February 20 – 22, 2026
The Pride Center at Equality Park
In a world where becoming a parent is still treated as a privilege rather than a right, thousands of gay men who long to have children must navigate a maze of legal, medical, and financial barriers just to build the families of their dreams. Men Having Babies (MHB) — a nonprofit organization made up of gay dads, former surrogates, and dedicated community allies — exists to change that reality, offering practical, life-changing resources to dads-to-be around the world.
This February, the organization returns to South Florida with its renowned Surrogacy Conference & Expo, a groundbreaking event that has helped launch the journeys to parenthood of thousands of gay fathers over the past decade.
“Given the challenges of surrogacy parenting, including the fact that costs are rising, we’re creating an immersive experience where you can understand some of the variants of options you’ve got and how they might be suitable for you,” said MHB Executive Director Ron Poole-Dayan.
Attendees will have the opportunity to interact and consult with gay dads, experts, and more than 20 reputable gay-friendly agencies, clinics, law firms, and other surrogacy providers.
“You’ve seen Elton John or whoever so you know that it’s possible but is this something that laymen can do?,” Poole-Dayan said of questions that bring people to the conference. “Our conferences and our resources take a complex issue that would certainly seem overwhelming if you tried Google or even ChatGPT. People find it incredibly empowering and inspiring to hear personal stories. We have a panel where we offer the best perspectives of the surrogate, egg donor, parents, and children born through surrogacy. These are not the kind of experiences you can have digitally.”
The agenda includes:
- The basics: medical, legal, ethical, and financial aspects of surrogacy
- Budgeting and insurance considerations for surrogacy
- MHB’s member resources, discounts, and financial assistance
- Guidance on MHB’s Surrogacy Advisor cost comparison tools
- Perspectives panel with parents, surrogates, and egg donors
- Workshop for prospective single gay dads
As well as the new elements:
- Ethical surrogacy options in Mexico City
- Independent and modular surrogacy tracks
- Benefits at work session
Poole-Dayan has a personal understanding of what people need to know as he and his husband, Greg, are parents to 25-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. He was one of the members of a peer support network for biological gay fathers and fathers-to-be that began in the New York City LGBT Center in 2005 before it evolved into MHB in 2012. That organization has developed similar programs in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Atlanta, Tel Aviv, Taipei, Berlin, and Brussels.
“We just recently added a panel about what we call modular and independent surrogacy,” Poole-Dayan said of the benefits of the expanded three-day format. “This gives people guidance about how they could perhaps go through this process without the help of a full-service agency by putting some of the pieces together and doing some of the coordination on their own. Perhaps they possibly match with an egg donor who is a friend or family.”
Also new this year is a session making attendees aware of the possibility of accessing workplace benefits for family building.
“There is a growing number of employers who are able to and who are actually willing to provide family building benefits and it can be quite extensive,” he reported. “In Florida, Disney offers more than $75,000 in family building benefits. We have a directory of employers and a toolkit for how to advocate for these benefits if your employer does not provide them.”
MHB has also expanded its offerings for single dads. Poole-Dayan noticed the trend about six years ago and today 15-20% of attendees are single men. The panel in Fort Lauderdale will feature one father that went through the process, as well as someone involved in facilitating this and able to provide some of the answers.
“Single dads first and foremost face, on average, even the higher financial challenge, so that is obviously one aspect of it,” Poole-Dayan noted. “The other one is, of course, people who are concerned about the resources that they will need for support throughout this challenging journey and after the child is born. The third thing people are thinking about is how that would affect their prospects of eventually finding a partner. One thing we found is that, at least in the gay community, single fathers are not finding it as challenging to continue to date because there’s less of concern about who is the biological father, To some extent, people sometimes appreciate the level of empowerment, independence, and resolution you have to have to go about it on your own.”
While there are more associations and professional support groups for gay men taking the journey to parenting, Poole-Dayan stressed there are some key points to consider.
“First, we need to make sure that they are both ready and proud about creating a family with the help of a surrogate and raising a child without a female parent, and confident that they can provide everything the child needs and then some. The second is whether they have the financial resources, and we even have five main ways you can safely save costs with tips about things you should never cut corners on. Third, you need to understand that the surrogacy process itself is a relationship-oriented process and the surrogates are not service providers. She wants to get the full personal experience of helping somebody go through this process and you need to understand that.”
The event is held at The Pride Center at Equality Park February 20 – 22, 2026 and admission to the full three-day conference and expo is $20 per person.
“Our conference is structured in such a way attendees should be able to answer the most fundamental questions,” Poole-Dayan summarized. “How is surrogacy done? Can it be done ethically and in a safe way? Does it suit my risk tolerance profile? We have a session called ‘The Broader Context for Gay Parenting and Surrogacy’ where we dive into the vast research associated with surrogacy and gay parenting in order to both reassure as well as focus people on what it entails to do this safely and ethically.”
