Therapy Center of Philadelphia, in partnership with Philadelphia Family Pride, later this month will launch a new support group targeted at LGB women and transgender individuals considering becoming parents.
The eight-week program starts March 30, with weekly Monday-night meetings through May 18. Therapy Center offers psychotherapeutic services for women and transgender communities.
A similar support group geared towards cisgender men is in the works for the fall.
Stephanie Haynes, who was recently promoted to PFP executive director from her previous post as community coordinator — the first time PFP named an executive director — said the concept for the group emerged from member feedback.
“As part of our annual conference the last five years, we’ve included a session or two for prospective parents and gotten an excellent response each time. Offering this just once a year didn’t seem like enough; it gave people just a taste of what they needed, but not everything,” Haynes said. “Alison Gerig is director of the Therapy Center and a PFP member, and we had been looking at ways of working together, so we started thinking about a program for prospective parents.”
The group will be co-facilitated by Dr. Monique Walker and Julie Lipson. Cost is $240 per couple or $120 per individual for PFP members, or $320 per couple or $160 per individual non-members. PFP membership is $25 per year, and new members can join at phillyfamilypride.org.
The program will offer support and information, Haynes said.
“People can talk about where they’re at in the process, comparing notes on how things are going, challenges they’re facing. And then we’re going to also have speakers come in: an attorney to talk about legal issues, a fertility doctor to go over some medical issues. We’ll look at the basics of assisted reproduction, info about how to choose a donor, adoption options.”
Overseeing the launch of the group is among Haynes’ responsibilities in her new post as executive director.
Haynes has been a member of PFP for about six years. The community coordinator position was initially intended to put together the group’s newsletter, promote attendance at organization events and handle other tasks requested by the agency’s board.
“When I took over was really when social media took off, at least for our parent demographics, so a lot of what I did was promoting events through social media. I originally was writing and sending our print newsletter, but we’ve now converted it to an email newsletter. I worked on redoing the website to a more user-friendly site,” she said. “The community coordinator position wasn’t so much a leadership role but more kind of a ‘worker-bee’ position, with the board having primary responsibility for the activities of the organization.”
Over time, Haynes noted, the concept of a dedicated leadership position arose naturally through her work.
“I had evolved into the position where I got down how to do the newsletter and our social-media strategy, and we started our annual conference, which now takes a good deal of my time during the year. And as I got to know more people in the LGBT community, and my ability to build coalitions and partnerships with other groups grew, I think the board recognized that my role has morphed into that of an executive director. It’s basically the job I was doing anyway and they wanted to recognize that with the title to match the job.”
Looking ahead, Haynes said she’s eager to help lead PFP through its next phase of development, as it continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of its 150 member families.
“We’ve heard from our members, and we know as LGBT parents ourselves, that the needs are changing. The more marriage equality is passing and the more acceptance we have in our communities and our kids’ schools, people’s needs aren’t quite to find and connect with other families anymore. Before, we had been mostly providing social events, but we want to establish new partnerships to expand our conference, launch ongoing educational programs and support groups. There are more specific needs we want to try to meet.”
When it voted Haynes in as director at its Jan. 1 brunch, PFP also approved its 2015 board of directors.
Robin Matthews returns for her second year as board chair, with Sandra Telep in her second year as vice chair. Other board leaders include treasurer Andreah Sanders, education and advocacy committee chair Bryn Berchok, membership committee chair Tracy Smith and fundraising chair Kelly Durand.
New members include secretary Gregory Girdy, member-at-large Sandy Gilardi and youth-planning committee chair Yoel Solis.
For more information about the new parenting group or to register, call Therapy Center of Philadelphia at 215-567-1111.
