The Surrogacy Lawyer Radio Program Presents: Teaming Up to Provide Emotional Support for Infertility Patients

SAN DIEGO, CA, March 24, 2011

The ability to conceive and have a healthy baby is one of life's greatest desires, so an infertility diagnosis is devastating to most couples and individuals trying to build a family. Establishing a strong support system is an integral component of the services an infertility clinic can provide to help its patients cope with the emotional turmoil of this disease.

On the next episode of The Surrogacy Lawyer: Your Guide to IVF and Third Party Family Building, Theresa Erickson, Esq., will be interviewing Carolyn Berger, LSCW, and Kristina Salvati-Block, Physician Assistant, who work together at New York Fertility Services/Batzofin Fertility Services in New York City. They will be talking about how they collaborate, under the direction of Medical Director Joel Batzofin, MD, FACOG, to provide an integrated emotional support safety net for patients undergoing treatment at their clinic. The program will air on Thursday, March 24 at 11AM PST/2PM EST on Voice America.

Carolyn Berger, LCSW, has been helping couples, singles and members of the LGBT community create families through fertility treatment and adoption for over two decades. Carolyn is Founding Board Chair of The American Fertility Association and received her MSW from New York University. She is a parent through both reproductive technology and adoption, and she writes and speaks widely on both ways of building families. Physician Assistant Kristina Salvati-Block never anticipated finding such a rewarding and challenging career in the infertility field when she completed her master's degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Kristina enjoys being part of every aspect of patient care, from drawing blood to performing and monitoring ultrasounds. She also performs IUIs, coordinates third party IVF cycles, and assists in egg retrievals and embryo transfers.

"There is no debate in the infertility field about whether infertility causes stress," says attorney Erickson. "But emotional support needs to be holistic and encompass every member of the care giving team. Mental health professionals and other clinicians need to work hand-in-hand to coordinate their efforts, like Carolyn Berger and Kristina Salvati-Block, to most effectively help their patients."

About Theresa Erickson, Esq.

Ms. Erickson is the managing partner of Erickson Law and the founder and chair of Conceptual Options, The Surrogacy and Egg Donation Center. In addition, Ms. Erickson is the author of the newly released Surrogacy and Embryo, Sperm & Egg Donation: What Were You Thinking? Erickson was motivated to write her second book so she could educate potential intended parents, as well as the women who become surrogates and egg donors, about what all parties need to know if they are going to become involved in third party reproduction.

Attorney Erickson is a globally recognized expert in this specialized area of law and is a Board Member of The American Fertility Association and the legal director of Parents Via Egg Donation. For more information, please visit www.ericksonlaw.net and www.conceptualoptions.com.