Brilliant Beginnings are hosting a free zoom event, Surrogacy in the US, on 29th July 2021

Would you like to hear more about surrogacy options in the USA?

Surrogacy options for intended parents can be daunting and confusing. Coronavirus has only added to the uncertainty about what is possible and when. As we emerge from the health crisis, many are looking to surrogacy as an option and are keen to find out what the options are and how to get started.

The USA offers clear and reliable paths for a joyus and positive surrogacy journey for many. Clinical excellence, timely matches with surrogates, and legal certainty to name but a few. We are proud to be hosting an event bringing together key professionals and an opportunity to hear how they can help you on your US surrogacy journey, and to ask any questions you might have.

At Brilliant Beginnings and NGA Law, we provide clarity on what your options are, now and in the future. We give you clarity on what some of the key things to consider are at each and every stage, from the outset of your journey, through to coming home with your baby and resolving legal parentage. Our combined US surrogacy pathway offers all of this, and ensures that intended parents have support throughout. You can read our blog on the launch of our pathway to learn more.

Helen Prosser, Brilliant Beginnings

Caring, energetic and creative, Helen has worked professionally in the field of fertility, donation and surrogacy for a decade. She is a member of the HFEA’s National Donation Strategy Group (an advisory committee of national egg/sperm donation experts hand-picked by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority), one of the few international members of the American Bar Association’s Assisted Reproduction and Technology Committee, and a former trustee of the National Gamete Donation Trust.

As a director of the UK’s leading fertility law firm, she has long experience managing professional services for families created through assisted reproduction, as well as supporting campaigning and policy work on surrogacy and donation. Helen is a CEDR accredited mediator. She has participated in leading international conferences on surrogacy and has an extensive network of contacts with agencies, medics and lawyers, in the UK and internationally. She has two grown-up boys. 

Laura Clarke, Brilliant Beginnings

Laura’s warmth and kindness have shone through her career as an NHS nurse for over 15 years and now as a client manager with Brilliant Beginnings. She has a degree in Public Health, has successfully carried four children as a surrogate across three surrogacy journeys, the last with Brilliant Beginnings. With her combination of surrogacy and medical experience, she adds empathy, practicality and understanding to any journey. She has two beautiful children of her own and believes passionately in making surrogacy easier.

Dr Gad Lavy, New England Fertility Institute

Dr. Gad Lavy established the New England Fertility Institute as the first non-hospital-based outpatient IVF center in the state of Connecticut. Thirty years and more than 10,000 babies later, he is one of the world’s most renowned experts in third-party reproduction and an outspoken advocate for gestational surrogacy and egg donation. His clinic is based just an hour away from New York City.

Dr. Lavy received his training at Hadassah Medical School at Hebrew University in Israel and completed his residency at Yale University School of Medicine, where he served on the medical faculty of the Department of OB/GYN. Before establishing New England Fertility, he was an assistant professor in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology at Yale and served as the director of the program for assisted reproduction.

Board Certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology, Dr. Lavy is a medical staff member in the Department of OB/GYN at Stamford Hospital, as well as a member of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine and the Society of Reproductive Surgeons.

Heidi Burrows, NGA Law

Heidi joined NGA Law’s legal team as a paralegal in December 2019. With a compassionate and caring approach, Heidi deals with much of our day-to-day running of international parental order applications, as well as managing nationality and passport applications for surrogate babies, including many born in the US and Canada.

Before joining us, Heidi completed an Advanced
Masters in Law in International Children’s Rights. She studied at Leiden University in the Netherlands, where she was recipient of the Leiden University Excellence Scholarship which is awarded for academic excellence. Prior to her master’s degree, Heidi studied a joint honours degree in Law and Spanish at the University of Sussex. Heidi speaks Spanish and also studied in the Law faculty at Granada University, Spain.

Alyssa Martin, Brilliant Beginnings

Alyssa, also known as Lyssa, joined the Brilliant Beginnings team in summer 2021. After a first surrogacy journey in California where she delivered twins (naturally!), she moved to the UK in 2015. A bit muddled about the very different laws surrounding surrogacy in the UK, Alyssa sought out guidance from the Brilliant Beginnings team and was subsequently matched with a UK couple for whom she delivered a singleton in 2020.

Knowing first-hand the pros and cons of surrogacy in both the US and UK, Alyssa now supports the BB team from the inside, working as a Surrogate Manager for UK surrogates and as a Client Manager for intended parents exploring surrogacy options in the US and Canada. She uses her unique expertise to ensure clients find the right match for them.