Illume Fertility Founder and Medical Director, Dr. Mark Leondires, Co-Authors the First All-Inclusive Guide to Donor Conception

BUILDING YOUR FAMILY: The Complete Guide to Donor Conception, available on November 14th from St. Martin's Essentials, guides readers through the medical and emotional aspects of becoming a parent through donor conception

NORWALK, Conn., Oct. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Illume Fertility, a leading modern fertility practice whose exceptional quality of care helps hopeful parents grow their families, has announced its founder and Medical Director, Dr. Mark Leondires, has co-authored the first all-inclusive guide for anyone who is exploring donor conception. BUILDING YOUR FAMILY: The Complete Guide to Donor Conception, on sale November 14th from St. Martin's Essentials, guides readers through the complex medical and emotional considerations of becoming a parent through donor conception with both expertise and empathy.

Co-authored with licensed clinical social worker Lisa Schuman, this compassionate and authoritative narrative helps hopeful parents-to-be find their way forward with confidence and joy. Both Leondires and Schuman have decades of experience working closely with patients who have chosen to use donated eggs, sperm, and embryos, as well as their own personal stories of growing their families through fertility treatment and non-genetic parenthood.

"BUILDING YOUR FAMILY is an all-in-one guide to donor conception," says Dr. Mark Leondires, Founder and Medical Director of Illume Fertility and LGBTQ+ resource hub Gay Parents To Be. "It not only demystifies an incredibly challenging process?for many, the most difficult process of their lives?but also inspires confidence that the journey will be a successful one, providing crucial education, support and encouragement every step of the way."

BUILDING YOUR FAMILY is broken down into three parts:

Transitioning to Donor Conception: Understanding what donor conception means?whether it be egg donation, sperm donation or embryo donation?and processing the emotions that may arise from deciding to pursue donor conception.
Choosing Your Donor: Medical considerations for donor gametes, understanding the difference between anonymous, open, and known donors, as well as balancing practical and emotional considerations. This section ends with a helpful five-step process that helps parents-to-be choose their donor.
Looking Ahead to Parenthood: Dealing with ethical and practical dilemmas, disclosing your child's genetic background to them, learning how to share your family's unique story, and managing the stress and other emotions that often arise through the process.
For more information and to pre-order the book today, visit BUILDING YOUR FAMILY: The Complete Guide to Donor Conception.

Building Your Family: The Complete Guide to Donor Conception
By Lisa Schuman, LCSW and Mark Leondires, MD
On-sale November 11, 2023 | St. Martin's Essentials | $30.00
ISBN 9781250868268 | 320 pgs
Also available in e-book format

About the Authors

DR. MARK LEONDIRES is the Founder and Medical Director at Illume Fertility and the Founder of Gay Parents To Be, a leading family-building resource for the LGBTQ+ community. Dr. Leondires resides in Connecticut with his partner and their two children.

LISA SCHUMAN is a family-building expert, award-winning researcher, and therapist. As the founding director of The Center for Family Building, and the host of the podcast Donor Conception Conversations, she guides people around the world as they navigate their unique path to parenthood. Ms. Schuman lives in Connecticut with her husband and three children.

About Illume Fertility
Illume Fertility, formerly RMA of Connecticut, is a leading modern fertility practice providing an exceptional patient experience, innovative care, and expertise to help patients achieve their fertility and family-building goals. Led by an award-winning team of eight highly credentialed Board Certified reproductive endocrinologists, many of whom have received Castle Connolly's prestigious Top Doc award, Illume Fertility specializes in a range of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) including intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), and preimplantation genetic testing (PGT). Illume Fertility's internationally-recognized Gay Parents To Be program specializes in LGBTQ+ family building. For the last six years, Illume Fertility has been recognized as a Leader in Healthcare Equality by the Human Rights Campaign. Illume Fertility is one of the largest fertility clinics and egg donation centers in the region, offering egg freezing, oncofertility preservation, and PCOS management, helping patients as young as 16. Illume Fertility is the only regional fertility clinic offering on-site holistic patient support services including nutrition counseling, acupuncture, and yoga.

Media Contact

Stacy Callahan, Illume Fertility, 917-972-1101, [email protected], https://www.illumefertility.com/

SOURCE Illume Fertility