Why am I telling you this? Besides the fact that there seems to be a great lineup of speakers, it is FREE!

Yes, completely free. The conference runs from 8 am to 4:30 pm and your free admission includes breakfast and dinner.

The following information is from www.fertiledreams.org:

If you are trying to start a family, but have questions, reproductive health and adoption experts will be available to answer questions on the latest advances in as well as adoption.

Fertility and adoption experts include:

Alice Domar, PhD, Director, Mind/Body Services, Boston IVF, Assistant Professor, Ob/GYN and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School – Dr. Domar will speak about the connection between stress and infertility.

Marc Hughes, PhD, MD, Director, Genesis Genetics Institute, Detroit – Dr. Hughes will discuss advances in IVF.

David L. Keefe, MD – Professor/Chairman, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of South Florida, Tampa. Dr. Keefe will discuss recurrent pregnancy loss causes and treatments.

Ricardo Loret de Mola, MD , Reproductive Endocrinologist & Infertility Specialist, Assistant Professor of Reproductive Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland – Dr. Loret de Mola will discuss fertility in women over 35.

Sejal Patel, MD, Reproductive Endocrinologist & Infertility Specialist, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Orlando – Dr. Patel will speak on Advances in Reproductive Surgery.

Laurel Stadtmauer, MD/PhD, Reproductive Endocrinologist & Infertility Specialist, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk – Dr. Stadtmauer will speak on third party reproduction (egg donation, embryo adoption and surrogacy) as well as polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Stephen Shaban , MD, Male Reproductive Urologist, North Carolina Urological Associates, Chapel Hill – Dr. Shaban will discuss male reproductive issues and various treatment options.

Charlotte H. Danciu, Attorney, Delray Beach, Florida – Ms. Danciu, practices family and reproductive law, will discuss adoption, gestational and traditional surrogacy, and embryo donation.

Lori Fraas, licensed clinical social worker and president of Adoption Support Services of Florida, Orlando – Ms. Fraas will discuss paths to successful adoption and affordable adoption.

Nicole Witt, MBA, The Adoption Consultancy, Brandon, Florida – Ms. Witt will discuss paths to adoption

Space is limited, so they recommend that you register online at www.fertiledreams.org or by calling 407-672-1106.

Fertile Dreams, Inc is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to empower those touched by fertility issues through prevention, education, and advocacy. It is committed to redefining public perceptions of infertility by facilitating dialogue, dispelling myths, and championing for fertility rights, thereby eradicating the stigma that exists today.

I would love to know if any of my readers were planning to attend. Please let me know!

Post from: Blisstree

4th Annual Paths to Parenthood Conference

I’m not complaining.

I found this article from the Associated Baptist Press, which I found to be fairly written and sincere in its exploration of ethical issues surrounding ART:

“No clear ethical line exists when it comes to fertility treatments,” said Jonathan Tran, a Baylor University ethics professor. “Rather than ethics not being able to keep up with technology, it’s more the case that technology creates its own ethics.”

The article goes on to explore the ethics of embryo adoption – the donation of unused embryos created during the IVF process to another infertile couple.

In a Boston Globe column, Susan Crockin, a reproduction and adoption lawyer, said that forcing “adoption frameworks” onto frozen embryos elevates one religious doctrine — conservative Christianity — over others.

“Changing the vocabulary to blur the distinction between four- to eight-cell embryos and born children — by naively or intentionally using terms like ‘embryo adoption,’ ‘pre-born children’ or ‘microscopic Americans’ and those who create them ‘parents’ — is not only legally wrong, but…bad public policy,” she wrote.

As a former Catholic and a present infertile, I am constantly annoyed by the “It’s god’s will” comments that clutter news articles that focus on infertility. Yet I am fascinated by this discussion and the ethical, political and as Ms. Crocklin notes, public policy questions that it raises.

While Ms. Elliott does a nice job of presenting facts and balancing her article with points and counterpoints, a recent lecture by Dr. Leon Kass at the Manhattan Institute sounds pretty nihilistic in his assurances that we are already headed towards hell in a hand basket because of…

“The Pill. In vitro fertilization. Surrogate wombs. Cloning. Genetic engineering. Organ swapping. Mechanical spare parts. Performance–enhancing drugs. Computer implants into brains. Ritalin for the young, Viagra for the old, Prozac for everyone. Virtually unnoticed, the train to Huxley’s dehumanized Brave New World has already left the station,” Kass said.

Damn, Dr. Kass, you’re kind of throwing everything but the kitchen sink into your analysis there, aren’t you? At least that is how www.lifesite.net presents it. I plan on reading the full text of doc’s October 2007 lecture because I want to know more about the “soul-less scientism” that he feels is pervading our modern world.

I don’t think wanting a child is soul-less. In fact, it’s quite the contrary.

Post from: Blisstree

Is Wanting a Child “Soul-less Scientism”?