“Everything You Need to Know” about LGBT family building will be the focus of a free seminar on Wednesday, March 25 (6 – 9 p.m.) in Conference Rooms 5 and 6 at Jersey City Medical Center, a Barnabas Health facility (350 Grand St., Jersey City).
“Members of the LGBT community have many choices to make when it comes to starting their families,” said Joseph Scott, President and CEO of Jersey City Medical Center, which was recently recognized as a “Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality” by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization. “This seminar will provide an in-depth look at many of these options.”
Speakers include:
Beth Friedberg, LCSW, Associate Director of Parent Preparation and Education at the Modern Family Center at Spence-Chapin, which provides services for parents of adopted children, adoptees, families formed through adoption, and families brought together through remarriage – including same-sex couples and LGBT parents;
Dr. Serena H. Chen and Dr. Stephanie Marshall, fertility specialists with the Institute for Reproductive Medicine & Science at St. Barnabas (IRMS), which offers advanced treatments for conception;
Bill Singer, an attorney whose practice concentrates on the creation and protection of non-traditional families and who counsels families about the options to form families, including adoption and assisted reproductive technology;
Melissa Brisman, an attorney and owner of surrogate agency Reproductive Possibilities, which provides legal advice and assistance in connection with reproductive arrangements, such as gestational carrier arrangements, ova, sperm and embryo donations and full service adoptions.
The HRC uses a healthcare equality index and a benchmarketing tool to guide healthcare facilities seeking to provide better and more equitable care to their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender patients. This year, the HRC Foundation assessed a record 1,504 healthcare facilities, with 427 earning the coveted designation as a “Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality. Jersey City Medical Center was the only hospital in Hudson County.
The hospital is easily accessible by Light Rail and is within walking distance of the local Path station. It is minutes from the Holland Tunnel and there is parking on campus.
The Eventbrite for program registration is live and can be obtained via http://jcmcfamilyplanningeventbrite.com.
LGBT family building to be focus of upcoming seminar
