Illume Fertility Sponsors and Attends Men Having Babies Berlin, Dedicated to Providing Educational and Financial Support for European Fathers-to-Be Seeking Parenting Options

Founder, Medical Director and Partner at Illume Fertility Dr. Mark Leondires Moderated Panel on Finding and Selecting Your Egg Donor; Panelist on the Medical Aspects of Surrogacy

NORWALK, Conn., May 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Illume Fertility, a leading fertility practice in the tri-state area providing an exceptional patient experience and cutting-edge treatments from award-winning physicians to help patients achieve their fertility and family-building goals, this past weekend, attended Men Having Babies (MHB) Berlin, an international conference dedicated to providing gay men with educational and financial support to achieve parenthood through surrogacy.

Having treated patients from more than 50 countries with 1,500+ successful surrogacy journeys and 15,000+ babies born, Illume Fertility was on hand to provide leadership and guidance to the hundreds of attendees seeking parenting options. Founder, Medical Director and Partner at Illume Fertility Dr. Mark Leondires, moderated a panel entitled Finding and Selecting Your Egg Donor, as well as provided education at the Medical Aspects of Surrogacy, the conference's medical panel.

He shared, "We are incredibly proud to support the Men Having Babies conference in Berlin, which continues to open doors for intended fathers across Europe who are pursuing the dream of parenthood. By connecting these fathers-to-be with vital resources, expert guidance, and a strong network of support, this event empowers these intended parents to take meaningful steps toward building their families. At Illume, we are honored to stand alongside Men Having Babies and are dedicated to making prospective parents' paths to parenthood more accessible, successful, and filled with hope."

Across most of Europe, gay men who wish to become fathers, face serious legal, cultural, and financial obstacles. With over 15,000 future and current gay parents worldwide, MHB is dedicated to helping gay men become parents. While the event is organized by gay parenting organizations, for the first time, special programming was added to the conference specifically designed for prospective heterosexual parents. Illume has sponsored MHB's Berlin conference as well as others domestically for a number of years. Proceeds from sponsorship fees benefit the Gay Parenting Assistance Program (GPAP).

"Since surrogacy in the U.K. still involves significant restrictions, many intended parents choose to travel to the United States for the process instead," said UK dads Doug and Sanjay who chose to work with Illume Fertility after extensive online research and speaking with other LGBTQ+ parents who pursued surrogacy. "Illume's location in Connecticut was perfect for us, as I'm a flight attendant and we visit the East Coast regularly," said Doug. "As soon as we started working with Illume, we also realized how inclusive it was, and that made us feel so welcome."

For more information on LGBTQ+ paths to parenthood, visit illumefertility.com.

About Illume Fertility
Illume Fertility is a leading fertility practice in the tri-state area providing a best-in-class patient experience and cutting-edge treatments by award-winning physicians to help patients achieve their fertility and family-building goals. Led by an expert team of nine highly credentialed, board-certified reproductive endocrinologists, many of whom have received Castle Connolly's prestigious Top Doc award, Illume Fertility specializes in a complete range of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) including intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) and egg, sperm, and embryo cryopreservation. Recognized as a Healthcare Equality Leader by the Human Rights Campaign for seven consecutive years, Illume Fertility's commitment to inclusive care includes a world-renowned egg donation and gestational surrogacy program, a dedicated team of third-party reproduction experts, and Gay Parents To Be®, an award-winning resource hub offering tailored support for LGBTQ+ family building. Illume Fertility is the only regional fertility clinic with offices in Connecticut and New York offering comprehensive holistic support services, including in-house nutrition counseling, onsite genetic counselors, fertility acupuncture, yoga for fertility, community events, as well as a network of mental health providers focused on fertility and family-building. Illume Fertility is proud of its exceptional success rates and continues to be a leader in patient-centered care, providing compassionate, expert guidance to each prospective parent we serve.

Media Contact
Stacy Callahan, Astonish Media Group, 917-972-1101, [email protected], astonishmediagroup.com
Victoria Andretta, Illume Fertility, 845-494-7229, [email protected], illumefertility.com

SOURCE Illume Fertility