Legacy Planning in the Age of Assisted Reproduction
Expert Education and Support for Family Offices, Attorneys & Financial Advisors
Ensuring Peace of Mind, Continuity of Family Systems & Generational Wealth Preservation in the Age of Medically Assisted Family Building
By the numbers
Assisted reproduction is moving rapidly into the mainstream of long-term family planning.
Reproductive decisions are legacy decisions.
See how IVF Advisory supports family offices →For families focused on thoughtful multigenerational planning, conversations surrounding IVF, preserved embryos, and donated genetic material are not simply reproductive decisions — they’re legacy decisions. Ownership of embryos in divorce, heirship and posthumous children after death, conflicting medical consent forms and estate planning documentation: these are often overlooked until problems arise.
This creates a unique opportunity for the modern family office to offer cutting-edge education and advice on issues affecting current and future generations, while providing a confidential forum for deeply personal conversation around infertility and alternative family building. Education is an integral component to legacy planning. Together, we can help family members recognize when reproductive decisions intersect with current and future legal documents, generational succession planning, and long-term family goals.
How IVF Advisory Supports the Modern Family Office
Modern Family Offices recognize the fact that medical advances are increasingly changing the landscape of family building.
IVF Advisory bridges the informational gap surrounding infertility and assisted reproduction, helping families address increasingly complex concerns among generations and family systems.
01 Next Gen Education Private, practical education for individuals and families navigating the unique issues presented by medically assisted reproduction. Explore service
IVF Advisory helps family members understand the decisions that can arise when fertility treatment, preserved genetic material, donor conception, surrogacy, divorce, and estate planning intersect.
The goal is not to turn families into fertility-law experts. It is to help them recognize consequential decisions early, understand the questions that should be asked, and involve the right advisors before an issue becomes a dispute.
Explore sample NexGen educational topics
We’re creating and freezing embryos to build our family. What maintenance and disposition decisions will we be asked to make before our embryos are created? What happens when our family is complete and embryos remain in long-term storage? Should those decisions be revisited as our family circumstances and estate plan evolve?
We’ve decided to use a sperm donor to build our family. Should the donor and intended parents enter into a written agreement? Should the parties have independent legal counsel? How can donor-conceived children be thoughtfully incorporated into the family’s estate plan and generational wealth-transfer structure?
I’m unable to carry a pregnancy and am considering a gestational carrier. Where do I begin? How do I identify experienced medical and legal professionals? What questions should I ask before treatment begins? What legal protections should be in place to establish parentage and protect everyone involved throughout the journey?
We’re getting divorced and have frozen embryos. We signed fertility consent forms years ago and cannot remember the decisions we made. What do those documents say about ownership, use, and disposition? What happens if both spouses want control of the embryos, or disagree about their future?
What happens to our frozen embryos or reproductive material after death? Who has decision-making authority? Do existing clinic consent forms and storage agreements address death? How do those decisions interact with the estate plan, and who succeeds to decision-making authority when the original account holder is gone?
02 Facilitated Family Conversations Infertility affects approximately one in four families. It poses a growing, often silent, concern among younger generations who desire a family, but also touches family members who care for them. Explore service
IVF Advisory provides a knowledgeable, neutral forum for opening and facilitating thoughtful conversations surrounding infertility, fertility preservation, assisted reproduction, and modern family building.
Programming can be incorporated into family meetings, Next Gen education, retreats, or individualized family office programming.
03 Issue-Spotting Support for Family Office Teams Specialized knowledge that complements the family’s existing advisory team. Explore service
IVF Advisory helps family office professionals recognize reproductive-planning issues early and identify when specialized legal, medical, estate-planning, or other professional guidance may be appropriate.
The objective is to help ensure that each fertility journey is thoughtfully integrated with the family’s broader legacy, estate, and family-governance planning.
04 Medical Consent Documents & Ownership Review Understanding what was signed and what it means today. Explore service
Fertility treatment can generate years of successive documentation across clinics, storage facilities, donor programs, agencies, and legal professionals. Patients may not remember the decisions reflected in each form. A dedicated review before a dispute arises can help prevent future confusion while creating an opportunity to reassess prior choices in light of current life circumstances.
IVF Advisory can assist with the collection and analysis of:
- Fertility consent forms
- Embryo and gamete storage agreements
- Donor agreements
- Gestational carrier agreements
- Disposition elections
- Related contracts and amendments
This review can be especially valuable when questions arise concerning ownership, disposition, decision-making authority, or chain of title in divorce and after death.
05 Ongoing Education in a Rapidly Evolving Field Reproductive medicine continues to advance, and the legal landscape does not always evolve at the same pace. Explore service
IVF Advisory provides ongoing educational updates to help family office professionals recognize emerging issues, understand developing legal and planning considerations, and better support the modern families they serve.
Cutting Edge Legal Solutions for the Modern Practitioner
Helping Your Clients Plan for the Future of their Frozen Embryos and Genetic Material
Education and Guidance for Estate Planning Attorneys +
Frozen embryos are often overlooked in a comprehensive asset listing, but they’re arguably your clients’ most precious and emotionally charged asset. IVF Advisory helps estate planning attorneys spot the issues, understand nuanced terminology, and gather information to confidently navigate the legal landscape surrounding IVF and collaborative reproduction.Together, we can ensure your clients’ maintenance and disposition wishes for their frozen embryos are legally addressed upon death — helping avoid confusion and disputes after death.
Let’s Discuss Your CaseNavigating Frozen Embryo Disputes in Divorce +
Heightened emotions are common in divorce proceedings, especially when the prospect of embryo ownership is at issue. Many considerations play into embryo ownership rights when a couple divorces. Conflicting IVF clinic and cryobank consent forms, state-law driven legal authority, unique life circumstances and wishes of the parties are all paramount considerations in the courtroom. IVF Advisory specializes in tracking chain of ownership, consent form timelines, and state specific laws to support family law practitioners issue spot, formulate comprehensive legal theories, and skillfully represent their clients.
Let’s Discuss Your Case
Ashley W. Pittman, J.D., LL.M.
Founded by Ashley W. Pittman, J.D., LL.M, a fertility lawyer who has built her career at the intersection of assisted reproduction law and high-net-worth estate planning, IVF Advisory helps professional teams spot the issues, gather the right documentation, and construct sound legal solutions addressing nuanced considerations in modern family building. IVF Advisory partners with family offices, attorneys, and wealth advisory teams to bring reproductive planning into the multigenerational estate planning conversation.
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