Who We Are
Sanford M. Benardo, Esq., Founder and President
Sanford M. Benardo has achieved global recognition within the legal and medical communities as an innovator in the fields of surrogate parenting and alternative family formation. For years, he has been a regular commentator on network, cable, and syndicated television programs regarding assisted reproduction and adoption, and has been quoted often in domestic and international print media. He has represented intended parents, gestational carriers, traditional carriers, egg donors, donor egg recipients, donor egg facilities, hospitals, adoption agencies, adoptive parents, and birth parents as part of his broad-based fertility law practice.
Mr. Benardo sits on the American Bar Association's Subcommittees on Reproductive and Genetic Technologies, Adoption, and Ethics, Professionalism and Grievance. He is a past member of the Bioethical Issues Committee and the Children and the Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association. Additionally, he is a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), the New England Fertility Society, and the Hastings Center for Bioethical Research. Mr. Benardo is also a board member and advisor to several philanthropic and research organizations dedicated to expanding reproductive rights and reproductive choice. He is a graduate of New York University and the Fordham University School of Law, where he was a member of the Fordham International Law Journal. He is admitted to the Bars of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the State of New York, and the United States District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
Herbert D. Friedman, Esq., Counsel
Herb Friedman is a highly regarded and nationally known adoption attorney with more than twenty five years of experience. He has helped Massachusetts families adopt more than eight hundred children throughout the United States and internationally. His oldest son is adopted from Latin America. He also provides evaluation and advice to couples and individuals with regard to the legal aspects of assisted reproduction. Herb is a founding and board member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and has published and spoken on adoption for many years. Herb received his B.A. from Cornell University, his Ph.D. in Management/Political Science from M.I.T., and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Ellen S. Glazer, LICSW, Surrogacy Coordinator
Ellen S. Glazer is a clinical social worker with more than twenty years experience helping people build and expand their families. She is the author or co-author of six books on reproductive medicine as well as articles that have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Conceive Magazine, Family Building, and other publications. Her books are: Without Child: Experiencing and Resolving Infertility (1988, co-authored with Dr. Susan Cooper), The Long Awaited Stork: A Guide to Parenting After Infertility (1990, revised 1998), Beyond Infertility: New Paths to Parenthood (1994, co-authored with Dr. Susan Cooper), Experiencing Infertility: Stories to Inform and Inspire (1998), Choosing Assisted Reproduction: Social, Emotional, and Ethical Considerations (1998), and most recently Having Your Baby Through Egg Donation (2005, co-authored with Evelina Sterling). This last publication was included among Library Journalās outstanding consumer health books of 2005. Ellen maintains a private practice in Newton, Massachusetts. She is a graduate of Simmons College, B.A., Northeastern University, M Ed. and Boston University School of Social Work, MSW.
Sharon Goldfarb, RN, MSN, FNP, Egg Donor Coordinator
Sharon Goldfarb is a registered nurse and a certified family nurse practitioner. Since 1989, her work in the medical field has been devoted to health education and womenās health, including gynecological and prenatal care. She was an associate professor at Columbia University from 1997 to 2002, and is currently a consultant with Goldfarb Health Options in Berkeley, California. After overcoming infertility issues herself, she is the mother of two. She received a B.A. from Oberlin College, and a B.S. and MN from Pace University.
Deborah Levy, Marketing and Outreach
Deborah has an extensive background in traditional and Internet marketing and earned her MBA at Columbia Business School. As a gay parent who benefited from IVF, she is committed to the concept of assisted fertility, especially as it applies to the gay community.
Katherine Benardo, Egg Donor / Gestational Carrier Program Manager
Kathy leads the pre-screening of our egg donor and gestational carrier candidates. She is actively involved in the matching process, as well as the administrative components of our donor cycles and surrogacies. Kathy received her BA from Smith College and an MA from New York University.
Relationship Managers
Spencer Billings Nineberg, LICSW
Spencer Billings Nineberg has had many years of personal and professional interest in family building and is herself the mother of eleven year old twins conceived through egg donation. She maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She graduated from York University (England) with a B.A. and undertook additional graduate work at Cambridge University. She received her Masters in Social Work from Smith College.
Allison Gold, MSW, LCSWR, Certified Psychoanalyst
Allison Gold has a private practice that focuses on infertility, reproductive choices, adoption and post adoption issues. She is a speaker at national conferences on adoption and infertility and gives educational workshops on child development and attachment. She is also an adoptive parent. She received her MSW from the New York University School of Social Work, and holds a post-masters certificate in comprehensive psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. Allison is a professional member of the National Association of Social Workers, the American Fertility Association, American Adoption Congress, Families with Children from China, the Parents League of New York and the Adoptive Parents Committee.
Robin Bernard, LMSW
Robin Bernard is Executive Director of Kin, Inc., an international adoption agency approved by New York State. In 1997, Robin founded Girls Global Education Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eradicating gender discrimination in education. GGEF currently supports the education of more than three hundred girls in twelve villages in rural China. Robin is an experienced licensed social worker and the adoptive parent of two young children. She received a Masters Degree from the Hunter College School of Social Work.
