Trystan Reese is a transgender parent and educator based out of Portland, Oregon. He is the author of How We Do Family: From Adoption to Trans Pregnancy, What We Learned about Love and LGBTQ Parenthood, as well as co-author of the children’s book, The Light Of You.
Read MoreBrett and his husband live in England and are proud parents of three children: one through genetic (traditional) surrogacy, one through adoption, and one through gestational surrogacy. Brett regularly appears in the media advocating for and promoting surrogacy and adoption paths to parenthood. Brett is passionate about challenging inaccurate perceptions of surrogacy and adoption and supporting people in understanding and navigating these paths.
Read MoreJaimie Kelton and Robin Hopkins meet up each year at the Pride Family Picnic with their wives and kids in tow. That’s when then-pregnant Jaimie pitched Robin the idea to make a podcast about LGBTQ families. One baby and countless beautiful stories later, the popular and award-winning podcast If These Ovaries Could Talk was born. While shining a spotlight on all the different ways nontraditional families get made, Jaimie and Robin share their personal fertility journeys and their parenting adventures. Robin and Jaime are also the co-authors of the book "If These Ovaries Could Talk: The Things We've Learned about Making an LGBTQ Family." If ever there were two people you’d want to hang out with, it’s Jaimie and Robin. You just can’t help but love them.
Read MoreJosie Rodriguez-Bouchier (they/them) is a queer, non-binary, Latinx fertility acupuncturist, and Queer Reproductive Health and Justice advocate. Since 2008, they have been supporting folks with wombs to conceive with the help of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Josie's mission is to re-center queer, trans, and non-binary folks, especially those who are Black, Brown, and Indigenous, in the reproductive healthcare realm and beyond. Josie is the host of The Intersectional Fertility Podcast and creator of the Whole Self Fertility Method™. They live on stolen Cheyenne land, known today as Lakewood, Colorado, with their fiancée, two children, and two rescue pups.
Read MoreEric Mobley is a donor conceived person who found out his truth through 23&Me results. He is an advocate for genetic rights. Eric resides with his husband in Louisville, Kentucky, works in higher education admissions, and loves anything related to Disney!
Read MoreDavid Dodge is a writer, researcher, and LGBTQ advocate with a special interest in non-traditional families, politics, arts and culture, and travel. He is a regular contributor to The New York Times, and has also written for HuffPost Queer Voices, The Advocate, Travel + Leisure, The Glass Magazine, and more. In 2014, he chronicled the start of his journey as a known sperm donor in "The Sperm Donor Diary," in a series of posts for The New York Times’ Motherlode Blog. David is the Executive Editor of Gay With Kids. He is based in New York City.
Read MoreGena is an attorney and Founder of connecting rainbows - an organization that connects members of the LGBTQIA+ community with attorneys who specialize in family formation and estate planning, as well as provides fertility resources so you can start, grow and protect your family. She and her wife have two children via Reciprocal IVF.
Read MoreIndra Lusero is founder of Elephant Circle and the Birth Rights Bar Association. Indra's family has been in the Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado area for generations. As a Queer, Genderqueer, Latinx parent rooted in this region, Indra is attuned to the importance of people on the margins and our role in leading the dismantling of oppressive systems to build a more equitable world. Indra helped pass legislation in Colorado to eliminate the shackling of incarcerated women during pregnancy and birth, to improve midwifery and birth center regulations, and to create more humane policies for families impacted by substance use. Indra also spearheaded the creation of "Birth Rights: A resource for everyday people to defend human rights during labor and birth."
Read MoreBud Lake is originally from New Jersey and moved to Madrid, Spain in 2001 to learn Spanish. Almost 20 years later he is still in Spain and now married with children. Bud met Manuel in Madrid in 2010 and moved to Valencia to live with him in 2011. In 2012 they were married and in 2013 their first son Álvaro was born via surrogacy in India. In 2015 their daughter Carmen was born in Thailand. Every surrogacy journey is its own special and unique journey.
Read MoreDr. Guy Ringler is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. He is a proud partner with California Fertility Partners.
As a child, Dr. Ringler grew up in suburban Detroit, the son of a barber and a school bus driver, with his three sisters. He graduated with honors from the University of Michigan, followed by medical school in Detroit at Wayne State University, where he received the class award for highest honors in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Ringler completed post-graduate training at the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania, where he received awards for his research on placental function. Following years of clinical study and basic science research, Dr. Ringler moved west in 1990, to practice reproductive medicine with the founding physicians of California Fertility Partners.
Dr. Ringler has established a loyal patient following in Southern California and has developed an international reputation for expertise in reproductive medicine – especially surrogacy and third-party reproduction. His patients travel from Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa for his medical care. Dr. Ringler was one of the world’s first physicians to help gay men have babies through egg donation and surrogacy. He is committed to helping all members of the LGBTQ community fulfill their dreams of having children and building families.
Read MoreJonathon Narducci is an award-winning commercial and music video director and cinematographer. He graduated from the University of Iowa, receiving his BA in Film and Comparative Literature with a focus in documentary filmmaking. Prior to the University of Iowa, Jonathon studied art and photography in Paris through Parsons School of Design. It was the time spent in Paris that ignited his love for cinema.
Jonathon’s feature-length directorial debut, Love Me, was an official selection at HotDocs Film Festival in Toronto. The film’s premier and success at HotDocs led to its distribution in over 20 countries worldwide. Additionally, Love Me is currently available for streaming on Netflix. His sophomore feature documentary, Ghosts of the Republique, is currently in post-production. The film follows the trials and tribulations of a gay French couple attempting to have a child through surrogacy, despite France’s national ban against surrogacy. Jonathon has also worked as the Director of Photography on the critically acclaimed international film, Out of the Village, which has premiered at more than 70 film festivals around the world.
Read MoreJay Timmons and Rick Olson, a Virginia-based couple, started their family with the help of surrogacy. They had two amazing daughters and thought their family was complete when a friend asked if they would be willing to consider an embryo donation. For their third child, the dads were matched with a surrogate in Wisconsin. However, just weeks before the birth of their son, a new judge was appointed to their case, for what they thought were routine judicial proceedings. The judge’s extreme views lead their family to experience a nightmare of epic proportions.
Read MoreWill Halm is the Managing Partner of International Reproductive Law Group. He has specialized in the field of assisted
reproductive law for over 20 years. Will is a magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, and received his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He is the father of three children through surrogacy and egg donation.
He has devoted his legal career to surrogacy and egg donation law. Will’s legal work in the field of assisted reproduction has been featured in numerous documentaries, television programs, publications, and books, including 20/20, NBC News, The New York Times, UK Guardian, the Advocate, and others.
Will has set a number of legal precedents in the field of assisted reproduction law, including being granted, in 1998, the first parentage judgment to a same-sex couple in a gestational surrogacy case. Will is a member of the American Bar Association, Assisted Reproductive Technology Section and Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys.
Read MoreTrystan is the Director of Family Formation with the Family Equity Council. He and his spouse, Biff, grew their family in two different and incredible ways.
Read MoreSherman grew up in Ohio and enjoys a successful career as a chemical engineer. He and his husband longed to be parents. Unfortunately, they experienced more bumps in the road and more heartbreak than any hopeful parents should ever have to endure. Sherman is dedicated to giving back and is now the incoming chair for Men Having Babies, a non-profit dedicated to providing education and support to gay men wishing to become biological parents through surrogacy.
Read MoreHannah has two loving moms and shares her unique story of conception, upbringing and what makes a family.
Read More
