When was the last time you were in the presence of a goddess? This Mother’s Day, I am soaring from encountering four – fierce advocates for children and families who inspired their daughters to join them. I returned from the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys annual conference renewed and galvanized by each of them. 
Sherriann Hicks https://sherriannhicks.com/, my beloved and revered mentee, is the new President of AAAA, whose work protecting vulnerable children in adoption and foster care will inform her leadership deeply. I am proud to be serving as her Deputy. Sherriann’s hard working and idealistic daughter, Sydney Hicks, just graduated from law school and is excited to follow her mother in the adoption and assisted reproduction field.
When was the last time you were in the presence of a goddess? This Mother’s Day, I am soaring from encountering four.
Jeanne Trudeau Tate is a fearless protector of children’s and adoptive parents’ rights whose daughter, Erica Tate Healy, is making a significant impact alongside her mother. Both are rare in litigating groundbreaking contested adoptions and foster care cases which have changed Florida adoption law.
Kathleen “Casey” Copps DiPaola has taken the work of her esteemed mother, Anne Reynolds Copps, into the 21st century, creating one of the premier surrogacy programs in the United States, New York Surrogacy Center. Her tireless legislative advocacy helped legalize surrogacy in New York.
Finally, Israel “Ishi” Kunin and her daughter, Shoshana Kunin Leavitt, surrounded me with their warmth and radiant smiles, embodying the joy of creating families with treasured colleagues.
Goddesses all, I admire and cherish them on this inspiring Mother’s Day!