H.E. Dr. Toni Curtis is a maternal health advocate, educator, author, traditional healer, and Founder and Director of BirthWise Doula Services. With nearly 30 years of experience in maternal and women’s health and more than 1,000 births attended, her work is also deeply informed by her personal journey as an overcomer of an infertility diagnosis and a thriver after birth trauma.

Her experiences with infertility, pregnancy loss, birth trauma, and postpartum recovery helped shape her whole-person approach to women’s health—bridging physiology, nutrition, nervous-system support, bodywork, movement, lactation, education, and traditional healing.

Dr. Curtis serves as Director of Advocacy for DONA International and as a United Nations Representative with the Africana Women Working Group. She is the author of Beyond Depletion: A 42-Day Postpartum Recovery Guide and creator of the Lifespan Birth Method™.

Her work centers women across fertility, pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and beyond, grounded in the belief that when women thrive, families, communities, and future generations thrive.

Listen as H.E. Dr. Toni Curtis shares with Ellen and Jenn:

• What the “H.E.” in H.E. Dr. Toni Curtis means.
• How the loss of her infant brother shaped her advocacy.
• Her 17-year infertility journey and decision to pause treatment.
• PCOS, hypothyroidism, stress, nutrition, and nervous-system regulation.
• Why health indicators are not the same as personal wellness.
• Birth trauma, postpartum hemorrhage, anemia, and recovery.
• The breastfeeding advice that sent her back to the classroom.
• Why unresolved birth experiences can remain with women for a lifetime.
• The Lifespan Birth Method™ and Dr. Curtis’s approach to care.
• The three family dynamics that often appear after a baby arrives
• Supporting gestational carriers and intended parents during surrogacy births.
• Induced lactation and the medications that may interfere with milk production.
• Why healing is not merely personal—it is generational.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Call and leave us a message on our hotline: 303-997-1903.

Learn more about BirthWise Doula Services: www.birthwisedoulas.com

Learn more about our podcast: https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/

Learn more about our surrogacy agency: https://www.brightfuturesfamilies.com/

Get your IWTPABIY merch here! https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/merch

Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: http://trachmanlawcenter.com/

As an adoptive dad, Brian Esser knows the options for building a family can seem overwhelming. Brian is a trusted advisor who helps clients step by step through the process. He listens to his clients’ concerns and works with them to find the best path for their family. He also helps safeguard families with proper planning for the future.

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in History from Northwestern University, Brian earned a law degree from the American University Washington College of Law. He is licensed to practice law in New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. Brian concentrates his practice on adoption, reproductive law, and estate planning.

Brian is a founding board member of Equality New York, a statewide LGBTQI advocacy organization. He served two terms as the President of the Board of Directors of the National LGBT Bar Association’s Foundation. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA), and a member of LeGaL – the LGBT Bar Association of Greater NY's Family and Matrimonial Law Committee.

Listen as Brian shares with Ellen and Jenn:

• Why U.S. intended parents should consult an attorney before beginning an international surrogacy journey.
• What an attorney can—and often cannot—change in an international agency agreement.
• How international “all-inclusive” programs may differ from U.S. surrogacy arrangements.
• The difference between being matched with and being “assigned” a surrogate.
• Why a foreign birth certificate may not be enough to establish parentage in the United States.
• Legal considerations for non-genetic parents, same-sex couples, and single intended parents.
• When a second-parent adoption or judgment of parentage may be appropriate.
• What New York families can expect from the adoption process.
• The purpose and limitations of a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA).
• Common legal assumptions that can create complications after a baby is born.
• Why families should seek advice from an attorney in their state of residence.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Call and leave us a message on our hotline: 303-997-1903.

Learn more about Brian’s legal practice: https://www.esserlawoffice.com/

Learn more about our podcast: https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/

Learn more about our surrogacy agency: https://www.brightfuturesfamilies.com/

Get your IWTPABIY merch here! https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/merch

Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: http://trachmanlawcenter.com/

Meryl B. Rosenberg, Esq. is an attorney who specializes in Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART) law and who has helped intended parents build their families through surrogacy, gamete donation (egg, sperm and embryo donation), second-parent and stepparent adoption for over 30 years.

Among the many non-profit organizations she actively participates in, Ms. Rosenberg is the immediate Past President, and is a Fellow of, the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA), past member of its ART executive committee and chair of its ART membership committee; is past chair and member of the executive board of the Legal Professional Group of ASRM; is past co-chair of the Legal Advisory Committee of Path2Parenthood; is past CLE Liaison for the ABA Family Law Section and the Reproductive Technology Committee of the Family Law Section, is a current member of its executive and CLE committees of the ABA Family Law Section; is a member of Family Law Institute of the LGBTQ Bar; is a professional member of RESOLVE; is a past board member of the Jewish Fertility Foundation; and is on the Advisory Board of The Cade Foundation and a member of the grant’s committee for The Surrogacy Foundation. Meryl works collaboratively with others to spearhead positive change in legislation affecting those who build their families through ART and to legally protect all families, and was actively involved in the passage of the 2016 DC surrogacy law.

Meryl was instrumental in drafting the final ABA Model Act Governing Assisted Reproduction (2019) and the ABA Model Act ABA Model Act Governing Assisted Reproductive Technology Agencies (2016), and currently co-chairing the effort to update the same. Meryl has been a guest lecturer for the University of Maryland School of Law and the American University Washington College of Law, and is a frequent speaker for AAAA, the ABA Family Law Section, ASRM, Rainbow Families DC, and other organizations nationally and internationally on relevant topics surrounding ART and family building.

Meryl has authored articles in various publications, magazines and on-line on the topic of third -party reproduction legal issues, and on surrogacy and gamete donation in particular. Meryl is also active with and serves on boards for a number of philanthropic organizations.

On this episode of I Want to Put a Baby in You, hosts Jennifer White and Ellen Trachman talk hot topics in surrogacy law with Meryl Rosenberg.

Listen as Meryl shares with Ellen and Jenn:

• Why surrogacy legal work cannot—and should not—be completed in a few days.
• Why intended parents may need to hear important information more than once.
• What thorough surrogate screening should involve.
• Why “matched” can mean very different things among programs.
• The importance of psychological evaluations and group consultations.
• How professional silos can lead to missed information.
• Why independent legal representation matters for everyone.
• The risks of sharing private surrogacy documents with open AI tools.
• How attorneys, matching programs, clinics, and mental health professionals can collaborate more effectively.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Call and leave us a message on our hotline: 303-997-1903.

Learn more about Meryl’s legal practice: www.artparenting.com

Learn more about our podcast: https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/

Learn more about our surrogacy agency: https://www.brightfuturesfamilies.com/

Get your IWTPABIY merch here! https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/merch

Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: http://trachmanlawcenter.com/