ConceiveAbilities Rises to the Increased Demand for Surrogates and Egg Donors With an Expanding Legal Program

The use of gestational carriers for families wanting children is on the rise. That’s why ConceiveAbilities continues to support the family building process by taking further steps to expand our legal team.

It's hard to imagine that surrogacy only went mainstream in the mid-eighties and now the global surrogacy market is expected to reach $27.5 billion through 2025, according to estimates from Global Market Insights. According to the “Assisted Reproductive Technology Fertility Clinic Success Rates Report 2018” released in December 2020 by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion’s Division of Reproductive Health (CDC), surrogacy accounts for 4.7% of all embryo transfers (IVF), up from 4.2% just one year prior. And a survey done by the Family Equality Council estimates that 63% of LGBTQ people planning families will consider assisted reproductive technologies (ART) to become parents.

To meet this increasing need for expanding families with the use of gestational carriers and egg donors, ConceiveAbilities continues to strengthen an already extensive legal program. Under the leadership of Director of Legal Services, Gina-Marie Madow, Esq., we work closely with Melissa Torto, Esq. and, as a combined force, Madow and Torto bring over two decades of assisted reproductive technologies ("ART") law experience to provide legal oversight of the entire surrogacy process, from start to finish.

Expanded legal services include:

• Providing intended parents with legal education and oversight throughout the surrogacy and/or egg donation process
• Establishing direct representation of intended parents for their contracts with gestational carriers and egg donors, to ensure matches are legally sound
• Assisting and overseeing intended parents' establishment of their parental rights
• Working with local counsel in other states and countries for specific legal support as necessary as well as to staying current with ever-evolving laws

Gina-Marie Madow has spent her entire career assisting thousands of parents with all aspects of their surrogacy and egg donation journeys. She earned her Juris Doctorate from the Massachusetts School of Law and has been involved in ART law for 13 years. She has extensive experience drafting and negotiating contracts for surrogacy, egg donation, sperm donation and embryo donation, as well as the legal work related to the establishment of parentage and insurance reviews and appeals. She assists a broad, global client base of intended parents that include members of the LGBTQ community as well as heterosexual couples and individuals.

Melissa Torto, an independent attorney, works in close partnership with ConceiveAbilities, leveraging her extensive knowledge of ART law. Torto has worked as an ART and Surrogacy Attorney since graduating from Suffolk University Law School in 2015. She expertly assists intended parents with drafting and negotiating egg donor and gestational carrier agreements, completing the parentage process for intended parents, and conducts insurance reviews and appeals. She regularly reaches out to surrogacy clinics and attends Family and Surrogacy Law conferences.

In addition, we are pleased to welcome Tricia Schacknies, Legal Assistant, who has been involved both personally and professionally in the field of surrogacy and egg donation since 1995. Not only is she an experienced surrogate, she has formidable contracts expertise, assisting in the coordination of all the precise details needed for successful surrogacy and donor journeys.

Since 1996, ConceiveAbilities advocates on behalf of intended parents who want to grow their families. Support throughout includes gestational carrier and egg donor recruitment, intake, education, agency screening and matching assistance as well as legal, mental health and financial expertise. ConceiveAbilities was among the first to develop a detailed gestational surrogacy offering and agency screening program. Its proprietary Matching Matters process connects gestational carriers with intended parents with a 97% success rate after the first meeting. ConceiveAbilities has the largest national footprint in the surrogacy field and has served thousands of families by giving them the support and peace of mind they need every step of the way.

ConceiveAbilities continues its leadership of innovation in the field with its All-In Program, a first-of-its-kind fixed price comprehensive offering that delivers strong value and security for intended parents, including a complete approach to the legal specifics that are essential to a successful surrogacy journey.

For more information on surrogacy, egg donation and the expanding legal program at ConceiveAbilities, contact us or visit conceiveabilities.com.

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