MSJ Membership Directory (Canada)

A brand of

My Surrogacy Journey

Membership Directory Canada

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www.MySurrogacyJourney.com

What is My Surrogacy Journey My Surrogacy Journey (MSJ) is the latest ’not for profit’ Surrogacy organisation offering the most extensive emotional, practical and logistical support that has ever been available to intended parents, surrogates and egg donors for both domestic and international surrogacy journeys. It is the only UK Surrogacy Organisation offering pre-conception screening all the way through to newborn genetic testing.

Proud to be inclusive, My Surrogacy Journey, will provide a clear and trusted pathway for the entire parenting journey, all because of our lived experience.

Our Personal Stories

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MSJ Mission & Values

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MSJ Charter

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Changing the Game

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Meet the Team

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Advisory Board

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IP Membership

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Directory Membership

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The Member Directory

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Your journey starts now…

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www.MySurrogacyJourney.com

Our personal stories Michael & Wes’ Journey Michael and Wes are the co-founders of My Surrogacy Journey and are Dads through UK Independent Surrogacy. They have two children, Talulah was born in 2016, and Duke in 2019.

They built their family through friendship and developed a solid relationship with their Gestational surrogate and her family. When it came to eggs Michael and Wes also had additional help from two donors, one anonymous, and the other a friend. Their known Donor is My Surrogacy Journey’s third co-founder, Francesca Steyn. Michael and Wes are also no stranger to campaigning for change in relation to the UK Law Reform and Healthcare policy.

They are passionate about developing an organisation which is balanced and supports everyone, and through realising the gaps in the journey process, My Surrogacy Journey was created.

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Our personal stories

Francesca’s Journey

Anna’s Journey

Francesca is one of the UK’s leading Fertility nurse specialists with over 15 years of experience and has a special interest in Surrogacy and gamete donation.

Anna and her husband Ed are parents to Isla, and twins Olive and Art, thanks to two amazing surrogates. Like many women, Anna’s journey to motherhood was far more complicated and painful that she had ever realised was possible.

Francesca’s enthusiasm for Fertility Nursing has taken her all over the globe, presenting at national and international conferences and sharing best practices whilst educating like-minded Nurses about the importance of Fertility Nursing, training and development for fertility nurses and sharing her experience of managing surrogacy programmes.

Francesca has worked for some of London’s leading Fertility Clinics and established Surrogacy teams which have since developed into award winning services.

She was awarded surrogacy fertility professional of the year in both 2018 and 2019 and has been heavily involved in the campaigning for change for surrogacy, writing national guidelines and contributed to the UK Surrogacy Law Reform which was led by All Party Parliamentary Group for surrogacy (APPG).

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Two missed miscarriages and subsequent surgeries to remove the pregnancies left Anna with severe scarring of the womb - a condition known as Asherman’s Syndrome - so the lining necessary to maintain a pregnancy couldn’t develop. Five operations over 18 months failed to correct the scarring and Anna was told that she would never be able to carry a pregnancy.

Anna and Ed therefore turned to surrogacy and began researching the options at home and abroad. Awfully long waiting times to be matched with a surrogate, meant that Anna and Ed decided to go abroad, and Isla was conceived and born in India. For their sibling journey, they decided to go to America and the twins were born in the summer of 2018.

Francesca has recently been appointed as Chair elect for the Royal College of Nursing Fertility Nurses Forum which is a major fertility stakeholder group and the leading voice for fertility nursing staff in the UK.

Both journeys highlighted to Anna the complexities of international surrogacy and the challenges of trying to manage those journeys unassisted. Anna decided not to return to her job in financial services after her children were born so that she could support other people on their journey to parenthood through surrogacy.

Francesca also has personal experience as an egg donor, in 2018 she donated her eggs to friends and now colleagues, Michael and Wes which resulted in the birth of Duke in 2019.

Anna has worked with the San Diego Fertility Center where her twins were born to help couples navigate surrogacy in the US and now works for My Surrogacy Journey.

www.MySurrogacyJourney.com

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MSJ Mission & Values Mission statement It’s all about our Members. Our commitment is to ensure that we define a parental pathway through Surrogacy that is trusted, professional and supported every step of the way. The unrivalled levels of counselling and practical support from a network of surrogacy professionals and experts, medics and clinicians, combined with some of the latest technology platforms in the fertility industry, is a first in the world of surrogacy. We have considered everything.

Our values

Inclusive

Educational

Balanced Trusted

Choice

Innovative

Transparent

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www.MySurrogacyJourney.com

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www.MySurrogacyJourney.com

MSJ Charter My Surrogacy Journey is committed to ensuring that all Members are treated equally.

We promise to guide all our Members through every step of their journey, with transparency and equality ensuring our Surrogates, Known Egg Donors and intended parents are protected and supported. At the heart of this is the welfare of every child born through My Surrogacy Journey.

Every Directory Member and stakeholder must agree to operating within the MSJ charter. All Intended Parents, Surrogates and Known Egg Donors must also recognise these standards and agree to the principals upon which My Surrogacy Journey is founded.

Commitments The wellbeing of any woman will not be compromised in the pursuit of a surrogacy agreement.

All members agree to appropriate counselling prior to starting a journey.

All Surrogates and Known egg donors have fully understood and agreed to, without coercion, all aspects of any contract / an arrangement (in the case of the UK), entered into.

No surrogacy journey for intended parents whose country of origin will not grant citizenship for children born into surrogacy will be arranged.

A surrogacy journey is built on trust, respect, partnership and/or friendship.

All parties involved in My Surrogacy Journey agree to full transparency and will provide regular updates, on request, by our Members.

All parties dealing with our Members will always provide a range of choices and ensure that our Members are fully informed of their options.

Any relationship entered into through My Surrogacy Journey will always be balanced to ensure everyone is considered.

We will collectively agree to continue educating each other about legislative changes related to either Domestic or International Surrogacy. With the ultimate goal to teach and improve all parties’ understanding of the legalities related to Surrogacy and the impact on our Members.

All parties will be respectful of all our Members, by the language we use, the pronouns we choose, to ensure that the tone of voice is always inclusive.

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Changing the Game When Michael and Wes began their journey the demand on other not-for-profit organisations meant they had to explore independent UK Surrogacy.

They dived deep into the online Surrogacy communities, made a tonne of friends and contacts and began learning about UK Surrogacy, the do’s and don’ts, the clinics who genuinely specialise in Surrogacy, Egg Donor wait lists, the current Law and the reform, the Parental Order process and the limited professional counselling available. It was clear there was an opportunity to combine technology with support, and to also bring together a team of Fertility and Surrogacy experts to form one of the most admired Advisory Boards for a UK Surrogacy Not for Profit organisation, ensuring every member is supported equally and has a voice.

The first UK family building finance product – Hatchling Fertility Finance Welcome to Hatchling; a finance product designed to help get you started on your fertility and family building journey.

Often the barrier with building your family with reproductive medicine can be the cash reserves to begin the initial treatment and costs attributed to it, especially related to international surrogacy.

UK surrogacy fertility treatment can cost (with donor eggs) up to £26,000, plus your surrogate’s expenses of a further £10k - £15k. Even more costly is a US family building journey, this can cost around $160k - $200k, therefore we wanted to find the solution to legitimately allow you to finance the complete experience, including legal and insurance fees and even our membership costs.

We’re passionate about tackling some of the challenges around financial infertility for those in the UK, and this product is testament to this. Whether you’re wanting to build your family in the UK via Surrogacy, or you want an international treatment pathway – we have the only UK solution of its kind available; and we’ve cracked it! With borrowing starting from £25,001 – to in excess of £500,000, we wanted to ensure everyone has options to complete their family building.

We have developed an exclusive relationship with the FCA regulated underwriters, James Evans Financial Services. This product was created and designed with all of our lived experience in mind.

A product which takes the stress out of raising funds for domestic surrogacy IVF treatment or for an international family building journey.

Added flexibility An international family building journey can have multiple staged payments along the way.

Therefore, our product has the added flexibility to ‘draw down’ cash/dollars when you need it, meaning you only pay interest (and pay) on what you’re using. International currency exchange is managed via Cornhill FX. This allows you to trade professionally with our experts and purchase high volumes of cash.

Included in our Membership are several other UK firsts for a UK Surrogacy organisation such as ten hours of emotional support including professional BICA counselling throughout the entire journey, Pre-Conception genetic testing and New-born screening, offered from Igenomix. An extensive educational and document library covering all aspects of the journey, which goes beyond the birth, ensuring that all parties are medically, emotionally and legally informed.

All Intended Parents also receive home Sperm Testing kits via ExSeed, the leading testing and fertility improvement kit designed to further support and help encourage men to speak up and get fit for fertility.

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www.MySurrogacyJourney.com

One of the challenges for Surrogates and Known Egg Donors can be the bloody tests required for your sexual health screening and onboarding. Our friends at Hertility Health will ensure all your screening and blood tests, including ovarian egg reserve levels (a AMH test) for Known Egg Donors is carried out in the privacy of your own home with a simple finger prick test. No racing around to book Doctors or hospital appointments. Simple, and designed around you.

To ease the pressure on fertility clinics, we have also partnered with EngagedMD, a consent platform ensuring complex regulatory HFEA consents are captured as part of the membership with My Surrogacy Journey – allowing clinics to concentrate more on patient care. Intended Parents and Known Egg Donors also receive two-year membership to The Donor Conception Network, allowing further access to support and information for donor conceived families and children. A specialist e-Midwife will also help guide and support those on their journey too.

We also provide support to Surrogates and IP’s via a Fertility Dietitian thanks to UK Fertility Nutrition, taking care of getting fit for fertility and maintaining a healthy diet through pregnancy.

My Surrogacy Journey has partnered with Fenomatch, facial matching software which compares over 12,000 biometric measurements to find the donor with the greatest facial resemblance to the Intended Parent(s), taking known egg donor matching to another level.

Birthing options are very important to every pregnancy, this is why our partnership with The Mindful Birth Group means your Surrogate is supported virtually, when understanding all the birthing options, including the how to practice mindfulness, and hypnobirthing specific to pregnancy and birth. This will help to support everyone during your wonderful and highly emotional journey. We’ve also ensured that Intended Parents understand the birthing process which in turn will help them support their surrogate better.

Lush Tums are also on board to allow Intended Parents and Surrogates to explore pregnancy Yoga together.

Connect with your surrogate and your pregnancy, or if you’re a surrogate who enjoys yoga; try this wonderful class.

Quite often Intended Parents via Surrogacy are excluded from or don’t quite fit into the norm that is antenatal classes. This tends to be challenging to find a suitable class, we decided to change that! We’ve partnered with Born Human. Founded from a unique perspective of lived experience, clinical and academic expertise we work with parents in diverse settings to provide education, support their mental wellbeing and find a healthy balance that recognises them as individuals and as parents.

Parenthood is a major cause of stress, anxiety and other mental health concerns. By creating safe, confidential and non judgemental spaces to explore people’s journeys, our programmes are designed to encourage honest conversations and normalise those challenges.

Daddy – The Sleep Consultant is also providing his incredible support via a 1:1 two-hour consultation which covers the Foundations of Sleep, with further programmes available should you need them.

When you’re ready to bring your baby home we’ve also partnered with The Doula Association, providing you with exceptional support from your very own personal Doula. New babies don’t come with instructions unfortunately, but with this wonderful collaboration we will ensure all the basics (and beyond) are covered, we’re committed to supporting more new Parents, caring for their baby. Through our Surrogate membership a Doula will also support your surrogate too, with birth preparation and both birth recovery support. You see – we’ve thought of everything.

MSJ Partners The

Group®

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Meet the team Wes Johnson-Ellis

Kellie Lombard

Founder, Operations Director & Same Sex IP Membership Co-ordinator

Membership Sales UK & Europe

Michael Johnson-Ellis Founder, Marketing Director & Irish IP Membership Co-ordinator

Francesca Steyn Founder, Fertility Nurse Specialist & Clinical Lead

Gina Kinson Surrogate Membership Co-ordinator

Anna Buxton UK Hetero IP’s & International Surrogacy Membership Co-ordinator

Kelly Dwyer Directory Membership Co-ordinator

Maureen Osayi Irish IP Membership Support Co-ordinator

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Tracey Sainsbury Senior Fertility Counsellor

John Lippitt Senior Fertility Counsellor

Kelly Da Silva Fertility Mentor

Hayley Aldis Surrogate Co-ordinator

Mary Tatlow Project Co-ordinator

Leigh Harris Financial Controller

Sophie Smith Known Egg Donor & Hetero IP Co-ordinator

www.MySurrogacyJourney.com

Advisory Board

Francesca Steyn Nursing and Clinical

Anna Buxton Hetero IP’s & International Surrogacy

Gina Kinson Experienced Surrogate

Andrew Spearman Head of Family Law, Laytons LLP Surrogacy Law

Sophie Martin Registered Midwife The Infertile Midwife

James Lawford-Davies Partner, Hill Dickinson LLP Quality and Compliance

Richard B. Vaughn, Esq. Founder, International Fertility Law Group Inc.

Kelly Da Silva Emotional Support and Fertility Treatment Support

Dr Kirsty Horsey Director of Education, Reader in Law Kent Law School, University of Kent

Tracey Sainsbury Senior Fertility Counsellor BICA Accredited Counselling

Lyndon Miles Director & Consultant Embryologist at CRGW Scientific

John Lippett Senior Fertility Counsellor BICA Member Counselling

Nina Barnsley Director of Donor Conception Network Donor Conceived Support

Carole Gilling Smith Medical Director & CEO, The Agora Fertility/HIV+/Trans Patients

Hilary Smith International Client Relations, UK & Europe Extraordinary Conceptions Surrogacy & Egg Donation

Dr Said Daneshmand Internationally Recognised Fertility Specialist San Diego Fertility Centre

David Ogutu MRCOG Medical Director, Consultant Gynaecologist Herts & Essex Fertility Centre

Rachel West Partner at Carbert Waite, LLP Specialist Canadian Surrogacy Attorney

Mr Ali Al Chami Fertility Consultant, CRGH

Kreena Dhiman Cancer & Fertility Advocate

Michelle Avery Canadian Fertility Consultant Specialist, JA Surrogacy Consulting

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It’s all about our members Brief overview of our membership

Intended Parents Concierge membership (Canada) Over 50 individual benefits which are tailored to support the member at every stage of their Surrogacy journey as well as preparing them for their next step, all benefits are timed across key milestones.

MSJ Welcome Pack with Surrogacy and Intended Parenting information to get you started on your journey

ExSeed Home sperm testing kit

IP profile building assistance programme

Access to EngagedMD consents and information platform

10 Hours of emotional support including professional counselling

by BICA registered Fertility Counsellors 3 hours of legal consultation with UK and Canadian attorney including baby passport process

Professional Antenatal support programme

£200 voucher for will writing services

1 hour virtual Birthing session – The Mindful Birth Group

Access to all the documentation and templates needed to complete your journey

New-born Genetic screening

Dedicated UK based Co-ordinator to be your point of contact and guide and support you at every stage of the journey

‘Preparing for your baby’ programme

Over 150 pieces of educational content designed to educate and guide you at every stage, in Podcast, video, infographic and written format

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E-Midwife support throughout

NHS

Post birth NHS Support service

www.MySurrogacyJourney.com

Access to a carefully created Directory of products and professional services that you will need throughout your journey, we’ve done the research for you

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IP & New-born baby gift

Access to MSJ Surrogacy financing products

New Family Photo Shoot

1 Year membership to Donor Conception Network

Travel Concierge Service to take care of all your travel and hotels

1 hour consultation on international insurance process

UK and Canadian clinic matching service

Sperm/Embryo Cryo shipping co-ordination

Preparing for your baby abroad – travelling home and settling in at home

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International budget planning session

Access to MSJ Egg donor database

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Directory Membership What is our Directory The Directory is one of our proudest achievements, it’s where the concept of My Surrogacy Journey was conceived. Putting it simply, it’s sharing our ‘little black book’ with everyone on a journey, to ensure they are supported by only the best in the Fertility and family building arena.

We’ve seen time and time again how Intended Parents have been exploited, how Surrogates have been emotionally unsupported, and Known Egg Donors have been discounted.

We have created two levels of Directory Membership to ensure that everyone who provides products and services, at any point of a surrogacy journey has the ability to be listed and seen by our members.

Giving our members choice and allowing them to make informed decisions, that are right for their journey is really important to us and the main reason we created our exclusive directory.

Community Directory Membership*

Partner Directory Membership

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Company name

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Company name

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Company logo

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Company logo

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Company bio

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Company bio

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Company image

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Company image

· Product and service description (limited)

· Product and service description

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Website link

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Website link

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Contact person details

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Product/Service pricing

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Product/service pricing

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MSJ Account Manager

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MSJ Account Manager

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Promotional video link

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Social handles

· Lead person’s contact information * Charity & Not-for-profit organisations only

· Online appointment booking functionality · 1 Insta Live session hosted by MSJ with a re-share on MSJ socials ·

1 Newsletter feature

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Icons showing services

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MSJ social media package

· Video Consultation with IP’s ·

Access to IP events

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2 additional listed features

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MSJ Plaque

· 1 item in IP & Surrogate welcome pack

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www.MySurrogacyJourney.com

The Member Directory The Directory is one of the most valuable and critical parts of our Member portal, its interactive and intuitive features means it’s much more than just a rolodex; it’s the safest and most reliable way for Intended Parents to search and plan their journey supported by tailored and exclusively limited MSJ partners across each section and family building milestones.

Using the latest innovative web design and virtual technology and secure encryption, we’ve wanted to deliver a safe space both digitally and physically.

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A brand of