With IP Inclusive and the IP Non-traditional Family Network, explore non-traditional families, the routes to parenthood for LGBTQ+ people and related legal challenges, as well as the panel's personal experiences.
The panel discussion will start promptly at 19:00 and will last approximately 1 hour, including a Q&A session with the in-person and virtual audience.
For those attending in-person, audience registration will commence at 18:30 and there will be the opportunity to stay for some networking drinks after the panel discussion finishes.
For those joining remotely, a Zoom link will be provided to you at a later date and the event will start at 19:00.
At the point of registering for the event, there will be an opportunity to make a donation for our chosen charity, Mermaids. Mermaids supports transgender, non-binary, and gender-diverse children and young people until their 20th birthday, as well as their families and professionals involved in their care.
You may also donate directly here, if you prefer. All donations would be gratefully received.
Book nowMeet your speakers
Professor Susan Golombok
Susan is Professor Emerita of Family Research and former Director of the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge.
Her research examines the impact of new family forms on parenting and child development, specifically lesbian mother families, gay father families, single mothers by choice and families created by assisted reproductive technologies including in vitro fertilisation (IVF), donor insemination, egg donation and surrogacy.
Her research has not only challenged commonly held assumptions about these families but also has contested widely held theories of child development by demonstrating that structural aspects of the family, such as the number, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and genetic relatedness of parents, is less important for children’s psychological wellbeing than the quality of family relationships.
Susan has recently released her book, “We Are Family: what really matters for parents and children” in paperback, which questions whether family structure as an impact on parenting and child development.
Natalie Gamble
Natalie is the co-founder of the UK’s first specialist fertility law firm NGA Law and the leading non-profit surrogacy agency Brilliant Beginnings.
Her team have been responsible for many of the leading cases which have shaped UK surrogacy law, and are prominent campaigners for progressive reform, winning numerous changes to the law to the benefit of modern families and LGBTQ+ parents.
Natalie has been named in the Independent on Sunday's Pink List and as the Times Lawyer of the Week, and nominated for Stonewall’s Hero of the Year Award.
Natalie is often interviewed by the BBC and in the national press, and is a regular voice on the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme and Woman's Hour.
Triona Desmond
Triona is a Senior Trade Mark Attorney at Pinsent Masons and a committee member of our very own IP Out Network.
Triona has a young son, whom she co-parents with her wife and a gay male couple, and has personal experience facing the complexities and difficulties of the legal system in terms of recognising legal parenthood for her son.
Triona is a Stonewall Education Role Model and has spoken at conferences and events regarding LGBT+ issues.
Moderator: Conor Wilman (Dehns)
Host: Carpmaels & Ransford
Please do not attend the event in person if you or anyone you live with has recently received a positive test for COVID-19 and/or is showing any related symptoms.
We encourage all those attending to take a lateral flow test on the day of attendance, regardless of vaccination status, to provide some peace of mind for all attendees.
