and egg donors blogging about their surrogacy and parenting experience.
  • Assistance in academic studies about gay parenting and surrogacy.

 

in Surrogacy / Videos  by Anthony Brown 0 comments

LGBT Advocates Outraged at Utah Judge

LGBT Advocates Outcry: Rights Violation!

Utah Judge Takes Foster Child From Couple Because They’re Lesbians

LGBT advocates and even Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton were outraged and April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce of Carbon County, Utah, were stunned when Judge Scott Johansen ordered their foster child removed from their home. The judge said the baby would be better off with heterosexual parents.

The couple, who legally wed in October 2014, have taken care of the 1-year-old girl for three months, and her birth mother has asked them to adopt the child. The Utah Division of Child and Family Services has been forced to find new housing for the child, but officials say they will appeal the judge’s decision.

utah-lesbians

“We love her and she loves us, and we haven’t done anything wrong,” Peirce told the Salt Lake Tribune. “And the law, as I understand it, reads that any legally married couple can foster and adopt.”

Attorneys for DCFS are currently reviewing the decision. “If we feel like [Johansen’s] decision is not best for the child, and we have a recourse to appeal or change it, we’re going to do that,” DCFS director Brent Platt said. “For us, it’s what’s best for the child.”

“Any loving couple if they are legally married, and meet the requirements, we want them to be involved,” he added.

The child’s state-appointed attorney supports the couple. The birth mother’s lawyer, who was in court with the couple when the decision was handed down, has said the mother is upset and wants her baby to stay with the women.

Judge Johansen, who the Tribune reported has repeatedly been reprimanded by the Utah Judicial Conduct Commission for “demeaning the judicial office,” claimed to have research proving children are better off when raised by heterosexual parents. In reality, all credible major studies show that a parent’s sexual orientation has no effect on a child’s social development and mental health.

Click here to read the entire article.

Advocate.com, November 12, 2015 by Bill Browning

in Adoption / Ethics / Foster / Foster Care / Foster Parenting / In the News / Legal  by Anthony Brown 0 comments

Gay marriage signed into law in Ireland

Gay Marriage Voted in by 62.1% in Ireland

Dublin (AFP) – Gay marriage was signed into law in Ireland, five months after a historic referendum saw the traditionally Catholic nation become the world’s first country to vote for gay unions.

“The Presidential Commission today signed the ‘Marriage Bill 2015’ into law,” the president’s office said in a statement, paving the way for the first weddings within a month.

Ireland voted 62.1 percent in favour of allowing marriage between two people “without distinction as to their sex” in May, the first time anywhere that gay marriage has been legalised in a referendum.

The president’s endorsement was the final hurdle for the bill after legal challenges briefly delayed the legislation from coming into effect.

The first ceremonies should be possible by mid-November, according to Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald.

Senator Katherine Zappone, who had long campaigned for her Canadian marriage to her wife to be recognised in Ireland, called it “a defining moment”.

“It is a deeply emotional moment for those of us who have campaigned for so long,” Zappone said in a statement.

“This victory truly belongs to the nation, it is a moment for us all.”

In a memorable moment that unfolded live on national television after the referendum result was announced, Zappone proposed to her wife Ann Louise Gilligan to re-marry her under Irish law.

International gay rights campaigners congratulated efforts by Irish activists to win public support for a “Yes” vote in the referendum.

“Tribute must also be paid to national politicians in Ireland, as all the main political parties put aside their partisan differences to campaign for the greater goal of equality,” Evelyne Paradis of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association said in a statement.

Marriages between same sex couples that took place outside of Ireland will now be recognised under Irish law.

Click here to read the entire article.

 

YahooNews.com, October 30, 2015
in In the News / International / Legal / Legislation  by Anthony Brown 0 comments