Programs for the Journey to Parenthood
The Edlavitch DCJCC Parenting Center helps people on the path to parenthood find information, connections, and community in what is often an isolating and overwhelming process. LGBTQ and straight, couples and single parents, Jewish and non-Jewish, people of all colors and abilities — all are welcome to take advantage of our programming and resources.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS:
GESTATIONAL SURROGACY 101
Tuesday, February 22 – 7:00-8:15 PM
During this Zoom discussion, we will explore what’s involved in building a family through gestational surrogacy. Our panel will include an attorney, a fertility doctor, and parents who have gone through the process.
Register
RECENT PROGRAMS:
ADOPTION: STARTING THE PROCESS (VIRTUAL)
Please join us for a virtual discussion about various paths to adopting a child. Hear from an adoption lawyer, from representatives from an adoption agency and from the foster care system, and from parents who have built families through domestic, international, private, agency, and public routes. LGBTQ and straight, couples and singles, Jewish and non-Jewish, people of all colors — are all warmly welcomed. Come with questions.
PATHWAYS TO PARENTHOOD (VIRTUAL)
Join us for a Zoom discussion about different paths to family building. Our panel will include a fertility doctor, representatives from an adoption agency and the DC foster care system, a lawyer who facilitates egg donor and gestational carrier agreements, and parents who have built families in a variety of ways including IVF, egg donation, sperm donation, gestational surrogacy, domestic adoption, international adoption, and foster care. The program will consist of brief formal presentations from each of our panelists followed by lots of time in breakout rooms for more intimate conversations and questions. LGBTQ and straight, couples and single parents, Jewish and non-Jewish — are all warmly welcomed. Come prepared to ask questions, get support, and connect to other people on the path to parenthood.
Co-presented by GLOE – the Kurlander Program for GLBTQ Outreach and Engagement
TOPICS IN MODERN FAMILY BUILDING: A THREE PART SERIES
Join us for a virtual series on topics in Modern Family Building. Each session will include a panel of professional experts and/or parents and community members sharing personal experiences. Register for any session or all three! LGBTQ and straight, singles and couples, Jewish and non-Jewish — are all warmly welcomed.
Co-presented by EntryPointDC, Parenting Center, and GLOE
TOPICS IN MODERN FAMILY BUILDING: EXPLORING EGG FREEZING
During this Zoom discussion, we will explore the decision to freeze eggs for future fertility use. We’ll learn from a fertility doctor about what’s involved in the medical process, and also hear from people who have made the choice to do it.
TOPICS IN MODERN FAMILY BUILDING: CREATING A ONE PARENT FAMILY
During this Zoom discussion, we will hear from parents who have consciously chosen to create a one parent family. They will discuss how they went about building their family and share lessons learned as they have navigated the solo parenting process.
Resources:
The Edlavitch DCJCC does not sponsor the organizations listed below. They are provided here for informational purposes only.
Email Miriam if you want to be connected to others who have gone through or are currently dealing with similar experiences, whether fertility issues, pregnancy or infant loss, the adoption process, or anything else. All emails will be kept strictly confidential.
- The Tinina Q Cade Foundation (grants, information, and support for families experiencing infertility)
- Path 2 Parenthood (information and support for family building)
- Resolve (nationwide infertility support and advocacy organization)
- List of Resources from the Jewish Fertility Foundation
- Heal from Within (acupuncture and support groups for fertility)
- Uptown Acupuncture (acupuncture for fertility, pregnancy, and birth support)
- Julie Bindeman, PsyD, at Greater Washington Therapy (support groups and individual therapy)
- Megan Flood, LICSW (mental health professional with a speciality in family building issues)
- Amanda Shapiro, LICSW (mental health professional with a speciality in family building issues)
- Emma Basch (licensed clinical psychologist specializing in pregnancy, the postpartum period, and perinatal loss)
- Chana Lockerman (therapist specializing in family building challenges as well as postpartum mood and anxiety disorders)
- Caryn Malkus (mental health professional specializing in therapy for fertility challenges)
- DC Pregnancy Loss & Infant Death Support Group
- Guide to Pregnancy and Infant Loss Resources in the DMV
- Emma Basch (licensed clinical psychologist specializing in pregnancy, the postpartum period, and perinatal loss)
- The Wendt Center for Loss and Healing
- A Time (support and assistance within the Jewish community in the tragic event of loss at any point of the pregnancy)
- Return to Zero: H.O.P.E
- Jess Gruber (yoga therapy)
- Blog entry by Chrissy Teigen about her experiences with pregnancy/infant loss
- “Talking About Miscarriage” by Rachel Rosenthal
- ART Parenting
- Creative Family Connections
- Center for Surrogate Parenting
- Family Forward Surrogacy
- “With New Surrogacy Law, DC Joins Jurisdictions That Are Making It Easier for Gay and Infertile Couples to Start Families” from the Washington Post, June 3, 2017
- “How to Pick a Surrogacy Agency” from Washingtonian Magazine, August 28, 2013
- DC Child and Family Services, Kathleen Stines, Adoption and Foster Care Recruiter
- The Barker Adoption Foundation (a nonprofit adoption agency licensed in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia)
- Families for Private Adoptions (support and education to those seeking to build their families through adoption)
- Adoptive Families: The How-To-Adopt and Adoption Parenting Network
- Academy of Adoption & Assisted Reproduction Attorneys
- Adoptions Together
- KidSave (older child adoption and mentoring)
- Path 2 Parenthood (information and support for family building)
- Yatom: The Jewish Foster and Adoption Network
- Understanding the Cost of Child Adoption (Guide compiled by Moneygeek)
- adoption.com (a good site for advertising to prospective birth mothers)
- adopttogether.org (an option for raising money/crowdfunding to pay adoption costs)
- https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-adoption-tax-credit (helpful information about the Adoption Tax Credit)
- LGBTQ Adoption Guide (compiled by Moneygeek)
- Rainbow Families DC: Maybe Baby Series
- Human Right Campaign: Explore Adoption
- Men Having Babies (surrogacy parenting advice and support for gay men worldwide)
- LGBTQ Adoption Guide (compiled by Moneygeek)
- Hasidah (national organization to increase awareness and provide support for infertility in the Jewish community)
- Uprooted (Jewish communal response to fertility journeys)
- Yesh Tikva (resources and awareness in the Jewish community)
- I Was Supposed to Have a Baby (social media platform that supports Jewish individuals and families struggling to have a baby)
- Hebrew Free Loan Association (interest-free loans for fertility and adoption costs)
- Adas Israel Community Mikvah (Jewish Ritual Bath frequently used for rituals when trying to conceive, undergoing IVF, or converting an adopted child)
- Yatom: The Jewish Foster and Adoption Network
- Jewish Fertility Foundation
- “The Case for Social Infertility” from the New Yorker, June 18, 2019
- “With New Surrogacy Law, DC Joins Jurisdictions That Are Making It Easier for Gay and Infertile Couples to Start Families” from the Washington Post, June 3, 2017
- “What IVF Really Feels Like, According to 12 Women Who Have Done It,” from Cosmopolitan,Nov. 2, 2017
- Podcast from the Jewish Women’s Archives “Can We Talk” series about a a Jewish couple who struggled with infertility for years, then decided to hire a surrogate to deliver their children
- Podcast from Mechon Hadar dealing with issues of Jewish law and IVF, in regards to the religion of an egg donor
- Article in altFem on advice for adults currently considering adoption
- Articles in Kveller on fertility struggles
- Article in the Washington Post about fertility struggles in a synagogue community
- Matt & Doree’s Eggscellent Adventure (a podcast chronicling one couple’s fertility journey)
- Infant Adoption Guide Podcast
- NPR Host Steve Inskeep on being an adoptee and an adoptive parent
- “When a Pandemic Dictates an Only Child”
Please email Miriam if you have suggestions to add to this list, or if you find a link here that is no longer current.
The Edlavitch DCJCC embraces inclusion in all its programs and activities. We welcome and encourage the participation of all people, regardless of their background, sexual orientation, abilities, or religion, including interfaith couples and families.