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Executive Board

Co-Chairs of the Board

Patricia Mendell, L.C.S.W., B.C.D.

Patricia Mendell is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Board Certified Diplomat. She is the facilitator of the AFA Ovum Donor Seminar Series. Patricia has served as Co-Chair of the AFA since 2006. She is a member of the AFA Mental Health Advisory Board. Patricia is co-author of the fact sheet for AFA on “Talking to Children about Ovum Donation” reissued in 2009. In 2003 Patricia was a recipient of the AFA Family Building Award and is a founding board member of the organization.
Patricia has written and spoken extensively on numerous topics regarding fertility, third party reproduction and disclosure, parenting after fertility, multi-fetal reduction, and pregnancy loss and adoption. As an infertility and pregnancy loss survivor, she is well aware of the impact decision making choices on people’s lives. In her role as therapist and consumer advocate, she gives those seeking her help both practical and therapeutic advice on how to cope better with stress, resolve marital tensions and explore and select solutions to their family building dilemmas.

Patricia holds a BA from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and an M.S. from Columbia University School of Social Work. She is a member of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine’s Mental Health Professional Group and a MHPG mentor.

Patricia is married and is the proud mother of two sons David and Michael Singer. She and her husband have practices in New York City and reside in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Stuart Miller

Stuart Miller joined Growing Generations as an owner and CEO in September of 2001. Under his leadership, the agency has more than tripled in size, serving clients from 28 countries, and is now the largest surrogacy firm in the United States. He also expanded the company’s services into egg donation and sperm donation. Prior to joining the agency, Stuart spent over a decade in executive level positions in both profit and not-for-profit companies. As a writer with a strong emphasis on gay rights issues, his work has appeared in numerous publications over the past 20 years. Stuart is the author of “Prayer Warriors,” a memoir published in 1999 by Alyson publications. In February, 2008, Stuart and his husband welcomed their son into the world who was conceived through surrogacy and egg donation. He is active as a donor and volunteer with local and national organizations including currently serving as Co-Chair of the American Fertility Association. A native of Tennessee, Miller holds a degree in Communications from Middle Tennessee State University, and has lived in Los Angeles since 1992.

Vice Chair
Don Hribek

Don Hribek holds a B.S. from Central Michigan University and an MBA from University of Michigan. Mr. Hribek has been with EMD Serono, Inc. since 1994. He currently serves as the Vice President (VP) of Strategic Accounts. Other positions held by Mr. Hribek include; VP of Sales for Metabolic Endocrinology, Area Business Director in New England, Key Account Manager for St. Louis, Customer Service Manager, Regional Director, covering New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; Executive Director of Sales Operations. Mr. Hribek has been in the pharmaceutical industry for over 20 years and has worked in the field of infertility for over 12 years.

He has worked in the infertility community and has been an active member of The AFA Board of Directors since its inception. In 1999, he and the New York representatives for EMD Serono, Inc. were honored for their outstanding dedication and commitment to The AFA’s mission – creating families. In 2004 he received the AFA Kokopelli Prize in recognition of his contributions and lifelong dedication to patients and their families by promoting patient advocacy and access to treatment. In his role on the Board of Directors, Don Hribek has worked to promote The AFA’s visibility through community and public relations throughout the northeast and the United States. He has also worked on the mandate in the New York and New Jersey areas.

Secretary
Karen Hammond, DNP, CRNP

Dr. Karen Hammond is the Ob/Gyn Nurse Practitioner at Alabama Fertility Specialists. She has worked in the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility for more than 25 years. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, she received her Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees from the University of Alabama School of Nursing in Birmingham, Alabama. She is NCC certified as both an OB/Gyn Nurse Practitioner and a Reproductive Endocrinology/Infertility Nurse. Karen established the oocyte donation program at UAB where she practiced from 1985 to 2004, until she opted to work with Dr. Steinkampf in establishing Alabama Fertility Specialists. She recently established the embryo donation program at AFS.

A recognized leader in reproductive endocrinology and infertility nursing, she has been an invited speaker and research presenter for numerous local, state, national and international nursing and medical meetings. She is the Course Director for the annual ART of Donor Oocytes meeting in Charleston, South Carolina. She is the past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Fertility Association, the world’s largest patient advocacy organization dedicated to reproductive health and wellness. In addition, Ms. Hammond has published in both nursing and medical journals, authored chapters in more than a dozen medical textbooks, and edited a book on the Assisted Reproductive Technology Team.

Chair Emeritus & Adoption Coordinator
Carolyn Berger, L.C.S.W.

Carolyn Berger, LCSW, was Chair of the Board of The AFA at its inception. Following two terms as Chair, she has continued on as an active Board Member, Adoption Coordinator, and AFA Therapist. She was a key planner for many of The AFA’s early fundraisers including the Kokopelli Ball. Carolyn Berger has written and spoken widely on adoption and on moving from infertility treatment to adoption. (Many of her articles are among AFA’s Adoption Fact Sheets, which can be found in the Library of this website.) Carolyn has created and led numerous adoption workshops including those at AFA Symposia and The AFA’s Spring and Fall Adoption Series. More recently, she held an AFA sponsored event on “Everything You Wanted to Know About Adoption But Were Afraid to Ask.” The “Today Show” interviewed her for an online piece on raising families created through birth and adoption.

Carolyn Berger has a private practice in Manhattan and Larchmont, NY where she helps couples, singles and members of the LGBT community create families both through fertility treatment and adoption. She has worked closely with many infertility doctors, complementary and alternative medicine specialists, adoption agencies and attorneys, and can help her clients find the professionals who are right for them. Her desire to help people struggling to build families comes from her own experience with infertility. She is the parent of two sons, the first through reproductive technology, and the second through adoption. Carolyn received her MSW from New York University in 1983. She is a member of The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), ASRM’s Mental Health Professional Group (MHPG), The Adoptive Parents Committee (APC) and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).

Board Members

Natan Bar-Chama, MD

Dr. Natan Bar-Chama is the Director of the Center of Male Reproductive Health at RMA of New York. He is also the Director of Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital and is an associated professor of urology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. His subspecialty clinical practice is exclusively dedicated to male reproductive medicine and microsurgical reconstruction for the treatment of male-factor infertility (vasovasostomy, varicocelectomy, testicular and epididymal sperm retrieval, and vasectomy). Dr. Bar-Chama is a board certified urologist who received his medical degree with special distinction for research in male infertility and completed his urology residency at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Bar-Chama was awarded the prestigious New York Academy of Medicine F.C. Valentine Fellowship and received subspecialty training in male reproductive medicine and surgery at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

In 1998, Dr. Bar-Chama received the Pfizer Scholars in Urology Award for leadership, innovation, and outstanding achievement in urological science. He was recently awarded the 2008 Humanitarian Award by Bonei Olam. Dr. Bar-Chama serves on the Board of Directors of the American Fertility Association and was awarded the American Fertility Association Family Building Award in 2000. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology (SMRU) of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) as well as on the Board of Directors of the Society for the Study of Male Reproduction (SSMR). Since 2005, Dr. Bar-Chama has been listed every year in New York Magazine’s “Best Doctors” issue as a top urologist, including the recently released 2009 list.

Kristine W. Collins, Esq.

Kristine Collins, a lawyer by training, had a successful career as a federal securities enforcement attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Stock Exchange. She has served on the boards of One Hudson Park, Inc. of New York and the Hartwood Club of Sullivan County, New York. Ms. Collins holds a J.D. from Rutgers Law School and a B.S. in Business Economics from Southern Illinois University.

Ms. Collins is currently a stay-at-home mother of three young children, all of whom were conceived through assisted reproductive techniques. Ms. Collins’ work with the AFA is a continuation of her support for over two decades of issues involving the health and well-being of women and children, including work with Sasha Bruce Transitional Living Center of Washington, D.C., Domestic Violence Advocacy Project of Boston, Planned Parenthood of Boston, and Grant Street Settlement of New York City.

Originally from the Midwest, Ms. Collins has lived in San Francisco, Tokyo, Washington, D.C., Boston and New York. She currently lives in Portland with her husband, their children and the family bullmastiff. She enjoys renovating homes, traveling and running.

Theresa Erickson, Esq.

Ms. Erickson currently serves as a board member of the American Fertility Association, as well as a member of their Legal Council, and has been involved with the AFA since 2004. Ms. Erickson is one of the few attorneys in the United States who specializes exclusively in the area of Family Formation Law, where her legal practice is dedicated to exclusively provide legal services in the area of creating families. Ms. Erickson graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law and is both the Managing Partner of Erickson Law and the CEO of Conceptual Options, A Center for Surrogacy and Egg Donation Program, where they have been helping people creates families for over ten years. Ms. Erickson is currently the legal commentator on Reproductive Law & Issues on the Legal Broadcast Network. She has also published two books on the subject, Assisted Reproduction, the Complete Guide to Having a Baby with the Help of a Third Party and What Were You Thinking? IVF, Surrogacy, Egg, Embryo & Sperm Donation, which is set for release in January of 2010. Theresa M. Erickson lives with her husband, two children and four dogs in San Diego, California.

Dana Kelly

Alan S. Penzias, MD

Dr. Alan S. Penzias, the Surgical Director of the Surgery Center of Waltham, a division of Boston IVF, has been in practice for over 15 years. He’s Board Certified in Reproductive Endocrinology. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from SUNY – Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY. He completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital/Harvard Medical School and his fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Yale University School of Medicine.

Dr. Penzias is on the Board of Directors of the American Fertility Association and is a member of the Executive Counsel of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies.

William Petok, Ph.D.

Bill. Petok’s professional activities include the co-production of two films for training therapists, multiple journal articles, and regular presentations at state, national and international conferences. In 2006 he published chapters in professional texts on Reproductive Endocrinology as well as Infertility Counseling. Dr. Petok is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. In addition to teaching in the resident training program at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology since 1985 he has presented Grand Rounds to the medical staffs of hospitals around the country.

A fellow of the Maryland Psychological Association, member of the American Psychological Association, and the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, Dr. Petok is a Licensed Psychologist in the State of Maryland and listed in the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. He also is a Diplomate and Founding Fellow of the American Board of Sexology. He is a past Chair of the Mental Health Professional Group of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and currently serves on the editorial board of the ASRM’s journal, Sexuality, Menopause and Reproductive Medicine and is an associate editor of Post Graduate Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Bill Petok earned his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. His Doctorate is from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1978. His post doctoral training includes a year at the Family Therapy Institute of Washington, D.C. and at Sheppard & Enoch Pratt Hospital in the Sexual Dysfunctions Clinic.

Bill is married to Barbara Schlaff, a partner at the law firmVenable in Baltimore. Together they have 2 children, Ben, born in 1981, and Alison, born in 1985. His personal interests include cooking, photography, sailing and down hill skiing.

Guy Ringler, MD

Guy Ringler, M.D. is a board certified Reproductive Endocrinologist with California Fertility Partners in Los Angeles. He graduated with honors from the University of Michigan and from the Wayne State University School of Medicine. Dr. Ringler completed residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Chicago, and fellowship training in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Pennsylvania.

Following his post-doctoral fellowship training, Dr. Ringler moved to Los Angeles to join the private practice of Drs. Richard Marrs and Joyce Vargyas and the clinical faculty of the UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Ringler has been in clinical practice for over twenty years. He has developed a large referral practice due to his excellent patient rapport and high success rates utilizing a prolific armamentarium of treatments from surgical correction of disease to IVF stimulation protocols. Patients from around the world have sought out his expertise in third party reproduction and gay and lesbian family building using donor eggs and gestational surrogacy.

Dr. Ringler is deeply committed to patient education and is a board member of the American Fertility Association.

Dr. Ringler has been selected as one of Southern California’s Super Doctors by Los Angeles magazine and has been voted by his peers as one of the Best Doctors in America for the past several years.

Brenda Strong

Brenda is a certified 500hr E-RYT who created the Strong Yoga4Fertility program to help women worldwide. She teaches at the Mind Body Institute at UCLA and Two Hearts Yoga and has licensed her Strong Yoga4FertilityTM to Yoga Works (http://www.yoga4fertility.com). In 2005, Brenda became the first national spokesperson of The American Fertility Association and serves on their board. (http://www.theafa.org) She has been featured in ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE MAGAZINE, SHAPE MAGAZINE FOR PREGNANCY, PLUM, CONCEIVE, YOGA JOURNAL and YOGA MAGAZINE. Brenda is a certified Pre-Natal Teacher and has lead teacher training’s for Strong Yoga4FertilityTM to teachers who want to specialize in Fertility Yoga. She lives with her husband and son in Los Angeles. Her day job is playing “Mary Alice Young” on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and has been an award-winning actress for 20 years. She holds a BM from Arizona State University (Magna Cum Laude) and was Miss Arizona 1980 in the Miss America Pageant. . Brenda’s person mission is helping women toward wellness and also serves on the board of Events of the Heart, a 501c(3) assisting in women’s heart disease education.
In March 2010, Brenda will be the honorary recipient of a doctorate of science from Yo San University, specializing in Traditional Chinese Medicine, for her pioneering work in yoga for fertility.

Adoption Advisory Council

Carolyn Berger, L.C.S.W., Chair

Kathy Brodsky, L.C.S.W.

Kathy Brodsky, LCSW received both her Bachelors and Masters of Social Work degrees from Adelphi University in the 1970’s. She has been the Director of the Ametz Adoption Program of JCCA since 1992 and a consultant to the program for 7 years prior to that time. She has conducted pre and post-adoption homestudies, counseled families at all stages of the adoption process, created community programs to meet their needs and developed a training program for professionals working in the field of adoption. She is a New York and New Jersey Licensed Clinical Social Worker, a member of the National Association of Social Workers and Joint Council on International Children’s Services. Her prior work experience includes the Children’s Aid Society, Children’s Village, MS Society, Veterans Administration, NYC Board of Education, as well as a private therapy practice. Kathy is a nationally sought speaker whose audiences include the Westchester Family Institute, St. John’s University, RESOLVE, the Adoptive Parents Committee and Joint Council on International Children’s Concerns. She serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the American Fertility Association. In 2001, Kathy was recognized in 2001 as an “Angel in Adoption” by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption. She lives in New York City with her daughters, ages 18 and 21, who joined her family through adoption.

Susan Orban

Sue Orban has served on the AFA Adoption Advisory Board for one year. She has worked in the adoption field for over 20 years and currently works as an Outreach and Education Coordinator for Children’s Home Society & Family Services. Sue has traveled with families to Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin American to help them with their adoptions. Sue began her professional career in 1988 and has developed and/or managed programs in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Sue has a degree in education, which she uses to help families understand the adoption process, options available to them, and preparing families for parenting. She is the proud parent of four children, three adopted internationally.

Sam Pitkowsky

Denise Seidelman, J.D.

Denise Seidelman is been a professional member of the American Fertility Association and has sat on The AFA’s Adoption Advisory Council since 2008. Denise and her law partner, Nina E. Rumbold, are Partners in the firm of Rumbold & Seidelman, LLP, a law firm concentrating exclusively in the areas of adoption and reproductive law. Denise is a fellow of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and the American Academy of Assisted Reproductive Technology Attorneys. She is admitted to practice in the States of New York and New Jersey and represents clients throughout Northern New Jersey as well as in the New York Metropolitan Area, Long Island, Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Ulster, Rockland and Dutchess Counties. Denise is a trained mediator, mediating in the fields of Child Permanency and Parent/ Child Mediation. She has lectured on Adoption Law and Reproductive Law for the New York State Bar Association and at the Center for Adoption Policy. She is also a regular speaker at the Adoptive Parents Committee annual conference.

Denise is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Washington College of Law. She is married and lives in New Rochelle, New York. She has three children ages 20, 21 and 24.

Dawn Smith-Pliner

Dawn Smith Pliner is the founder and director of post adoption services of Friends in Adoption, a licensed NY, VT, NJ and RI child placement agency working in the field of Compassionate Adoption since 1982. She has served on the Advisory Panel of AFA since 2007 and is a frequent speaker at conferences. Dawn is a recipient of the angel in Adoption award for 2008, given by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (http://www.ccainstitute.org). The Angels in Adoption Program is CCAI’s public awareness program and provides an opportunity to all members of the U.S. Congress to honor the work of their constituents who have enriched the lives of children through adoption. Dawn is also the adoptive mom to Aura and Isaac and an avid snowboarder and hula hooper.

Diane Goodman, Esq.

Rita Soronen

For more than 25 years, Rita Soronen has worked on behalf of abused, neglected and vulnerable children. Mr. Soronen has provided leadership for local, state and national efforts working to improve the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, while striving to assure safe, nurturing and permanent homes for North America’s children.

As Executive Director of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption since 2001, a national non-profit public charity, Ms. Soronen works to find loving adoptive families for each of the 150,000 waiting children in the United States and Canada’s foster care systems. Under Ms. Soronen’s leadership, the Foundation has significantly increased its grant-making and awareness commitments, while developing signature initiatives that underscore and act on the urgency of the issue.

Michael Traister, M.D.

Michael Traister, MD, is a board-certified pediatrician with a practice in New York City, and has been affiliated with the AFA for many years. For the last two years he’s served as a member of the Adoption Advisory Council. Traister attended medical school at New York Medical College, graduating in 1975. I did internship and residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York. He completed a fellowship in Ambulatory Pediatrics at New York University/ Bellevue Hospital Center, and stayed on for the next five years, serving as the Assistant Medical Director for the Pediatric Clinic at Bellevue Hospital. For the last 25 years, Traister has operated a private practice in pediatrics on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York, while still working part-time at the Bellevue pediatric clinic. While in pediatric practice, he got involved with the international adoption community after two of his existing family members adopted girls from China in 1995. Those families established Families with Children from China as a parent-run support group and continued to refer new families my practice. He has either reviewed records or actively cared for hundreds of families who have adopted children from overseas.

Traister is married with two children.

Legal Advisory Council

Steven H. Snyder, Esq., Chair

Steven H. Snyder, Esq., is the founding and principal partner of STEVEN H. SNYDER & ASSOCIATES, ATTORNEYS AT LAW in Maple Grove, Minnesota. Mr. Snyder attended law school at the University of Minnesota, graduating cum laude in 1982. Mr. Snyder successfully litigated the first and only contested Minnesota surrogacy case to date in 2006 in which he won sole custody of the child for a single father; this case has been affirmed by the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Mr. Snyder is a member of the American Bar Association (Real Property, Probate and Trust Law, Law Practice Management, and Family Law sections), Chair of the Reproductive & Genetic Technology Committee of the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association, a member of both the Minnesota State Bar Association (Family Law, Real Property, Probate and Trust Law sections) and Hennepin County Bar Association, and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Mr. Snyder also serves as a member of the national advisory committee of RESOLVE: The National Fertility Association, chair of the legal advisory group for the American Fertility Association (national non-profit organizations for education, support, and advocacy on behalf of infertile persons), and is a professional member of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (national organization of fertility physicians). Mr. Snyder is a frequent national and international speaker on assisted reproductive technology topics and is currently an adjunct professor of assisted reproductive technology law at the Hamline University Law School.

Melissa Brisman, Esq.

Melissa B. Brisman is an attorney who practices exclusively in the field of reproductive law and is considered by her peers to be a leader in her profession. Ms. Brisman’s experience and qualifications are unparalleled. She employs an experienced and qualified staff of legal and administrative professionals and is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Ms. Brisman has a practice, Melissa B. Brisman, Esq., LLC, located in Montvale, New Jersey, offering a full range of legal services in connection with gestational carrier arrangements, ovum, sperm, and embryo donation, and adoption. In addition, Ms. Brisman is sole owner of Reproductive Possibilities, LLC, an agency that facilitates gestational carrier arrangements, and Surrogate Fund Management, LLC, a company that manages escrow in connection with reproductive arrangements.

Naomi Cahn, Esq.

Naomi Cahn is the John Theodore Fey Research Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School. Her areas of expertise include family law, adoption law, and reproductive technology. She has written numerous law review articles on adoption, family law, and other subjects, and has co-authored several books, including RED FAMILIES V. BLUE FAMILIES(OUP 2010), CONTEMPORARY FAMILY LAW (Thomson/West 2d ed. 2009); FAMILIES BY LAW: AN ADOPTION READER (NYU Press 2004); CONFINEMENTS: FERTILITY AND INFERTILITY IN CONTEMPORARY CULTURE (Rutgers University Press 1997). TEST TUBE FAMILIES: WHY THE FERTILITY MARKET NEEDS LEGAL REGULATION (NYU Press) was published in 2009, and she is working on a book tentatively titled, THE NEW KINSHIP: DONOR-CONCEIVED FAMILY CONNECTIONS. She is a Senior Fellow at the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, and is a board Member of the Donor Sibling Registry. Professor Cahn has testified before Congress and made numerous media appearances on adoption-related issues. Prior to joining the faculty at George Washington in 1993, Professor Cahn practiced with Hogan & Hartson in Washington, DC, and as a staff attorney with Philadelphia’s Community Legal Services, where she represented clients in the child abuse and neglect system.

Theresa M. Erickson, Esq.

Deborah Forman, Esq.

Deborah L. Forman joined the AFA Legal Advisory Council in 2008. She is Professor of Law and J. Allan Cook & Mary Schalling Cook Children’s Rights Scholar at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, California. She joined Whittier in 1990 and served as Director of its Center for Children’s Rights from 1999-2008. Professor Forman teaches Torts, Family Law and an advanced family law seminar that covers isses related to assisted reproduction. In addition, Professor Forman has been Of Counsel to the National Fertility Law Center since 2007, where she specializes in counseling physicians on informed consent issues and drafting forms that reflect the unique issues faced by fertility clinics and their patients. Professor Forman received her undergraduate degree with honors from Brown University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her J.D. from Stanford Law School. After graduation she clerked for the Honorable Harry Pregerson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Professor Forman is the author of Every Parent’s Guide to the Law (Harcourt Brace 1997) and numerous articles. Her most recent scholarship focuses on non-traditional families. She lives in the San Diego area with her husband and daughter.

David Herrera, Esq.
Connie Moore, Esq.

Heather E. Ross, Esq.

Heather Ross joined the AFA in 2009 as a member of the newly formed Legal Advisory Council. She has been practicing law for 16 years, and formed her law firm, Ross & Zuckerman, LLP, in 2005 to focus solely on the continuously evolving laws and issues surrounding infertility treatment, including those affecting intended parents, donors, gestational surrogates, unmarried persons (including single parents and gay and lesbian couples), embryo donors and recipients, and fertility clinics. Prior to forming Ross & Zuckerman, LLP, Ross worked for the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, IL, one of the preeminent not-for-profit legal aid organizations in the country. Prior to LAF she spent three years in private practice primarily engaged in the drafting and negotiation of complex financial transactions. Ross received her Juris Doctorate, Magna Cum Laude from the University of Illinois College of law and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Indiana University with a joint degree in Political Science and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. She is also a professional member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Legal Professional Group; RESOLVE; and the American Bar Association, Family Law Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technologies. She serves on the advocacy council of Women Employed.

Ross lives in the suburbs of Chicago, with her husband, Ron Lambert, and three girls, Maya, Abby and Morissa. When not practicing law she enjoys spending time with her family, yoga, cycling, and reading.

Mental Health Advisory Council

Joann Paley Galst, Ph.D., Chair

Joann Paley Galst is a founding member of the American Fertility Association and a former member of the Board of Directors. She is currently the Co-director of AFA Support Services and Chair of the AFA Mental Health Advisory Council. She is also a past Chair of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine Mental Health Professional Group.

Dr. Galst received her doctorate at Columbia University Teachers College, receiving a National Institute of Mental Health Graduate Fellowship, and obtained her undergraduate education at the University of Wisconsin where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She has taught at both the college and graduate school levels and worked as the staff psychologist at the Fertility Research Foundation. She is a licensed psychologist in New York with over 20 years of experience specializing in mind-body medicine and reproductive health issues, including infertility, pregnancy loss, and pregnancy and parenting after infertility and third party reproduction.

Dr. Galst is the author of numerous articles on infertility, several book chapters on women as therapists, and is co-author of a book entitled, Ethical Dilemmas in Fertility Counseling, scheduled for publication by the American Psychological Association Books in March 2010. She is grateful to the members of AFA and the countless patients who have taught her about the endless resourcefulness and resilience of the human spirit.

Elaine Gordon, Ph.D.

Elaine Gordon is a Clinical Psychologist with a specialty in infertility, child development, reproductive medicine, and third party family building. Besides her role as a therapist and group facilitator working with patients struggling with fertility related issues, she lectures on various topics surrounding the psychology of reproductive medicine. Dr. Gordon is the author of “Mommy, Did I Grow in Your Tummy? Where some babies come from, a children’s book dedicated to explaining a child’s unique reproductive beginnings. Second publication due to arrive 2010 under the revised title, of “Mommy, Did I Grow in Your Tummy? Where many babies come from.

Her professional associations include The American Psychological Association, andThe American Society for Reproductive Medicine. She has served as the educational chair for the Psychological Special Interest Group and participates on various group committees. Dr. Gordon’s clinical work involves individual therapy, group process for couples and individuals, staff training for programs involved in reproductive medicine and third party screening and evaluations. She also counsels birthmothers and prospective parents who are considering adoption.

Dr. Gordon is well versed in both the medical and psychological aspects of reproductive medicine utilizing third parties. Her involvement in egg donation and surrogacy programs has stimulated an interest in the issues surrounding secrecy and disclosure in third party parenting. Related to the disclosure/nondisclosure issue is the need to assess the advantages and disadvantages of open versus closed donation policies. She lectures on disclosure policies and how you talk to children about non-traditional family building focusing on their psychological health.

Throughout her career in psychology, she has become increasingly concerned about the ethical and moral dilemmas in reproductive medicine. She has co-authored a chapter entitled ’ Legal and Ethical Aspects of Infertility Counseling’ in the textbook Infertility Counseling: A Comprehensive Handbook for Clinicians. Dr. Gordon is currently involved in several research projects investigating the psychological implication of using egg and or sperm donation as a means of building families. She continues to work with other professionals in establishing a ‘standard of care” policy for the infertility patient and third party participants.

Piave Lake, M.D.

Dr. Lake received her Bachelor’s Degree in Italian Literature from Bryn Mawr College in 1992. She was graduated from Tulane School of Medicine in 1997. She completed her residency in General Adult Psychiatry at the McGraw Medical Center of Northwestern University in Chicago in 2001 and served as Co-chief Resident during her fourth year of training. She became a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in 2002. She is a member of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, and the Mental Health Professional Group of ASRM.

Dr. Lake has been in private practice as a general adult psychiatrist in Charleston, SC since 2002. She works individually with adults18 years to geriatric ages. She utilizes psychopharmacology and psychotherapy to treat a variety of problems, most commonly depression and anxiety. She has a special interest in treating those with infertility issues, women with perinatal and postpartum mood problems, and mood problems related to hormones. She also performs 3rd party evaluations, screenings and psychoeducational meetings for gamete donors, gestational carriers, and donor gamete recipients/intended parents.

Please contact Dr. Lake at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Madeline Licker Feingold, Ph.D.

Patricia Mendell, L.C.S.W.

Patricia Mendell is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Board Certified Diplomat. She is the facilitator of the AFA Ovum Donor Seminar Series. Patricia has served as Co-Chair of the AFA since 2006. She is a member of the AFA Mental Health Advisory Board. Patricia is co-author of the fact sheet for AFA on “Talking to Children about Ovum Donation” reissued in 2009. In 2003 Patricia was a recipient of the AFA Family Building Award and is a founding board member of the organization.
Patricia has written and spoken extensively on numerous topics regarding fertility, third party reproduction and disclosure, parenting after fertility, multi-fetal reduction, and pregnancy loss and adoption. As an infertility and pregnancy loss survivor, she is well aware of the impact decision making choices on people’s lives. In her role as therapist and consumer advocate, she gives those seeking her help both practical and therapeutic advice on how to cope better with stress, resolve marital tensions and explore and select solutions to their family building dilemmas.

Patricia is married and is the proud mother of two sons David and Michael Singer. She and her husband have practices in New York City and reside in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Peggy Orlin, M.S., M.F.T.

Peggy Orlin MFT, is a Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in the emotional aspects of infertility and third party family building. She is in private practice and has worked on site at Pacific Fertility Center in San Francisco for twelve years, where she leads mind/body stress reduction classes, and is responsible for psychological screening and/or education of all parties involved in third party reproduction- donors, recipients and gestational surrogates.

Her professional associations include the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, where she was a former Chair of the Mental Health Professional Group. She is on the Mental Health Advisory Boards of the AFA and Resolve.

Bill Petok, Ph.D.

Ellen Speyer, M.A., M.S., M.F.T.

Ellen Speyer has been working with the American Fertility Association as a West coast support services co-chair since the inception of the association. Presently, Ellen contributes as a member of the AFA Mental Health Advisory Council. As an active member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s Mental Health Professional Group, Ellen has been the Chair and Co-Chair of the Education Committee and a member of the Gestational Surrogacy Guidelines task force. Ellen Speyer received her Masters of Science Degree in Education from Queens College in New York and her Masters of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Pepperdine University in California. Ellen has worked as a Board Certified, Marriage Family Therapist in private practice since 1985. The specialty of her practice is reproductive health issues, including infertility, pregnancy loss, adoption, surrogacy and third party reproduction. Ellen has worked as a therapist for surrogate mothers as an individual and group counselor for eighteen years.

It is always an honor and a privilege to work with my clients, colleagues and the dedicated medical professionals who work on behalf of our goals of building healthy families.

Jan Elman Stout, Psy.D.

Dr. Jan Elman Stout, Psy.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in infertility counseling. Jan recently moved from Chicago, Illinois to Houston, Texas. She counsels individuals, couples and groups at all stages of the infertility treatment process, including all participants in third party reproduction arrangements, as well as oncology patients undergoing fertility preservation. She has spoken and written articles for patients and professionals about various psychosocial aspects of infertility and has co-authored research on egg donors. Jan is a Past Chair of the Mental Health Professional Group (MHPG) of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and serves on The American Fertility Association Mental Health Advisory Council.

Editorial Review Committee

Catherine M. DeUgarte, M.D

Dr. Catherine M. DeUgarte has ben associated with the AFA for one year and is a member of the AFA Editorial Review Committee (ERC) . She has been in practice for 4.5 years is board certified in Obstetrics & Gynecology as well as in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. She completed her undergraduate and medical school education at Boston University where she graduated from the seven year combined 7 year BA/MD program. She then completed her OBGYN residency at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and afterwards a combined fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinogy and Infertility at UCLA/Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. She then joined the Henry Ford Medical Group in Detroit, Michigan where she was a senior staff physician in the REI division before returning back to Los Angeles where she joined Pacific Fertility Center-Los Angeles. Dr. DeUgarte is a Member of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. She has received several awards and has published multiple scientific papers, articles and book chapters in several areas of infertility and sexual dysfunction and is a Clinical Professor at UCLA. Her interests include preimplantation genetic diagnosis, male and female infertility, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and female sexual dysfunction. She speaks Spanish, French, and Romanian in addition to English. Dr DeUgarte is married with two children and lives in Los Angeles, CA.

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