Sam is dad to two girls Zoe & Ruby via surrogacy and has become one of the globe’s foremost commentators and researchers on surrogacy trends. He convenes conferences and seminars for intended parents in Ireland, UK, Australia, Asia and Scandinavia. Sam consults with singles and couples from around the globe to assist them to plan safe and reliable routes to building families through surrogacy. He has behind-the-scenes knowledge of providers of egg donation and surrogacy around the globe. He has seen the best and worst that surrogacy can deliver.  He continues to promote best practice through conferences, one-on-one consultation and online resources. He runs a healthcare research consultancy and is the author of three books and is a non-executive director of the charity Surrogacy Australia.

Róisín Venables has worked as a specialist Fertility Counsellor for 25 years. She works  with those affected by fertility issues including; Infertility/IUI/IVF/Donor conception/Onco-Fertility and Surrogacy as well as miscarriage, pregnancy loss and termination of pregnancy. She offers implications counselling as well as support and therapeutic counselling before during and after treatment(s). She is a trained Mind Body Medicine practitioner and has designed and run programmes for individuals preparing for and going through fertility treatment here in Ireland as well as those travelling outside the country.  She is one of the founding members and the current chairperson of the Irish Fertility Counsellors Association which was established in 2008. As well as running a busy private practice in Dublin, she is the Director of Counselling and head Supervisor with the Irish Family Planning Association.  She sits on a number of research and advisory committees and up until recently she guested on a radio programme near her home town, where she discussed different issues relating to mental health, counselling and fertility.

Specialising in family law, Annette Hickey has twenty years’ experience in practice. She heads up the Surrogacy & Fertility Law team at Poe Kiely Hogan Lanigan and is a leading expert in the field. She has assisted many clients through the Irish legal complexities of surrogacy arrangements and has a reputation for providing a reliable, efficient and sensitive legal service. Complimentary One on One Consultations are available . To book please email: [email protected]

Dr Tsakos has excellent English, has extensive, certified training in the United Kingdom. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, a Board Member Representative of the Royal College for Greece and Cyprus, a  Board Member of the Hellenic Society of Assisted Reproduction and a member of the British, European and American Fertility Societies. EmbryoClinic has one of Greece’s few surrogacy programs with a ready availability of surrogates and state of the art IVF facilities

Complimentary One on One Consultations are available during the event. To book please email Elias: [email protected]

Lucy’s 2011 Breast Cancer diagnosis started their long journey to creating a family. She and Cormac began down the domestic adoption pathway, yet after five years of preparation and paperwork, with approval imminent, her husband Cormac was also diagnosed with cancer. Irish authorities insisted they wait another five years. Out of patience, they turned to surrogacy  in September 2016, looking to the Ukraine given its proximity to Ireland and affordability.  They looked for programs that included unlimited attempts as well as accommodation. But their journey hit a crisis point when, shortly after they learned their surrogate was carried twins, Cormac’s cancer returned. Their twin girls were born a month premature and thankfully Cormac is now in full recovery and enjoying the children they had always dreamed of. Lucy will give advice on navigating the journey

Ciara helped organise Families Through Surrogacy’s first Ireland conference back in 2016. She has had a long journey to parenthood, with a number of failed transfers but in September 2018, finally welcomed twins Clara and Matthew via surrogacy in Ukraine. Ciara is a nurse and helped start a Whats App group for Irish couples engaging in surrogacy.

Dr Hugh Ramsay is a gay Irish dad who engaged in altruistic gestational surrogacy with an Irish surrogate, Nicole. Because no Irish IVF clinic would assist, they all travelled to Canada for the egg donation, embryo creation and IVF transfer process. He and his partner had their second baby (Roan) 3 months ago in Canada wit the help of Create IVF and Proud Fertility, a small agency in Calgary. Hugh will share their story of building family amidst Covid-19.

Gearoid and his partner Seamus embarked on an extra-ordinary surrogacy journey, initially working with multiple donors and a surrogate in Canada – it was a terrible experience. Shattered and having run out of embryos, they refused to give up their dream of parenthood. They switched to creating new embryos with a leading Californian IVF clinic. Drained of funds to afford a US surrogacy agency, they matched independently with an altruistic UK surrogate and flew her to California for the transfer. Now dads to 15 month old boy/girl twins, their story demonstrates initiative and doggedness in the face of adversity. Based on Growing Families advice they moved their embryos to North Cyprus IVF clinic for baby #3  due to Covid) and they are now 16 weeks pregnant. Gearoid has become a spokesperson for Equality for Children – a group of parents lobbying for the right to have both legally recognised.

Michael & Kara started their journey in July 2019 with Embryo Clinic Thessaloniki. After three trips to Greece and their first transfer with a surrogate they were fortunate enough to fall pregnant with a beautiful boy.  The whole team at Embryoclinic were friendly and professional and  felt like family from the beginning. Michael & Kara are looking forward to going back to Thessaloniki and seeing the  team with their son. They would also like to see their surrogate again. She was so beautiful and accommodating