When Men Having Babies started its work 20 years ago, it was a program at the LGBT Center seeking to fill a void in LGBTQ+ parenting needs and empower prospective parents by offering them more reproductive choices.
Since then, it has grown into its own independent organization offering a litany of game-changing resources for LGBTQ+ parents: a directory that allows people to make cost comparisons for different reproductive options; a survey where people provide reviews and ratings of providers, agencies, clinics, and law firms; a searchable database of companies and what they offer to support LGBTQ+ family formation; and $1 million in loans, grants, discounts, and free services.
All of these resources will coalesce in a series of conferences, one of which comes back to Atlanta Feb. 21-23.
MHB brought their Surrogacy Conference and Expo to Atlanta for the first time last year to reach out specifically to the Black gay community and LGBTQ+ people in the South – two communities with distinct needs who were previously underserved by the organization.
The event includes specific programming for HIV-positive parents – of which Black gay and bisexual men in the South, particularly in Atlanta, are disproportionately representative. The organization is also aware of the particular issues Black parents may face; according to MHB Executive Director Ron Poole-Dayan, traditional surrogates are disproportionately white, making it more difficult for a person of color to find a surrogate from a similar cultural background.
Attendees of the event can expect more of a “boot camp” than a traditional conference, says Poole-Dayan, where they will receive both information and training on how to utilize medical, legal, and financial resources.
“With the conference and with the help of LGBTQ associations in each location, we’re able to then spread the word and also immerse and train people on how to take advantage of these resources,” he told Georgia Voice.
This year’s conference will include more information than last year’s, including guidance on how to use MHB’s cost comparison tools and workplace database, a panel teaching people how to save on costs by safely and ethically cutting out some service providers, and tips on how to avoid risky escrow services and other possible pitfalls.
Possibly more valuable, though, is the sense of community built over the weekend. It is this community building that is necessary for MHB’s advocacy, which currently includes campaigning for an inclusive definition of infertility that includes anyone who cannot reproduce without medical intervention for any reason – including single people – and removing restrictions that prevent fertility benefits awarded by those who fall under this new definition of infertility from being applied to “third parties” like gestational surrogates and donors.
“There is no substitute by way of inspiration and empowerment and strength in numbers and strength through community that can be achieved face-to-face [at our conferences],” Poole-Dayan said. “My advice is to invest in yourself. If this is something that’s possibly in your future, come and learn about it. At the very least, you’re going to make some friends.”
The Men Having Babies Surrogacy Conference and Expo will be held at the Atlanta W Hotel from Feb. 21-23. Registration is $40 per person, $30 per supporting member of MHB. To register, visit menhavingbabies.org/surrogacy-seminars/atlanta/registration.
