Date: Friday, March 3, 2023
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Location: The webinar link will be shared with you via email prior to the session start time.
Join us for an informal information session for prospective parents led by experienced legal and mental health experts specializing in the field of fertility. During the session, we will discuss some of the following issues:
- Legal steps involved in growing a family through third-party reproduction, including donated eggs, sperm, or embryos
- Known or anonymous donation arrangements
- Boundaries for involvement by the donor in the life of the child
- Feelings about biological connection
Facilitators: Michelle Flowerday, LL.B. and Dr. Lila Z. Hakim, C.Psych
Michelle Flowerday, LL.B. is a fertility lawyer in Toronto, Ontario. She is a passionate advocate for and works closely with couples facing infertility, with LGBTQIA people/couples wanting to start a family, with single people looking to grow a family alone, and with surrogates, and egg, sperm, and embryo donors assisting in the process. Michelle’s expertise includes negotiating and drafting agreements related to surrogacy, co-parenting, egg, sperm, and embryo donations, making court applications for declarations of parentage, and advising on other legal issues related to third party reproduction. Michelle works with clients in the Greater Toronto Area, across Canada, and internationally. She speaks at conferences on the topic of fertility and surrogacy law and provides legal advice to fertility clinics and hospitals on laws related to contracts, consent, and compliance with Canadian assisted human reproduction laws and regulations. Michelle is an Officer of the Board of Fertility Friends Foundation and a contributing member of fertility clinic ethics committees, the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society, and the Law Society of Ontario.
Dr. Lila Z. Hakim, C.Psych. is a Registered Psychologist and conducts psychological assessment and treatment with adults and couples in private practice. She is a Partner of the Centre for Interpersonal Relationships (Toronto, Canada) where she supervises psychologists and graduate students, and is active in research with publications and presentations in the areas of infertility and psychotherapy research. She has served on the Executive Committee of the Counselling Special Interest Group of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society.
Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, postdoctoral fellows and faculty are welcome. Partners and family members (including chosen family members) who are co-caregivers with U of T students, staff, postdoctoral fellows and faculty are also welcome to attend. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event, please contact the Family Care Office and we will try our best to work with you and make appropriate arrangements.