Physician/Clinic Testimonials
I highly recommend Melissa Brisman without hesitation. Ms.
Brisman is a proven expert in the field of reproductive
law and has helped hundreds of couples achieve the gift
of parenthood. My third party reproduction team and
I consider her an invaluable asset to the practice and
a resource to whom to turn regarding donor egg, surrogacy
and same-sex parenting. I continue to be very impressed
by her knowledge, legal skills and professionalism. I
feel extremely confident knowing my intended parents are
in good hands when I refer them to her.
Andrew J. Levi, M.D.
Founder & Medical Director
Park Avenue Fertility & Reproductive Medicine
Trumbull, CT
www.parkavefertility.com
When a gestational carrier is needed to help my patients
achieve their dreams of having a child, we call Melissa
Brisman. Having gone through this process herself, Melissa
is personally familiar with all of the necessary details.
An expert in the field of reproductive law, Melissa is compassionate
and helps make our clients comfortable and secure in their
decision.
Through her practice, Melissa Brisman recruits gestational
carriers and helps coordinate the entire process. I have
always appreciated, along with my patients, her vast knowledge
of the situations that can arise in surrogacy and the caring
way she works with us.
At IVF New Jersey, we have been making little miracles
come true for fifteen years and many of them would not have
been possible without Melissa’s help!
Susan L. Treiser, MD, PhD
Co-founder, Co-director
IVF New Jersey
www.ivfnj.com
I have worked with Melissa Brisman for many years and have
always found her to be knowledgeable, professional and personable
with my patients and their gestational carriers. Most of
my intended parent patients have sought her advice, at my
recommendation, for gestational carrier cycles and same
sex parenting. Melissa has changed the way people view gestational
surrogacy. Melissa has talked at many of my lectures regarding
gestational surrogacy, and helped many of my patients become
parents. She has a competent and knowledgeable approach
that these complex situations require. I highly recommend
her.
Dr. Gad Lavy MD
Medical Director of the New England Fertility Institute
New England Fertility Institute-NEFI
www.nefertility.com
I have now had the pleasure of working with Melissa Brisman
for over the past four years. Ms. Brisman is a recognized
expert in the area of reproductive law. She has helped hundreds
of intended parents throughout the United States and Canada
to achieve their goal of having a healthy child.
I found Ms. Brisman to be extremely professional and highly
knowledgeable.
She has successfully recruited outstanding gestational
carriers throughout the Northeast United States. My patients
have always expressed their appreciation for service that
Melissa Brisman has provided them.
I would have no hesitation recommending one of my family
members or personal friends, who required a gestational
carrier, to Ms. Brisman.
Richard T. Scott, MD, HCLD
Co-founder
Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey
www.RMANJ.com
I have found Melissa Brisman to be extremely knowledgeable,
professional and personable. Many of my patients have sought
her advice, at my recommendation, for gestational carrier
cycles, donor egg cycles and same sex parenting. They have
uniformly all enjoyed working with Melissa and been very
impressed with the quality of her services. She has the
practical and thoroughly detailed approach that these complex
situations require. I seek her advice on a regular basis
when questions come up in my IVF practice that require the
very specialized advice of a reproductive lawyer. I would
recommend her without reservation to anyone needing advice
in the area of reproductive law.
Serena H. Chen, MD
Director Ovum Donation
Saint Barnabas Institute for Reproductive Medicine and
Science
www.serenachen.yourmd.com
Our program has made extensive use of Melissa Brisman’s
services. She has been a particularly valuable resource
to us in analyzing and clarifying issues related to reproductive
law. Her meticulous and thorough advice and counsel has
made her a great asset to our patients. Melissa’s
talent in recruiting healthy and reliable gestational carriers
and appropriately matching them to intended parents adds
great value to our program. We very highly recommend her.
Aydin Arici, MD
Professor and Director
Section of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility
Yale University School of Medicine
www.yalefertilitycenter.org
Melissa Brisman is a rare professional who has a combination
of extensive knowledge and expertise in her area, the ability
to advocate tirelessly for her clients, and a compassionate
and caring attitude toward the people she serves. As an
infertility counselor, I am always confident when I make
a referral to Melissa Brisman’s office, that my patients
will not only be successful in getting their contracts written,
obtaining a birth order, being matched with a gestational
carrier or getting valuable legal advice, but that these
services will be expedited in a timely and efficient manner
by Melissa and her caring staff.
Judith Kottick, LCSW
Intended Parent Testimonials
Dear Prospective Parents,
We are writing this letter on behalf of Melissa Brisman.
As a same sex couple we thought that the road to parenthood
would be a bumpy one. We started our journey by talking
to couples about different options, which included adoption
and surrogacy. Our decision was that surrogacy would be
the best route for us. We quickly started researching large
agencies and was shocked by the amount of money it was estimated
to cost. At a dinner party we were introduced to a husband
and wife who were going through the same process. As we
were sharing information we were advised to the benefits
of using a private attorney for the surrogate process. Before
this conversation the thought of a private attorney was
never considered. We were given Melissa’s phone number
and our lives have never been the same.
With great excitement and anticipation we phoned Melissa
Brisman for a consultation. Being a same sex couple we were
nervous and didn’t know how we would be received.
Much to our delight the office staff was fantastic. They
were very friendly and well informed; we made an appointment
with Melissa the following week. The consultation with Melissa
gave us great hope and put us at ease regarding the journey
we were about to embark on.
We found her extremely understanding, considerate and caring
of our situation. She explained to us in detail what we
needed to do to complete the whole process. We were incredibly
impressed with her patience and ability to answer any question
we may have had. We found by using Melissa Brisman the cost
was approximately half of what a conventional agency would
have charged.
With the help of Melissa Brisman we quickly found a gestational
carrier and all other persons involved in the process. We
again were highly impressed with all of her recommendations.
On the second attempt the gestational carrier became pregnant
with twins. At this point Melissa had advised us that we
should petition the court to have the surrogate removed
from the birth certificates. Again we found everyone in
Melissa’s office incredibly helpful and diligent in
this matter. To everyone’s delight Melissa triumphed
in a landmark ruling in the county were our children were
born. The birth mother was omitted from the birth certificate
and her office is proceeding with a second parent adoption.
We were so pleased with this experience that we have started
the process again. With the help of Melissa and her staff,
as well as our surrogate we are expanding our family.
Sincerely yours,
Steven, David, Claire & Lucy
Although I'm sure anything is possible, the legal and emotional
crisis we faced with the surrogate birth of our son in late
2005 may have been unique. Without the help of Melissa Brisman
and her associates, we could not have come through with
custody of our son. Late in her pregnancy, our surrogate,
a native of Kentucky, learned that her husband was divorcing
her because though he had agreed to the surrogacy and signed
the contract, he felt that her choice would bring down ridicule
on him and their children. The judge who heard the case
agreed, though he was not a family court judge and admitted
he had no knowledge of surrogacy. He gave sole custody of
the children to the surrogate's husband. Under law, that
meant, by inference, that he was the presumed father of
OUR unborn baby, too, because although our baby had no genetic
relationship to him, we couldn't prove that. We'd planned
to have a pre-birth order executed, which our surrogate's
husband had agreed to sign. Now, the judge in our surrogate's
home state, Kentucky, said the husband did not need to do
that. He also ordered our surrogate, eight months pregnant,
out of her house. She came to stay with us, traveling from
Kentucky to Massachusetts, for the remainder of the pregnancy.
As soon as our son was born, Melissa petitioned the court
in the county not to issue a birth certificate with the
surrogate's name and her husband's, but to wait until she
pleaded our case. Once she did, the court agreed to stop
the issuing of the birth certificate, until the fact of
our son's birth was made known to the surrogate's husband.
He had twenty days to act, and when he did not, Melissa
petitioned for the birth certificate to be executed with
our names in the absence of his permission. The court agreed.
Without her skill and compassion, we might have undergone
a long and tortuous process instead of the streamlined and
relatively inexpensive procedure Melissa planned for us
when our initial plans were thrown off track. A financial
wallop would have added immeasurably to our stresses; but
that didn't happen. Yes, we were lucky. But we were also
lucky to find this attorney.
Sincerely,
Christopher Brent and Jacquelyn Mitchard,
best selling author of
The Deep End of the Ocean
[ read related article
]
Dear Prospective Parents,
I would like to share with you my personal experience
with Melissa Brisman. My husband and I first contacted her
after enduring several miscarriages and learning that our
infertility problems would not allow me to carry a baby.
We did extensive research on how to go about finding a gestational
carrier and what the process would entail.
Spending endless hours reading everything I could get
my hands on and surfing the Internet until all hours of
the night, Melissa’s name was the one thing that kept
showing up. I then, called the director of a Resolve chapter
and questioned her on Melissa. I initially hesitated to
call her, because much of what I read geared me towards
believing I had to go through an agency to find a carrier.
After speaking with the director, however, my mind was made
up and I called Melissa for a consultation. Within a week
we had our consult, and a month later we were matched with
our carrier.
The one thing I remember Melissa saying was not to jump
at the first carrier profile just because we were anxious
and ready to get the process started. She made it very clear
that although there may be many qualified candidates, we
may not “click” with all of them. She assured
us that if the first few weren’t “perfect”
matches, the next one would be. Inevitably, we screened
several profiles before being matched with our amazingly
wonderful carrier.
Melissa made the process from the initial consultation,
to the birth of our son, Ethan, virtually problem free.
Any hurdle that arose, she took care of immediately and
explained everything so that we understood what was happening
then and what would happen next.
Four months after Ethan’s birth, we began the process
all over again, with the same carrier. We now have two beautiful
children born through the miracle of using a gestational
carrier. If you have questions about anything please don’t
hesitate to call me at 908-876-4637. Our experience with
Melissa has been nothing but positive. We owe her the world.
Sincerely,
Lauren and Kurt Alexander
Gestational Carrier Testimonials
My journey to become a carrier took me 3 1/2 years of serious
thought. Upon completion of my own family, I started to
think of helping a family who was not as blessed as I was.
When my last daughter was born, I contacted Melissa’s
office. They sent me a complete package that answered most
of my questions. However, I was not yet ready to start the
journey. About another year after that, I again, contacted
Melissa’s office and once again, received the information
I requested. As before, I read through it and decided it
was not yet time.
A year ago, in February, I again called the office. I had
just turned 41 and knew there were age requirements. If
I waited much longer, I would not be eligible for the program.
Again, the information was sent to me. This time, I responded.
Mailing that profile back was a huge step for me. I was
contacted a few days later and the journey began. Melissa’s
office always responded to my calls and gave me any information,
guidance and time that I needed. They directed me in the
right way for all the testing, paperwork, so forth. I was
placed with a couple that met all my expectations and made
this experience exactly what I anticipated it to be.
For anyone who is considering a surrogate or being a carrier,
I highly recommend Melissa’s service. Melissa, as
well as her staff, are competent, efficient and extremely
supportive. Outside of my own family, this experience has
been a high point in my life. The final reward was watching
the Parents meet their daughter for the first time. In 2004
I was able to bless another family with twins. A dream that
was once only a dream was made possible by the resources
provided by Melissa's expertise. I regret not acting on
my intuitions the first time; I would have had more time
to help other families. If you have the desire to do this,
pursue it, you will not regret it.
Barb
GS x2
bamjcm@comcast.net
I have used Melissa Brisman's office in my quest to become
a gestational surrogate since the winter of 2000. I found
her application packet to be thorough and she quickly responded
to my submission with a phone call. I was matched with a
couple rather quickly and Melissa and her office staff were
quick to answer my questions and concerns about the matching
process. They made the contract phase as easy as could be
and were always available through phone or e-mail. Through
Melissa I was able to bless two families with a total of
five children (singleton in 2001, twins in 2003 and twins
in 2005) that they once only dreamed of.
After hearing of some other carrier's bad experience's
with other attorneys in the New England area and throughout
the US I am very pleased with the treatment I received by
Melissa's office and would highly recommend her to other
carriers and intended parents alike. Surrogacy can be a
stressful journey at times and Melissa did everything possible
to make the journey smooth.
Carla
GS x4
