认识我们的官员
詹妮-沃玛克
AAAA主席
Jenny L. Womack在1998年以优异的成绩从德克萨斯大学法学院毕业后,获得了她的法律执照,并在德克萨斯从事家庭法律工作。Womack女士于2004年被邀请加入AAAA,多年来一直担任各种领导职务,并于2020年4月当选为当选主席。 在当地,珍妮是达拉斯律师协会的成员,并曾担任达拉斯青年律师协会和达拉斯女律师协会的董事。 珍妮于2012年10月开设了自己的事务所,并从那时起将她的业务重点放在家庭组建法(收养、代孕和其他辅助生殖事务)上。 她经常就家庭组建法的各个方面发表演讲。
珍妮-沙利文
Executive Director
Jennie Sullivan has been working in the area of adoption for nearly 30 years, first in the adoption law firm of Kirsh & Kirsh and now in her role as the Executive Director and Secretary for the Academy of Adoption & Assisted Reproduction Attorneys. In addition to her work for AAAA, Ms. Sullivan handles the administrative duties for the Family Formation Charitable Trust, a non-profit foundation started by AAAA and dedicated to providing education, support and financial assistance to those seeking to build their families through adoption or assisted reproductive technology. Ms. Sullivan received her law degree from Indiana University and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Xavier University.
詹妮-沙利文是一位妻子和三个男孩的母亲--两个在大学,一个在高中。她是一个狂热的读者,喜欢旅行,乐于在她最小的儿子的体育比赛中欢呼,并在空闲时间喜欢处理自己的家庭装修。
德布拉-古斯顿
收养主任
Debra E. Guston是新泽西州Glen Rock的Guston & Guston, L.L.P.律师事务所的合伙人,同时也是罗格斯大学法学院的客座讲师,教授家庭法。Deb是AAAA的前任主席。黛博拉以优异的成绩毕业于霍利奥克山学院,拥有爱默生学院的硕士学位,并在卡多佐法学院获得法学博士学位。黛博拉的执业重点是通过收养和辅助生育来组建家庭,通过遗产规划来保护家庭;遗产诉讼和管理以及老年人和有特殊需要的儿童的监护权。 她还代表非营利组织处理组建和管理问题,并且是LGBTQ家庭的倡导者。
Nidhi Desai
艺术总监
Nidhi is an attorney in private practice, practicing in the areas of assisted reproductive technology (ART) and adoption. She currently serves as the Director of ART for the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA) and as a member of its Board of Directors. She serves as a board member of the Chicago Coalition for Family Building, a foundation that helps individuals and couples struggling with infertility through education and financial assistance and has been appointed to the legal advisory group for Men having Babies, a not-for-profit group providing education and resources for prospective intended parents.
She has been instrumental in helping to craft local and national policy surrounding ART. She has worked on drafting and passing legislation to protect the rights of families born of assisted reproductive technology in Illinois, first in 2005 with the passage of the Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act and most recently in 2015 with updates to the Illinois Parentage Act to protect children and families born of gamete donation. She has served on the Illinois State Bar Association’s Genetics and Human Reproduction Task Force, formed to examine and develop policy recommendations for the myriad issues that arise surrounding these new technologies, and has been appointed to several committees throughout the years to provide education and recommendations to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regarding federal embryo donation policy.
Nidhi previously served on the Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology’s (SART) executive counsel as well as serving as the Chair of the Legal Professionals of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), and the Leadership Council of the Illinois local area affiliate of RESOLVE. On behalf of RESOLVE of Illinois, she has cocoordinated and taught “The Nuts and Bolts of Collaborative Reproduction,” a one-day seminar that highlighted the psychological, medical and legal issues involved in family building through assisted reproduction.
Her peers have also selected her as a member of the Leading Lawyers network by her peers.
Nidhi authored the chapter on surrogacy and assisted reproduction for the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) Practice Handbook on Illinois Adoption Law, and is a frequent speaker on legal issues, both locally and nationally, addressing medical and legal professionals including ASRM, the American Bar Association and AAAA.
Nidhi obtained her undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis. She then received her law degree from Loyola University Chicago, where she served as an articles’ editor for the Loyola Annals of Health Law.
She works with individuals and couples from all around the globe to help them realize their dreams of creating a legally secure family.
Margaret Swain
当选总统
玛格丽特-斯温(Peggy)是马里兰州巴尔的摩的一名私人执业律师。 她曾是外科、产房和试管婴儿临床护士,她的法律业务集中在辅助生殖技术法、收养和监护方面。 佩吉是收养和辅助生殖律师学院的研究员,她曾担任ART委员会主席,并在该学院的董事会任职四年。 她是美国生殖医学协会的长期成员,共同主持了该协会法律专业小组的成立,她是该小组的前任主席,并担任了许多毕业后/会议前研讨会的教员。 Peggy在ASRM的附属机构--辅助生殖技术协会的执行委员会中工作了三年。 她是美国律师协会及其家庭法部门ART的成员。 斯温女士也是AAARTA的特许会员,并担任了三年的副主任以及CLE和立法委员会的主席。斯温女士撰写了许多教科书的章节,经常发表演讲,并在巴尔的摩大学法学院担任兼职教师。 她是国际家庭律师学院的研究员,也是家庭组建慈善信托的董事会成员。 2008年,她代表收养家庭、亲生父母和儿童的主张得到了全国国会收养研究所联盟的认可,并被授予 "收养天使 "的称号。
吉妮-米勒-吉莱斯皮
前任主席
Genie Miller Gillespie, partner at Gillespie Law Group, LLC, has had her own 自2001年起在芝加哥执业,专门从事收养、监护、辅助生殖技术和其他与儿童和家庭有关的问题。她是伊利诺伊州领先律师和收养领域的超级律师;也是芝加哥律师协会和美国律师协会的成员。2016年,她被华盛顿特区的国会收养研究所联盟认定为 "收养天使"。 她是库克县有限的几位被任命为收养案件诉讼监护人的律师之一,长达14年。她是法律和社会工作中心的共同创始人之一,也是该中心的前任法律服务主任,她在那里兼职工作到2011年。 从2006年到2008年,她是美国律师协会儿童监护和收养公益项目的主任。她是IICLE《收养法手册》的总编辑和章节作者,并撰写了许多有关收养法的培训材料。 她曾在许多与收养有关的研讨会和会议上为律师、机构、养父母和未来的收养父母发言,并曾两次担任芝加哥律师协会收养法委员会主席。她曾在伊利诺伊州律师协会的有线电视节目《伊利诺伊法律》中出现过两集关于国内和国际收养的内容。在开始自己的执业之前,她曾在芝加哥律师基金会担任公益主任;在一家小公司从事私人执业,处理家庭关系和精神健康事务;在法学院毕业后的第一年,她在哥伦比亚特区高等法院为尊敬的Wendell P. Gardner, Jr.做书记员。她在圣路易斯的华盛顿大学获得学士学位,并在美国天主教大学的哥伦布法学院获得法律学位。
Eric Freeby
副总裁
Adoptions have been a part of Eric Freeby's legal career since the beginning. He finalized his first adoption after being licensed for only a day. Such a quick entry into the world of adoptions was made possible by the mentorship of his former law partner, Susan Paquet. After finalizing his first adoption in 2005, Eric knew that he wanted to focus his career on family formation. Now, Eric's practice is devoted exclusively to adoption and assisted reproduction law.
Eric Freeby is a Fellow and Vice President of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (“Academy”). He is also a former Trustee and Deputy Director of Adoptions for the Academy. Over the years, he has organized numerous Adoption Day celebrations that successfully finalized hundreds of adoptions. Eric has also lobbied in both Austin, Texas, and Washington, D.C., to promote legislation focused on adoption and assisted reproduction. He is active in teaching and organizing continuing education for attorneys and social workers. He also serves on the boards of charitable organizations in the community.
Away from the office, Eric enjoys spending time with his wife and two teenage boys. A lot of his weekends are filled with watching his boys play tennis and basketball. To relax, Eric enjoys fishing and beekeeping.
Hal Atencio
财务主管
Harold (Hal) Atencio于1999年加入美国收养协会,是一名双重收养和ART研究员。 哈尔是新墨西哥州收养和寄养联盟的前任主席。 哈尔起草了作为新墨西哥州收养法一部分的立法,并在新墨西哥州最高法院创立了关于所谓父亲对收养提出异议的权利的案例法。在担任财务主管的同时,哈尔还担任AAAA董事会的受托人。
谢里安-希克斯
国内收养事务副主任
Sherriann H. Hicks自1995年以来一直从事私人执业。 她是收养和辅助生殖律师学院的研究员,也是佐治亚州收养律师协会的创始成员。 她也是佐治亚州收养律师顾问团的前主席。 她是格温内特县律师协会的现任成员和前任主席。Sherriann曾在 "Youth Reach International "董事会任职,该组织专注于为美国、俄罗斯和乌克兰的孤儿院外展培养导师,并在她的母校大亚特兰大基督教学校董事会任职数年。
Sherriann的法律实践几乎完全集中在家庭组建法(收养、代孕和其他辅助生殖事务)和儿童权益事务。 她经常就收养和家庭法的各个方面发表演讲。
她与杰夫-希克斯结婚,后者也是一名律师,他们的办公室位于乔治亚州的劳伦斯维尔。
凯利-邓普西
国际收养部副主任
Kelly Dempsey专门从事家庭组建法的工作,主要侧重于国际和国内收养。她的宣传工作在2013年获奖的纪录片 "陷落 "中有所体现。凯利曾在国会作证,在陪审团面前审理案件并作出裁决,并通过她的实践帮助世界各地的数百名客户。
Laura Koupal
ART副主任
Laura founded Koupal Law Firm, P.C. in 2012, and holds the highest possible “AV-Preeminent” rating for legal ethics and ability from Martindale Hubble. Laura began her legal career over nineteen years ago and has represented over one thousand clients in assisted reproductive technology matters, complex divorce litigation, non-traditional and LGBTQ+ family formation and dissolution, adoption and estate planning matters. Laura also completed a one-year clerkship with the Honorable Christina M. Habas of Denver District Court following law school.
Laura accepts adoption pro bono clients through Metro Volunteer Lawyers and is currently a volunteer with the Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel. Laura regularly writes and speaks on the issues of family law and assisted reproductive technology law.
Laura enjoys legal advocacy work and most recently worked with Colorado colleagues to draft and successfully lobby the passage of the Colorado Surrogacy Act (HB 21-1022) signed by Governor Polis on May 6, 2021.
Outside of work, Laura enjoys travelling and spending time in the Colorado outdoors camping, hiking and skiing with her husband, Chris and their three children- Charlie (16), Josie (14) and Sam (10).