Intersectionality between Immigration & Fertility Law
WHEN
Live webinar September 24, 2020 @ 12:00 PM EST
OR available available video recording
INSTRUCTORS
Chantal Desloges &
Sherry Levitan
DURATION
3 hours
SUMMARY: This course involves a joint discussion by two experts in the immigration law and fertility law fields regarding the intersectionality of both disciplines in immigration client cases. Following an overview of reproductive technology services and parentage rules in Canada, the instructors will cover a number of topics that discuss the impact of a person’s immigration status on the birth process, surrogacy, in vitro fertilization and adoption. Specific case studies will be discussed as well as ethical issues that arise in the intersection of these two important areas of law.
- Reproductive technology services in Canada
- Federal laws with regard to assisted reproduction
- Medical costs and responsibilities
- Parentage rules in Canada and the post birth process
- Immigration challenges involved in surrogacy, in vitro fertilization and egg donation
- Jurisdictional issues regarding the child’s birthplace
- Entry into Canada for the child’s birth – hospital process, support from Global Affairs
- COVID effects on the process
- New citizenship rules for non-biological children of a Canadian parent
- Sponsorship process for non-biological children of permanent resident parents
- Immigration challenges involved in international adoption cases
- Two case study scenarios
- Ethical issues What to do if you suspect an adoption of convenience
CPD CREDITS
For Lawyers and Paralegals
Law Society of Ontario
• Substantive Hours: This program is eligible for up to 3 hour
Law Society of British Columbia
• Approved for 3 CPD credits
Law Society of Saskatchewan
• Approved for 3 CPD hours including 30 mins of ethics
Law Societies of Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia
• For members of these Law Societies, consider including this course as a CPD learning activity in your mandatory annual requirements
For Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants
Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council
• Approved for 3 CPD hours
• Video recording valid until November 24, 2020
Purchasing Options
Single Course
$90
Includes
• Access to the course materials
• Possibility to download and watch the webinar
Your Instructors
Sherry Levitan
Barrister & Solicitor
Fertility Lawyer
Sherry Levitan was one of the original pioneers in the field of third party reproductive law and is now recognized as the leading surrogacy and fertility lawyer in Canada. After graduating from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1984, she was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1986 and has been doing fertility and surrogacy law since 1991. Her law practice is exclusively devoted to the highly specialized area.
Sherry regularly acts on behalf of intended parents who are trying to achieve a pregnancy with the assistance of sperm donors, ovum donors, embryo donors or surrogates, and has also represented donors surrogates. Over the past 25+ years, she has worked on over 2,500 surrogacy agreements and more than 1,500 egg donation agreements.
Sherry is frequently asked to provide insight and context regarding surrogacy law and fertility law for the news media, including CTV, Canada AM, CBC, CBC Radio, ET Canada, Macleans Magazine, The National Post, The Toronto Star, Today’s Parent Magazine, The Walrus, and The Law Times. She was also privileged to be invited to address Superior Court of Justice Education Program.
In August 2014, Sherry was appointed to sit on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS), a position she still holds.
Chantal Desloges
Barrister & Solicitor - Certified Specialist
Senior Partner, Desloges Law Group
Chantal Desloges is certified by the Law Society of Ontario as a Specialist in both Citizenship/Immigration law and Refugee law. Her practice encompasses every possible area of Canadian citizenship, immigration and refugee law, such as business class applications, skilled workers, family sponsorships, work and study permits, refugee cases, citizenship applications, plus Appeals and Judicial Reviews of refused cases. She was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1999 and is the founding and senior partner of Desloges Law Group.
Chantal taught Immigration Law at Osgoode Hall Law School in 2000/2001. She also taught in the Immigration Practitioner Certificate Programme at Seneca College from 1999 – 2010 and the Immigration Consultant Diploma at Herzing College from 2015 – 2018. She currently teaches a number of continuing professional development programs for LPEN, IMEDA and the Ontario Bar Association, among others.
In November, 2016, Chantal and her good friend Cathryn Sawicki published the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Law: A Practitioner’s Handbook. Chantal has been called upon 15 times by Parliamentary and Senate Committees to appear as an expert witness on immigration and refugee issues.
In 2012, Chantal was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, followed by the Canadian Bar Association Young Lawyers’ Pro Bono award. In 2013, Chantal was appointed by the Minister of Justice to serve on the Federal Court Rules Committee, and was reappointed for a further term in 2016. In 2014, Chantal was also elected to the Executive of the Canadian Bar Association, Immigration Section, where she served until 2018.
Chantal is a regular immigration commentator on CTV Power Play, and has been interviewed by both national and local television stations such as CBC, CTV National News, W5, Canada AM, Global News and CP24. She has also been interviewed and quoted in national and local newspapers such as the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, Globe and Mail, National Post and the Ottawa Citizen.
