ABOUT

My own experiences with infertility are what led me to found New Hampshire Fertility Law, which is the only New Hampshire based law firm that focuses exclusively on fertility law.  I’m fortunate that my own journey through six cycles of IVF ended with the birth of my boy/girl twins.  I understand what you are going through because I have been there myself.  (You can learn more about how I developed my law practice in this article published in the New Hampshire Bar News--Practitioner Profile: Finding a Niche Through Personal Experience).

I work with intended parents, donors, and surrogates to help them navigate the fertility law process.  I regularly write and review surrogacy contracts, donor agreements, and parentage orders (called pre-birth orders in some states).   I also work with clients who are already parents to make sure the appropriate legal work is in place to protect their families.  And I use my background in insurance law to evaluate insurance policies and to help clients file insurance appeals.

While my law practice is based in New Hampshire, I have worked with intended parents and donors from across the United States, as well as with clients from Canada, Europe, and Asia.  I have a countrywide and international network of experienced fertility lawyers with whom I work on cases that involve cross-border legal issues.

I’m passionate about improving the laws to protect patient access to fertility treatments.  I have collaborated with fertility professionals, law professors, and organizations from around the country to successfully advocate for policy changes on both a state and federal level.  I was part of a small group of fertility lawyers selected from throughout the U.S. to serve on a committee tasked with preparing model acts on behalf of the American Bar Association. One of the committee’s final products was accepted by the ABA as the gold standard for the regulation of surrogacy agencies.

I am especially honored to have co-authored New Hampshire’s surrogacy law which streamlined the surrogacy process and put into place strong protections for both intended parents and surrogates.  This law has been used as a model by other states considering improvements to their own surrogacy laws.

I also developed the New Hampshire standard for the issuance of parentage orders (“pre-birth orders”).  This standard benefits both intended parents and surrogates by providing consistent and timely court action.

In addition, I co-authored the New Hampshire laws on egg and sperm donation, which provide much-needed clarity for both donors and recipients.  I have also led efforts to defeat proposed laws that could have restricted access to in vitro fertilization treatment here in New Hampshire.

I have written extensively about fertility law, with my work being published in the New Hampshire Bar Journal, New Hampshire Bar News, and also by the American Bar Association.

I currently serve on the Board of Directors for RESOLVE New England.  I have also held leadership positions with the New England Fertility Society, the American Bar Association’s Assisted Reproductive Technologies Committee (first New England member appointed to the Executive Council), and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (Vice Chair of the Legal Professionals Group).  And I was invited to join the National LGBT Bar Association’s prestigious Family Law Institute.

Before I founded New Hampshire Fertility Law, I ran the Insurance Fraud Unit at the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office and I was a prosecuting attorney at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Boston, where I achieved landmark verdicts in complex child and family abuse cases.  I’m licensed to practice law in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

I look forward to working with you.