My name is Catherine Tucker and I’m a reproductive lawyer who helps with the legal side of forming families via fertility treatment. I’m very much looking forward to speaking at the upcoming RESOLVE New England Annual Fertility Treatment, Donor Choices and Adoption Conference on November 8, 2014. During one of the afternoon sessions, I will be talking about the legal and practical aspects associated with egg donor cycles.

I wanted to share with you a few of the topics we will be talking about:

1. Donor Options: There are so many donor options available ranging from frozen egg banks to agencies to clinic donor pools to getting help from a known donor. What are the pros and cons of each option? How do you choose what is best for you?
2. Anonymity: Understand the differences between anonymous, semi-open, open, and known donations. What’s the right choice for you? How can you find a donor who feels the same way? (You can learn more about anonymous egg donation over at my blog).
3. Financial Aspects: How can you cycle within your budget? What insurance options are available for you? Are shared risk plans right for your circumstances? What’s complications insurance anyway and do you need it?
4. Legal Issues: Learn about the role of legal contracts and informed consent documents. How you can best protect yourself from a legal perspective? Do you really need a legal contract, or is that just an extra cost you can skip?
5. Extra Embryos: What are your options for any remaining embryos? It’s hard to imagine that you might actually have more embryos than you need to build your family, but with recent freezing techniques (see this post from earlier in the week), it’s quite commonfor extra embryos to remain. Your ability to use or discard these embryos will depend upon the legal paperwork in place at the time of the donation. And if you are interested in forming your own family through embryo donation (sometimes called “embryo adoption”) we can talk about that too.

I hope you can join us on Saturday. I look forward to meeting you. And if you are interested in sperm donation, I will be speaking at a morning session about that family building option.

Catherine

Catherine Tucker is a reproductive lawyer practicing in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Catherine is actively involved with advocacy for the infertility community. She co-authored New Hampshire’s recently enacted surrogacy reforms and has also led efforts to defeat laws that threatened the ability of New Hampshire residents to receive fertility treatments. Catherine serves on the Board of Directors for RESOLVE New England. In addition, Catherine is the Vice Chair of the Legal Professional Group of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, a Legal Advisor for Parents Via Egg Donation, and a member of the Executive Council of the American Bar Association’s Assisted Reproductive Technologies Committee. Catherine blogs about egg donation, surrogacy, and related topics at the Reproductive Law Blog and can be reached at info@tuckerlegal.com.