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Welcome to Gay Dads New South Wales
Ongoing and Upcoming Events
August, 2006 update RSVPs are required for all group
events. For more details about any of the ongoing or events below,
or to RSVP, please contact us. Upcoming
Events
- Gay Dads Dinner and Drinks
- Monday Aug 21 from 7pm at The Courthouse Hotel, Australia St,
Newtown
- Fathers Day Picnic -
Saturday Sept 2 from 2-5pm in Centennial Park. Email for more
details.
- Rainbow Babies 3 Conference–
Weekend Conference in Melbourne on Gay Parenting - Sept 16 & 17 at
The Centre in Ivanhoe, Melbourne.
- Gay dads NSW Info Night –
Monday Sept 25 form 6.45pm at The Twenty10 Office, 43 Bedford St,
Newtown
Members Ongoing Events
- Gay Dads Dinner and Drinks
are held every 2 months on a Monday night or Sunday evening
- Information Nights –
three info nights are organised each year. They are usually held
on Monday nights featuring guest speakers on relevant topics
Children’s Ongoing Events
- Gay Dads NSW Kids Playgroup
meets the first Wednesday of each month from 10 -12pm
- Rainbow Babies and Kids picnics
are held the first Sunday of each month from 10 - 1pm
- GDAY – Gay dads And their Young
- get together the last Sunday of each month for an
adventure to places like the Powerhouse Museum, Rock Climbing,
etc
Group Dinners and Drinks –
Social dinners are organised every couple of months. It is always
very relaxed and friendly. Each time we meet we are joined by new
dads or men hoping to be dads, so feel free to join us. Invites are
normally posted on the online forums, emailed and included on this
website a few weeks in advance. Picnic
Days – Picnics are organised for group members and
their children twice a year. We are in the process of
organising more age-based appropriate social events for the
children to play and make friends, helping them build a peer
group of friends in similar family environments. The first
product of this is KIDS PLAYGROUP for pre-school children.
The GDAY (Gay Dads and their
Young) group organise monthly events for kids also. For more info at
the GDAY group email Reymon:
monny_l@bigpond.com Kids Playgroup
– The group has been organised for pre –school children to
meet on the first Wednesday of each month. We usually meet at
the playground behind the restaurant and café in Centennial
Park.
Information Nights - The info
nights feature gay dads and expert guest speakers. Gay dads share
their personal accounts of fatherhood, and guest speakers, experts
in their chosen field, who share knowledge and information. The
aim of these nights is to offer valuable information to all
gay parents as well as intending gay parents in order that
we be well informed about the choices we make for our
children. Invites are normally posted on the online
forums, emailed and included on this website a few weeks in
advance. Past Info Night programs
On April 3, 2006, we hosted our first info night of the
year.
First speaker, Gary Hampton - Gay Dads Group member
discussed his experiences of fatherhood as a co-parent
Al Marshall - Gay Dads Group member discussed his
experiences of fatherhood using a surrogate mum. Paul
Bowers, Family Law Specialist, spoke on the legal
aspects of co-parenting and surrogacy. Paul is a
solicitor in private practice with a specialist family law
firm, Dimocks Family Lawyers. He volunteers at the Inner
City Legal Centre at Darlinghurst, a free community legal
advice service. Paul have been in practice for 15 years,
and is an accredited family law specialist and an accredited
mediator. Previously he has worked for the Legal Aid
Commission of NSW, and as a Registrar of the Family Court of
Australia at Melbourne and Sydney. Paul will speak and
answer questions surrounding donor/co-parenting and
surrogacy issues such as:
- options for gay male couples
wanting to start their own family
- legal mechanisms you may need to
go through to achieve this
- who is a legal parent
- who has legal parental
responsibility
Dr Kim Bergman, the current co-chair of Family Pride &
co-owner of Growing Generations, US based agency helping gay men
achieve fatherhood via surrogacy. Dr. Bergman is also a co-owner
of Growing Generations LLC and Fertility Futures
International. Founded in 1996, Growing Generations is the
oldest and largest surrogacy and egg donation firm
dedicated to assisting members of the gay and lesbian
community achieve their dreams of parenthood. Fertility
Futures International is dedicated to providing its
clients with the highest standard of care in serving all
individuals seeking assistance with fertility issues.
Kim will speak about the options available, costs and
practicalities for gay men seeking to be parents via surrogacy
and/or egg donation. On June 19, we hosted our second info
night of the year.
Firstly, Ian & Robert King-Brown – fathers of 2 children
adopted in the UK, who now reside in Sydney, will speak of their
exp. of legally adopting children as gay men in the UK.
Also, Anthony Brien - father of 2 children from a previous
relationship, will speak of his experiences of fatherhood as a once
married man who came out and then had to navigate his way to a happy
life as a gay man with children. Our second half of the
evening, we CONFRONT the subject of COMBATTING HOMOPHOBIA
IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS.
Presenters at a conference, which attracted media attention
recently, ANTHONY SEMANN, Manager of Children & Family Services
for Marrickville Council and MIRIAM GUIGNI, teacher at the
Tillman Park Childcare Centre will speak. Just last week
Marrickville Council was in the midst of “controversial” debate
about the visibility and proactive approach it takes to validate
lesbian and gay parents.
Anthony and Miriam will discuss their approach in tackling
homophobia with children and adults, and their dreams to create a
more inclusive and accepting community. The final speaker,
Janet Walker, Assistant Principal at Newtown Public
School,
will discuss the school’s proactive approach to ensuring
that all children,
some of whom have gay parents, are welcomed and supported
at all times.
Janet will give examples of those policies in practice.
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