Surrogacy Australia conference almost here

This weekend Surrogacy Australia is holding its first, groundbreaking, national conference in Melbourne. This is the first conference to be held anywhere by anyone in Australia focussing on the various issues to do with surrogacy.

I am excited to be a keynote speaker, not only because I will see friends, and clients, and because I will have the ability to give a presentation- all of that- but much more importantly because I will gain knowledge. One of the keys to a successful conference is that attendees have come away with knowledge, which informs and most importantly empowers them.

Although I specialise in advice about ART and surrogacy, I have no doubt that I will learn a lot from a range of exciting speakers. These include:

• Dr Shivani Sachdev Gour. A fertility doctor from Delhi, Dr Shivani is the founder of Surrogacy Centre India. She also spoke on SBS Insight episode “Baby Business”, which can be downloaded from here. Dr Shivani gave a gutsy performance defending Indian women.
• Dr Kim Bergman. Kim is the co-owner of one of the world’s oldest and largest surrogacy clinics, Growing Generations in Los Angeles. A psychologist by trade, Kim is an expert at screening intended surrogates.
• David Shoebridge MLC. David is a Greens MP who opposed the changes to NSW laws that criminalised overseas commercial surrogacy.
• Sam Everingham. Sam is the founder and guiding light of Surrogacy Australia. He and his partner have had their own difficult journey through surrogacy, also featured on SBS Insight Baby Business.
• Rodney Chiang-Cruise. Rodney is the national convenor of Gay Dads Australia, as well as having become a dad himself through surrogacy. Rodney has been a passionate advocate for reform of the law in this area for many years.
• Lisa Banfield. Lisa and her husband John overcame medical troubles, pain and enormous cost and red tape to be able to have their boys through surrogacy. I have been privileged to share a podium with Lisa. The power of her journey is astounding. She and John also featured on SBS Insight “Baby Business”.
• Karen Boughey. Karen is one of those delights: a surrogate who had one motive in mind: to help a childless couple achieve the dream of parenthood, which she did successfully! Karen speaks often to intended parents and surrogates about how to ensure the journey to parenthood is handled correctly.

For more details about the conference, click here.