How Surrogacy and Egg Donation Agency Owners Fail: Lack of Continuing Education

There is no School of Surrogacy and Egg Donation. (or of any donation for that matter) There are no ‘how to run an agency’ classes out there, unless you hire LaMothe Services, LLC, but that is beside the point. You won’t find any courses offered at your local University or Community College on how to start an agency, run a donation program or serve your Intended Parents. We are just not that mainstreamed yet…sorry to say it. So when I talk about continuing your education I am talking about reaching out, taking the initiative and attending seminars and conferences that will allow you to become more knowledgeable in your field. The field of Third Party Family Building.


A great example is START ART which is an annual REI Nursing Congress. START ART stands for Scientific & Therapeutic Approaches to Assisted Reproductive Technology. (Every August) I found this great seminar about 15 years ago (when it was called SMART ART). It offers CNE’s (Continuing Nursing Education Certification.) Although I don’t need the nursing credits I know that this is a great learning experience for me and my peers.  The networking opportunities are wonderful as well! This is a two and a half day seminar in Las Vegas. Is it worth the time and money! Yes! Do *I* come back to my office with useful information and energized by those I interacted with? Again, Yes! Am I getting paid to promote START ART? NO! But you should attend next year! (I will announce it on my blog. Subscribe so you won’t miss it!)

Another not to be missed conference is the American Society of Reproductive Medicine’s annual meeting in October this year. The ASRM holds an annual meeting every year and as an agency owner you should already be a member. The program is jam-packed with useful sessions and this year it’s being held in Salt Lake City October 15-19th. Because thousands of people from all over the world attend, this is a great learning and networking opportunity! (again, I am not being paid to promote the ASRM annual meeting however I will be attending as usual.)

               

Personally I tend to lean toward the mental health portion of this meeting. I also belong to the Mental Health Professional Group and will be attending their usual Saturday evening welcoming dinner. (Again, meeting people in person where, for most of the year, we might only interact via the Internet). I don’t want to forget to mention Postgraduate Courses on both Saturday and Sunday before the conference.In 2011 I was a part of the faculty focusing on The Psychology and Ethics of Marketing a Mental Health Practice in Infertility with the chair being William Petock, Ph.D. and Jeffery Barnett, Psy.D. It was a very rewarding undertaking!

Another, newer conference is also available via The Society for Ethics for Egg Donation and Surrogacy (SEEDS). This is a nonprofit group created for all U.S. agencies to have a voice in defining a set of ethical standards for egg donation and surrogacy programs. The registration is now open February 26 and 27, 2016 in Long Beach CA. CEs for professionals. Debate, controversy, esteemed speakers, discussion, networking, professional development, shmoozing, fun, food, and more. Go to seedsethics.org, then click on EVENTS to register.

Ok…so is your business going to FAIL if you don’t attend these (or other) conferences? No…you can get by without traveling a half a continent away. Learning about what’s happening in the legal arena, the clinics, and in the ART world of mental health is always educational. But attending these and other seminars and workshops will reassure your clients that you invest in yourself and your agency and are knowledgeable about what is going on ‘out there’ in the field of Infertility today! (Plus you get out of the office! See the world! And meet new people! A win-win situation!)