Blazing a trail might result in glory, but the road is often rough. When Dr. Mark Leondires founded RMA of Connecticut in 2002, his team consisted of seven people. There was no template for building a clinic for a gay person trying to have children. So he decided to construct one himself. To this day, Gay Parents To Be, offered through RMA of Connecticut, has helped more than a thousand members of the LGBTQ+ community start families.

For most LGBTQ single people and couples, the experience of raising a family is no different from anyone else. Yet, the journey to planning and building your future family can take many unique forms. Most of the time, this involves assistance from a multidisciplinary team. Raising awareness, sharing accurate information, and increasing representation of LGBTQ family-building pathways is critical to educating potential patients and loved ones of the LGBTQ community, therefore I’ve compiled this list of the common myths to LGBTQ parenting:

Read on to learn more about the path to biological fatherhood with Gay Parents to Be and RMA of Connecticut.

The NY Times published an article recently about the lack of fertility benefits available to same-sex couples, or single women, who do not have a diagnosis of infertility (i.e., endometriosis or premature ovarian failure) but instead require fertility treatment because they lack the necessary body parts to make a baby. The article specifically addressed the needs of lesbian couples who must use donor sperm to conceive a child and need a doctor to perform Intra-Uterine Inseminations (IUI’s) but I think the question is also applicable to single wannabe parents and gay men.

The decision to create a family via surrogacy is a deeply personal one and (understandably) often fraught with emotion. For most intended parents, setting out on the amazing journey to parenthood is one of the most loving, life-affirming and life-changing steps they’ll ever take. To add to the gravity of the decision, it is one that will involve doctors, attorneys, psychologists, insurance companies, legal contracts and court documents. Add to that complexity the fact that surrogacy and parental establishment laws vary dramatically, from state to state and from country to country. Because LGBTQ intended parents (IPs) face even more considerations and potential hurdles in ensuring their families are legally protected, it is even more important that intended parents have the counsel of an attorney experienced in surrogacy law.

Celebrate Summer 2018 with your LGBTQ Family! As temperatures hit this summer’s record high and the Fourth of July is right around the corner, this is a great time to look ahead to the next two months of fun in the sun! Although it may feel like Pride celebrations are contained to the month of June, there are many ways to celebrate being LGBTQ in and around our local Connecticut community. Whether you’re looking for inspiration, a place to be yourself, a chance to get involved, or just some time by the beach, our summer rundown has something for everybody!

Today, we celebrate the third anniversary of a US Supreme Court decision that rocked the LGBTQ community; it’s not hyperbole to say that our world changed that day. Today seems like the perfect opportunity to look back, even a little further, to the origin of Gay Parents To Be.

Gay Parents to Be / RMACT is the only East Coast fertility practice to demonstrate its dedication to LGBTQ-inclusive policies and practices for the second consecutive year.

No matter who you are or where you live, the desire to have children is powerful. The problem for LGBTQ couples, though, is that it’s easier in some states than in others.

A scorecard of legal victories for aspiring LGBTQ parents will show mixed results from state to state. But homes across the country, where children’s laughter is becoming more common every day, reflect a positive trend

This month, we introduce a new series of interviews: Personal Family Building Stories. We’ll talk with couples who have completed their family building journey as patients of Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut (RMACT), the IVF fertility clinic with whom GayParentsToBe partners with.

Men Having Babies held it's Family Building Conference in Brussels last week. This conference is designed to address the medical and emotional options for gay men who are looking to build their own families. Attendees are given the opportunity to learn about new treatments, talk directly to doctors and specialists, explore parenting options and network with others who are at a similar stage of the journey.