Creating families. Protecting rights. Fulfilling dreams.

As soon as I knew surrogacy was going to be the path for me, I started hearing recommendations for Melissa Brisman to be my lawyer, from various sources. I can completely understand why her name came up so often as the best choice for a lawyer in this field. As a first time intended parent, I have considered myself extremely fortunate to have Melissa Brisman as my attorney. From the very beginning I knew that she would be the best fit for me. I am so grateful to her for all she has done to develop the contract between me and my gestational carrier, reach out to various people involved to ensure everything is completed properly, file for the birth order, ensure the hospital plan is in place, etc. She is extremely efficient and everything was done with great care. She is also very responsive to emails and has been so willing to answer every question I had along the way. I always felt that I was in good hands with her throughout the entire process. She is so on top of each step of the process and would reach out to me often, not only to describe each task that needed to be completed, but also to check how things were going with my gestational carrier's pregnancy. I was never left wondering what needed to be done next, which really put my mind at ease. I felt very much cared about, which meant so much to me. Surrogacy can be extremely complicated and stressful, but Melissa Brisman made each step manageable for me. She is truly the most thorough, knowledgeable and understanding lawyer. I highly recommend her to anyone who will be entering a surrogacy journey. You will be happy and lucky to have her on your team!

We were going through old papers and were delighted to find the same-sex second parent adoption work you did for us in 2003! Tricia and I planned her pregnancy using donor sperm and I needed to become a legal co-parent. This was when VT was the only state in the U.S. that recognized same-sex civil unions. You were amazing - you were a strong advocate in uncharted territory for us and for emerging LGBTQ family law in general. We had also never hired a lawyer before but you made it easy and safe! I will always remember 2003 in the courthouse when Tricia, 4 month old Julia, you, and I stood in front of the judge with stuffed animals surrounding us and I could breathe a huge sigh of relief as I legally became her other mother!

We moved to Tricia's home state a year later and my family came here over the next few years so Julia has grown up with her family surrounding her. She was the only child in elementary school with two same sex parents but she was well accepted - I like to think the 3 of us opened a lot of minds by our example. (We have a lot of funny lines that Julia got from cute little kids trying to explain her family to her LOL.) We were proud that Tricia eventually led the Girl Scout troop that everyone wanted to put their daughters in. And Julia has been exceptional in so many ways - earning academic awards, Girl Scout awards, sports achievements, and we are blessed that she is still close to us. Although I was sad that I was unable to have my own biological baby, I was so comforted and blessed to be a mother to Julia.

I thought you'd like to see what you helped create and hear how grateful we are to you (see how tall she is ha ha). I'm happy to see that you have helped so many other families grow and find joy like we have. THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for the best gift we have ever received.

Melissa's office was a pleasure to work with. They are efficient, caring and detail oriented. Our process was much smoother than expected.

Absolutely the most amazing experience working with Melissa and her team. No stone was left unturned. Extreme professionalism in everything they do from timely responses to phone calls and emails to getting every single piece of paper work done that we needed. They always followed up and made sure we had everything that we needed. I would recommend them 10 out of 10 times and cannot wait to work with them again.

If you are considering Surrogacy as either Intended Parents or a Surrogate, you will NEED Melissa Brisman on your side. She's a powerhouse in her field, and knows what she's doing. In my state, the Intended Parents couldn't go on the birth certificate - they would have to adopt their 100% biological child. Melissa petitioned the courts and set precedence! I was the first surrogate in my state who didn't have to go through an expensive adoption process post-birth - all because of Melissa. Her determination and attention to detail are incredible!

I've since met other surrogates in my state, and it's pretty cool to share this story and how it directly is going to affect them in such a positive way. If you are embarking on this journey, wouldn't YOU want the best player on the team? :)

My husband and I are a same-sex couple that went through two surrogacy journeys. Melissa was our lawyer to ensure that both of our children's birth certificates showed the legal parents as my husband and myself and no one else.

Melissa was professional and caring and made what could have been a very complicated process, very simple for us, including securing all of the required court orders to following up with the delivery hospital to make sure they understood and were on board with the situation when they were filling out the required paperwork.

Melissa had such a great reputation in this space that when agencies would find out that Melissa was representing us, they knew we were in good hands.

Bringing babes into this world is so stressful and emotional that it was comforting to have Melissa and her team on our side (we used her twice for that very reason)!

Melissa Brisman is hands down worth every penny as a Reproductive Lawyer. She is extremely responsive, detail oriented, passionate about helping her clients, and also charges A LOT LESS compared to other lawyers in New York!

She literally responds within 10-15 minutes of me emailing her, and is not focused on making money only. She is focused on the client and meeting all of their needs.

I give her top ratings, and would give her 10 stars out of 5 if I could!!!