Dear friends,
This is a reminder that our next meeting will take place this Wednesday, January 25, 6:30-8:00 PM. Location (as always): The NYC LGBT Center, 208 West 13th Street (near 7th Ave.).
The topic of this week's meeting will be Creating Legal Families Through Surrogacy, and it will be facilitated by Anthony M. Brown, Esq. The discussion will cover all aspects of the legal journey that two fathers can expect to encounter as they create a family, from the practicalities and differences between a Second Parent Adoption and a Pre-Birth Order, the documentation required to secure a nonbiological father's rights during the Second Parent Adoption process, the effect of your marital status on these proceedings, the ethics of joint representation and the importance of comprehensive Estate Planning. Anthony will also discuss certain specific legal issues that may arise immediately upon the birth of your child, i.e. Birth certificate applications and access to your new child/children in the hospital.
This annual meeting we have about securing legal parenting rights for gay men is a must for anyone contemplating or already in the process of having a child through surrogacy!
I also want to inform you that we completely redesigned the website for the Men Having Babies seminars and this workshop, and while it is still work in progress it already has much content and I encourage you to check it out! It includes among other things:
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The annual schedule for this workshop (subject to changes...)
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The list of facilitators.
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A new provider directory with clinics and agencies recommended by group members!
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An article library.
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A video library.
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News / blog (see preview below).
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Photo galleries.
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Sign-up form.
As mentioned, it is still work in progress and we intend to add articles and videos to the library, and more agencies / clinics to the directory. Please take the time to send us feedback, suggestions, etc. We also hope to send a survey soon to ask for more specific feedback and people who are willing to speak at future meeting.
Warm regards,
Ron Poole-Dayan
coordinator
JANUARY NEWS
Congratulations to our NY group members Eric and Asaf for the birth of their boy & girl twins on January 13, 2012! Oz & Amalia are doing great and the family hopes to be back in NY by the end of the month.
Read more…
At the October NY Men Having Babies workshop we hosted a TV crew filming for the Portuguese “Frontline” documentary show. The show aired on November 30th, and indeed it includes a nice clip from our meeting. They show also includes a rare interview of 11 year old gestational surrogacy kids (children of Ron and Greg from our group) about their origin and family makeup.
Read more…
We are happy to announce "Men Having Babies - Europe" at the Second European Conference of the Network of European LGBT Family Associations (NELFA). It will take place on Sunday, April 29, 2012, as part of a 4-day conference near Barcelona, Spain.
For our non-European members - If you are either prospective parents or already have children, the Barcelona conference can be a terrific opportunity to meet hundreds of parents and parents-to-be from more than a dozen countries! About 800 of us will take over this resort and enjoy a balance of social, educational and fun activities, including sightseeing excursions in Barcelona and elsewhere. This all-inclusive package is also very affordable, about $400 for a family of four including excursions!
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More information on the Conference see here...
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To register to the Men Having Babies seminar see here...
About the group:
Center Families' Planning Biological Parenthood for Men group is part of the Men Having Babies network of seminars and workshops, providing an opportunity to discuss the legal, medical, financial, social and moral aspects of surrogacy and egg donation faced by gay men. The group is also an opportunity to get together with other gay men considering fatherhood, share information, provide mutual support, and to build a network of gay dads.
* Go to the group's home page for information about previous speakers, updates about the monthly meetings, and other news & events of interest for gay men who want to have children through surrogacy.
* For support and networking between meetings, go to the group's Facebook Page!
* You can watch surrogacy related video clips on the comprehensive new Men Having Babies Video library, including media reports and complete seminar programs from the last few years (latest one is October 2011).
