"Fertility State of Mind" Celebrates Three Years of Legalized Surrogacy in New York State, Creation of Warshaw Burstein's Fertility Law Group

Fertility Law Group, launched in 2021, now includes multiple attorneys and is a "one-stop-shop" for legal counsel for families built using assisted reproduction

NEW YORK, Feb. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Warshaw Burstein, LLP, a full-service law firm in New York City, and its Fertility Law Group, celebrated the third anniversary of the enactment of New York's Child-Parent Security Act legalizing gestational surrogacy in the state, by hosting "Fertility State of Mind", an industry event at Valbella at The Park in midtown Manhattan.

Other sponsors of the event included: Stephanie Levich of Family Match Consulting, Andrea Bryman of Thallo Health, and Lauren Berson of Conceive.

The festive gathering also raised funds for several non-profit organizations, including, The Chick Mission, Baby Quest Foundation, Stardust Foundation, and A Damn Good Life, each of which aims to help defray the considerable costs of fertility treatments as the community works toward making this means of family building more accessible.

The group also celebrated the third anniversary of FLG's founding, brought about with the February 2021 hire of Alexis L. Cirel to join Eric I. Wrubel, chair of Warshaw Burstein's Matrimonial Law Group, to build a first-of-its-kind practice around the new surrogacy law.

Since the launch of FLG in 2021, Peter L. Lese, Sarah A. Steckler and Jacqueline Bevilaqua, partners in the Trusts and Estates Group, have joined FLG, and Rose H. Vacanti Gilroy has joined as an associate attorney. Ms. Cirel was also named an Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) Fellow of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA). Ms. Cirel is one of fewer than 200 attorneys nationally to receive the ART Fellow distinction.

The Child-Parent Security Act (CPSA) legalized compensated gestational surrogacy in New York, and ensures protections for all New York families formed through assisted reproduction.

The new law also set the gold standard nationally for the protection of surrogates, requiring that all surrogacy contracts include a comprehensive and protective "Surrogate's Bill of Rights."

Ms. Cirel was appointed by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo to his Campaign Leadership Committee to pass the CPSA. Before the passage of this law, New York was one of three states in the country in which it was illegal. Mr. Wrubel was able to expand the definition of parent, so that LGBTQ+ couples can now raise families under the full protection of the law in New York.

"The Fertility Law Group unites modern technology with the ongoing, developing legal definitions of parentage for which Alexis and Eric have led in their own ways," Frederick R. Cummings, Jr., Managing Partner of Warshaw Burstein, said. "Including the trusts and estates know-how of Peter, Sarah, and Jackie, the culmination of their peer-acknowledged expertise in this arena along with their high level of practice in family matters, has uniquely positioned our Fertility Law Group to provide unmatched representation to clients, virtually a 'one-stop-shop' for individuals and couples building their families through assisted reproduction."

Warshaw Burstein, LLP is a full-service law firm in New York City which has distinguished itself through superior and cost-effective legal service and personalized client care and attention. For more information, please visit www.wbny.com, or visit us on LinkedIn, and on Twitter @warshawburstein.

SOURCE Warshaw Burstein, LLP