After a four year break, the charity ‘Growing Families’ is back to hosting education events around the globe.

Director, Sam Everingham says many families come unstuck if they rely solely on social media for their manual for family building. While the casual advice from past parents is well-meaning, every journey is different and it is a constantly changing space. A provider that might have been a great choice two years ago maybe a dog today – staff change, so capacity changes.

Influx are many paperwork processes for cross-border arrangements. Even experts like Growing Families have had to work hard to stay up-to-date on the latest requirements for travel, embryo and sperm shipping, country exit and exit rules, surrogate vaccination, donor availability, match wait times and insurance.

They have been running family building education since their first sold-out conference in 2012. Over this time they have assisted thousands of intended parents to create families across the globe, through events, webinars, website resources, gamete shipping, one-on-one consultations, travel and exit support.

There is no doubt that the level of trust inherent in family building arrangements, whether with a donor, a surrogate or both, demands not only a leap of faith but that you leave your comfort zone to meet providers and other parents in person.