The Modern Family Show: Advice On Starting Your Parenting Journey

Starting a family is an exciting and life-changing decision. However, for members of the LGBTQ+ community and those struggling with sub-fertility, the journey to get to that sought-after end goal can take a little more planning and preparation, share Modern Family Show founders Michael and Wes Johnson-Ellis, AKA TwoDadsUK, in their latest blog for myGwork.

Exploring the multiple pathways to parenthood can be overwhelming, but thankfully, there’s amazing community support tailored events like The Modern Family Show. This event, which we founded together, is an inclusive and safe space which will allow you to explore all of the options available to you. Identifying your needs is key to unlocking the right parenting journey for you. 

Deciding on which pathway to parenthood to choose can be daunting and is often guided by your personal needs. Nowadays, most people have an awareness of IVF and perhaps to a slightly lesser extent IUI. Fertility treatment of this nature has great outcomes but budget, pricing and sperm donations if needed should all be taken into consideration.

The Modern Family Show is proudly partnered with Pride Angels, an egg and sperm donation connection service. Pride Angels are dedicated to matching sperm donors, egg donors and co-parents, along with providing information and advice on health screening, fertility law and your fertility options. Sperm and egg donations also serve as great facilitators to those embarking on a surrogacy journey. Male gay couples may need a donor egg if their surrogate chooses not to use their own egg; or lesbian couples may need to source a sperm donation. 

When it comes to becoming a parent, there may be additional considerations and challenges for transgender parents-to-be. For the transgender and non-binary community the question of ‘Who can carry the pregnancy?’ may not be a straightforward decision. If a trans-man or someone assigned female at birth is able to carry a pregnancy, this choice shouldn’t always be assumed as default. 

Carrying a pregnancy can trigger complex feelings relating to gender dysphoria and may not align with how that person may wish to present to the world. Would-be transgender parents can be assured that there are multiple options and gentle advice surrounding banking eggs or sperm prior to medical transition or pausing the use of gender-affirming hormones during conception and gestation if carrying a pregnancy is a comfortable and viable option. 

In 2010, changes in UK law allowed same-sex couples to become legal parents of children born following a surrogacy journey - something that was previously not allowed and instead favored a lengthy adoption process and named the surrogate birthing the baby as the legal parent. The new law addressed this problem by allowing all couples who use a surrogate to apply for a parental order after the birth, regardless of their sexual orientation or marital status. Surrogacy is a brilliant pathway to parenthood with success rates and popularity in this method increasing exponentially. Although surrogacy is an ideal option - particularly for those suffering with fertility issues, cis-male couples and trans-men - there is a lot to navigate on a surrogacy journey. 

Surrogacy can be expensive, with an average cost of around £40k this can feel like a daunting and unobtainable ask for most couples and single parents. 

As founders of The Modern Family Show, we know all too well the intricacies and challenges related to surrogacy. We also know the joy it can bring too. Having become proud fathers to children via surrogacy we created a global surrogacy organization, called My Surrogacy Journey. My Surrogacy Journey will be an exhibitor at The Modern Family Show in September. We will also be there in-person to discuss our parenting journey and what surrogacy means to them. 

The Modern Family Show is inclusive and mindful of all gender expressions and designations ensuring that everyone feels catered to and welcomed. The diverse panel of speakers will ensure there will be topics covered to suit all hopeful-parents and journeys. Whether you are considering solo-parenting or co-parenting, IVF or Surrogacy The Modern Family Show is a great place to start exploring those options. Finding a place to connect and meet other families that look like the one you dream of for yourself is a truly empowering experience. 

The Modern Family Show pools the village you may need to kickstart your parenting journey under one roof helping to make the process a little more manageable and connecting you with like-minded individuals who have been through or are going through a similar journey. It is an educational family-building event set to take place this September in London. A show like no other, designed to safely guide and support the LGBTQ+ community to understand their options for wanting children. From surrogacy and IVF/IUI to adoption, fostering, egg/sperm donation and many more options there is something to suit every person and their individual needs. 

There will be several exhibitors, seminars and a panel to answer all of your burning questions. The Modern Family Show also has a handful of caring and empathetic sponsors such as: The Agora; Lane Fertility Institute; Herts & Essex Fertility Centre and many more - all of which are committed to ensuring everyone receives equitable care and support on their parenting journey. We look forward to seeing you there.

Tickets for The Modern Family Show are available through Eventbrite and are on sale now here. myGwork members will benefit from 15% off the ticket price, by using the discount code: MFS23MyGWork