Our Team

JENNIFER: FoundeR

Jennifer passed away on July 28th, 2023. Our team continues to honour her legacy of building families through surrogacy. Jennifer’s memorial page can be viewed here.

Jennifer was the Founder of JA Surrogacy, an industry-leading surrogacy consultancy that helps couples from around the world achieve their dreams of creating a family. She built JA Surrogacy with the mission of providing phenomenal, individualized support to the surrogates and intended parents on their surrogacy journeys. The mission is derived directly from the lived experience of personally undergoing five surrogacy journeys.

The unmeasurable joy Jennifer experienced in her own two pregnancies and creating her family, along with her husband Phil, became the basis for her first surrogacy journey. A journey that produced a beautiful baby for a family and showed Jennifer how fraught with uncertainty the surrogacy journey can be. The experience also showed her that it did not need to be as difficult and uncertain as it was. That there was the possibility of making the process of building families through surrogacy, easier, safer, and with greater clarity.

Jennifer was not a woman who sat back passively and knew she could bring change to the industry and security to parents and surrogates wanting to travel their own journeys. Leading passionately with her lived experience in surrogacy and a career as a clinician in the human services field, Jen built a team of heart-centred professionals to bring that change and security to fruition. Through Jennifer’s leadership, JA Surrogacy helped bring over 100 babies into this world and answered the hopes, dreams, and prayers of the parents, surrogates, and the villages surrounding them.

The JA Surrogacy Village continues to grow, and Jennifer will always be remembered as a compassionate leader who inspired change throughout the surrogacy industry with the creation of JA Surrogacy Canada. With her vision in mind, the JA team proudly carries on her legacy of building families.

Michelle: CEO And Director

Hi, I’m Michelle. I am a married mother of 6 and a Canadian gestational surrogate. I have carried five baby boys as a surrogate and completed my final journey in July 2019. Being a surrogate has been an amazing experience in my life and has enriched the lives of my entire family.

I first became involved with the world of third-party reproduction and surrogacy around 2008. Since then, I have learned quite a bit about the process and have been able to mentor many other surrogates along their journeys. I have also had the opportunity to support many women as a Doula in the areas of labour and birth, postpartum and fertility since 2013.

Some of my additional experience in the surrogacy community includes: lobbying to approximately 30 MPs in Ottawa as to why the current AHRA legislation needs updating, taking part in Health Canada’s round table discussions, having input into the proposed AHRA changes, and speaking about surrogacy to different groups all over the world.

I obtained my Business Administration in 1995 and Paralegal Diploma in 2001. I have been in the career of Office and Department Management since 2003. I am thankful that my path has brought me to this opportunity; to be part of the Canadian surrogate community and the JA Surrogacy village. 

Cherie: Surrogate Intake Lead

Hi, my name is Cherie. I’m the mother of three beautiful children with my incredibly supportive husband, and carried a beautiful little boy as a gestational surrogate. 

My background includes operating a daycare and working with children in various roles. I believe children learn what they see, and I hope to model the importance of kindness and helping others to my own kids. The impact and life lessons that came with witnessing my journey as a surrogate will stay with them for the rest of their lives. 

Pursuing surrogacy had always been a goal of mine once we completed our own family. After becoming a mom myself, I had a deep desire to help another woman become a mother. I believe in practicing what I preach, and pursuing this goal led me to join the village here at JA. My goal as the Surrogate Intake Lead is to help grow the surrogacy world, one family at a time.

Katie: Surrogate Support

Hello, I am Katie. I am the mother of two incredible, but wild, boys. I am also a gestational surrogate!

Surrogacy is something I have been passionate about since the moment I first learned about it. After watching some of the women closest to me struggle with infertility and then being able to witness someone else’s surrogacy journey - I knew that this was exactly what I needed to do! In March of 2019 I signed up for my first surrogacy journey through JA and I have been so passionate about it ever since.

My goal as Surrogate Support is to create a safe place for all surrogates. I want to be your greatest cheerleader and your shoulder to cry on. I want to help guide our surrogates throughout their journey as smoothly as possible.

I am extremely grateful to be joining the JA village as a Surrogate Support Worker and to take everything I have learned and use it to help others learn and enjoy the process!

Jeremy: Surrogate Partner Support

Hi, my name is Jeremy. I am the proud father of two amazing children and the Surrogate Partner Support at JA Surrogacy Consulting.

I have been in the roofing industry for just over a decade now and was introduced to surrogacy through my wife. It was always something she had wanted to do growing up so we decided to begin our first journey in 2018. Surrogacy is such a beautiful selfless gift. There is no better feeling than seeing the intended parent hold their baby for the first time! Those who choose to move forward on these journeys, both as surrogates or intended parents, are truly remarkable.

My role at JA is to be a support route for the partners of any surrogate that may need it, and to help answer any questions they may have when first considering a journey. I am extremely grateful to be a part of such an amazing community.

Krista: Intended Parent Support

Hi, my name is Krista. I live with my husband, our two amazing kids, two dogs, and four chickens! I’m a lover of all animals, playing roller derby, food, and music.

I’ve been an Emergency Nurse for 15 years and I’m a two-time surrogate. These experiences have helped me gain a greater understanding of communication, empathy, and team work.

My time as a surrogate led me to see what a large and amazing surrogacy community there is in Canada. It has also been an opportunity for me to learn more about the many obstacles people can face when trying to become parents. I have been searching for a way I could contribute, give back, and be a beacon of light on a road that isn’t always easy to navigate.

I’m excited for my role here at JA Surrogacy as Intended Parent Support. I’ll be your shoulder to cry on, as well as your greatest cheerleader throughout your journey. I have a passion for helping people and look forward to guiding our intended parents through the process as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

Danica: Intended Parent Support

Hi I’m Danica, a wife and mother to Irish Twins who are just 11.5 months apart. 

In early 2018, I began looking into surrogacy and immediately became intrigued. I signed up to be a surrogate and 2 years later, delivered my first surrogate baby. The immense sense of gratitude I felt to be involved in such a monumental part of someone’s life, along with an incredible sense of accomplishment after birth, has led me onto another journey as a gestational surrogate.

My previous work experience in Operations and Human Resources has given me the tools to effectively communicate and connect with people in all walks of life. My experience as a wife and a mother has conditioned my heart to be a protector, and a friend. 

I am so pleased to join the team at JA as an Intended Parent Support Specialist and feel eternally grateful to be working with an incredible team, and in an industry I feel so passionately about. 

Linsay: Administration Manager

Hi there, I’m Linsay. I’m a mom of two beautiful teenage girls and the Administration Manager here at JA Surrogacy Consulting. 

I’ve known I was meant to be a surrogate ever since I first learned what it was. As an adoptee myself, I always felt called to give back and help someone who was struggling with infertility. In 2014, after having connected with an agency via social media, I went through my first surrogacy journey with a couple who’d struggled for several years. Witnessing the changes in my intended mother and father after the arrival of their son was a privilege and felt nothing short of miraculous.

 After going through this journey and witnessing those of my fellow surrogates, I felt drawn towards working with the LGBTQ community. My second and third journeys were with the same couple, who are now busy dads to a son and a daughter. I’m also proud to be part of my local Pride committee, helping organize Pride events every year in my hometown. 

 Historically, couples often struggled in silence trying to have a family. I’m both honoured and humbled to be in a position to break that silence and help, not only as a surrogate and a passionate advocate for alternative family building and LGBT rights, but now also in my role as Administration Manager. I’m excited to be able to work directly with surrogates and intended parents as their journeys progress. Having had both agency and independent journeys myself, I recognized a dire need for change within the industry. I fully believe in the integrity of the program here at JA Surrogacy, and I am so proud to join this incredible village!

darryl: Business Advisor

My name is Darryl and I am the Business Advisor for JA Surrogacy Consulting.

Professionally, I have worked in diverse settings such as financial services, the professional sports industry, leadership roles and in the not-for-profit sector. Most recently, I found my passion in business development and the role businesses have to help better the community. My academic background includes a Bachelor of Management degree from the University of Lethbridge and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Calgary, specializing in Finance.

While I do not have children of my own, I have always been a family first person. I am excited at the opportunity to help grow and develop JA Surrogacy Consulting into an industry leader that maintains the family first vision with integrity. As I learn more about surrogacy, my admiration for dedicated surrogates increases and I love to hear about each family’s dream coming true.

My role with JA is to work with the incredible team to help build a business structure that is efficient, sustainable and able to make more dreams become a reality. I am thrilled to be part of a team that helps to unite families and build a stronger village.

Kim: Accountant

Hi, I’m Kim! I am happy to be joining the team as JA’s Accountant.

I have over 20 years of experience in the field of finance. During my career, I have worked as a bookkeeper, a payroll administrator, and additionally have spent time in the roles of Human Resources and Management. I have such admiration for surrogates and the impact they have.

My goal here at JA is to manage the finance department and to ensure the staff and surrogates have the support they need in this area.

Larissa: Surrogacy Educator

Hello, my name is Larissa. My husband and I have been married for almost 18 years! I am a Mom to a baby girl in Heaven, she passed away to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome when she was 25 days old. I also have four boys. They are almost 16, 14, 12 and a half and 11 years old. 

I have wanted to be a surrogate for at least 12 years, if not longer. I enjoyed being pregnant and giving birth. Knowing what it feels like to lose a baby increased my desire to be a surrogate to help people that can't have a baby the traditional way.

My surrogacy journey started in November 2021. I finally decided to sign up with JA Surrogacy Canada and am currently matched with a wonderful couple. I am very open to sharing my surrogacy journey on social media! 

I would love to help other women decide to become a surrogate. If you have any questions please reach out to me. If I can't answer a question, I will get the answer for you as soon as I can. 

I am excited to be joining the JA crew! And can't wait to get to help other women help people make families!