Taffet@DallasVoice.com<\/a><\/p>\n
As LGBTQ+ family-building becomes more common, the options for creating a family have become more complex. One new national organization \u2014 GWK Academy \u2014 works with several partner organizations and specialists presents all the options. Now, GWK Academy is bringing its Path to Parenthood Roadshow to the Interfaith Peace Chapel at Cathedral of Hope from 6-9 p.m. on Sept. 16.<\/p>\n
For anyone wondering where to begin in building a family, this event is a good place to start. Among the presenters will be Brian Rosenberg, who created Gays With Kids and the GWK Academy, and Kristen Hanson of Simple Surrogacy, a Dallas-based agency that\u2019s the oldest surrogacy organization in Texas.<\/p>\n
Gays With Kids
Brian Rosenberg created Gays With Kids as an organization for gay men with kids to tell their stories to other gay men planning to have children. If his name\u2019s familiar, you may have seen him on The Today Show earlier this month.<\/p>\n
\u201cI launched Gays With Kids after we became parents,\u201d Rosenberg said of himself and his husband, Ferd. \u201cWe didn\u2019t feel confident about anything. We came out of meetings with more questions than before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rosenberg explained their son came to them through adoption, but his twin girls were the result of surrogacy \u2014 something Rosenberg thought wouldn\u2019t be an option to him, because he\u2019s HIV-positive. But surrogacy with a poz dad can be done safely for the women carrying the pregnancy, he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we started with, \u2018We\u2019ll tell stories,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cAs many stories as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
They launched their storytelling project in 2014 and inspired people and changed hearts and minds, he said.<\/p>\n
The stories described how each individual or couple became a parent to help others thinking about parenting make informed decisions about traditional adoption, foster to adopt, surrogacy, in vitro fertilization and other donor conception options.<\/p>\n
After its inception in 2014, GWK was getting 10-to-12 new members a month and making money by getting referral fees from agencies. That led to creating the academy.<\/p>\n
Stories are important, but Rosenberg said they wanted to teach LGBTQ+ people, step-by-step, how to become parents \u2014 using every available option.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Stephanie-Scott.jpg\")
Simple Surrogacy founder Stephanie Scott<\/p>\n
They applied for their nonprofit status, which was granted last year. And they made another decision: To reach as many people as possible, the classes would be free, and they\u2019d stop taking referral fees.<\/p>\n
They also expanded their mission from is focus of helping gay men have children to helping all LGBTQ+ people wanting to become oparents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe now have courses for queer women,\u201d Rosenberg said. \u201cWe have a trans dad who does coaching calls.\u201d<\/p>\n
And they\u2019re now adding 10 to 12 new members a week with funding coming from grants and major gifts as well as smaller donations they receive at events.<\/p>\n
Options for parenthood
Rosenberg said there are several options to grow a family, but where is the best place to start?<\/p>\n
\u201cI always thought I was going to be a dad,\u201d he said. But after he was diagnosed as HIV-positive in the 1990s, he thought his dream had become impossible. But by 1997, HIV had become a manageable condition. And by 1999, Rosenberg had started thinking about becoming a parent again.<\/p>\n
He and Ferd became dads in 2009.<\/p>\n
Gays With Kids is partnering with the national organization Family Equality, which lists Gays With Kids as a family-building partner, he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now we have good laws governing surrogacy and adoption, but they\u2019re under attack,\u201d he said, \u201cespecially in red states.\u201d The Texas Senate held hearings on the subject earlier this month, and the only speakers were people who oppose any form of surrogacy.<\/p>\n
As some advice to anyone planning to become a parent, Rosenberg said, \u201cIf you\u2019re not fully comfortable being a gay person, you better learn.\u201d LGBTQ+ parents are always coming out, he explained \u2014 to doctors, teachers and just about anyone else. And if you don\u2019t come out yourself, your kids will come out for you.<\/p>\n
Simple Surrogacy
One of the organizations participating in GWK Academy in Dallas is Simple Surrogacy, the oldest surrogacy organization in Texas and one of the largest. Company founder Stephanie Scott said about 95 percent of her clients are LGBTQ+. And they are part of every step in the process.<\/p>\n
First comes finding surrogates.<\/p>\n
\u201cSurrogates often find us,\u201d Scott said, although her company is on social media and advertises occasionally. Some come from referrals from other surrogates who\u2019ve had a good experience.<\/p>\n
The potential surrogate goes through a credit check, insurance reviews and interviews. If she has a spouse, the spouse must be supportive. She has to be in top shape medically, not be on anti-depressant meds and have a good body mass index. Another consideration is whether she can cover her own cost of living and whether she is on financial assistance, Scott said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want her in a stable home environment so she can focus on carrying the baby,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
She said that using a friend for your surrogate can be very successful because there\u2019s already a level of trust there \u2014 well, as long as the surrogate understands, \u201cThis is their baby, not mine. I\u2019m doing this to create someone else\u2019s family,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
And Simple Surrogacy provides counseling to help potential surrogates with that.<\/p>\n
Those considering surrogacy should make sure all the right legal documents are in place, including a gestational surrogacy agreement and a pre-birth order, which names the intended parents and puts both dads\u2019 names on the birth certificate without having to get a court order.<\/p>\n
Once eggs have been fertilized and implanted in the surrogate, the remaining eggs are stored for possible future use. Parents pay an annual storage fee.<\/p>\n
\u201cI counsel not to keep embryos forever,\u201d Scott said. \u201cI\u2019ve had numerous gay couples donating to other gay couples. Then those embryos get life.\u201d<\/p>\n
She noted that straight couples don\u2019t donate as frequently.<\/p>\n
While surrogates have to qualify before being chosen, potential parents must qualify as well. One condition of being chosen to be matched with a surrogate is that there must be a medical reason for hiring a surrogate.<\/p>\n
Being in a same-sex relationship would qualify. For women, an inability to get pregnant \u2014 having gone through menopause or having had a hysterectomy, for example, would qualify them. Risk factors increase with age, so a woman in her 40s would also qualify.<\/p>\n
For a trans man with female reproductive organs, there\u2019s a possibility of pregnancy. But the hormones taken might interfere with being able to get pregnant or maintain a pregnancy.
Scott said gay men taking testosterone may have fertility problems as well.<\/p>\n
But, she said, she won\u2019t take as a potential mother a woman who just doesn\u2019t want to ruin her figure with a pregnancy when she can ruin someone else\u2019s for the right price.<\/p>\n
At Simple Surrogacy, Scott said, they\u2019ll hold your hand through the process, adding that, \u201cEveryone who works at my agency has been through the program.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you\u2019d like to be a surrogate or have a child through surrogacy, reach out. They\u2019ll send you a guide to becoming a parent through surrogacy. Or meet someone from the agency at GWK Academy. Or visit the website: SimpleSurrogacy.com.<\/p>\n
Expect a background check. Scott said they won\u2019t work with intended parents who show up on the sex offender registry \u2014 and you\u2019d be surprised how many times that\u2019s happened. Then there\u2019s a psychological evaluation, a medical records review and a home visit.
And then, if you\u2019re chosen as a Simple Surrogacy client, expect to be pampered. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Gay-Parent-Magazine-cover.jpg\")
<\/p>\n