This page is dedicated to those whose generosity allowed us to establish Family Building Grants in their names.

The Deborah Frank Memorial Grant was a one-time grant awarded in 2021 to a couple who would require surrogacy to have a child.

Est. December 16, 2020 this was a one time grant to honor the life and spirit of Deborah Frank. This grant is no longer available.

Debbie just loved babies.

Sure she was a powerhouse in the real estate world, but professional success often means delaying building a family; something Deb shared with a lot of her friends and peers.

Debbie always had an encouraging, open ear for fertility problems, even while struggling with her own.

In fact, so much of Deb focused on babies, from engaging new Moms on the street, to sharing #fatbabies on Instagram, she became a support network for many who knew her.

Celebrating babies was such a big part of Deb’s short, but impactful life, that we are proud to have created this grant in her memory that will help make babies!!!...

In 2021 the Coalition for Family Building received a memorial fund for Dr. Michael J. Hickey. We were able to provide a special, one-time grant and will be ever grateful to the family and friends who made generous donations in honor of Dr. Hickey.

This was a one time grant in 2021 to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Michael Hickey. This grant is no longer available.

In his 29 years as a reproductive endocrinologist, Dr. Michael J. Hickey helped bring more than 5,000 babies to couples who so desperately wanted to start and grow their families.

“All pregnancies are a miracle and the result of something magical,” Dr. Hickey often said.

He made magic every day for nearly 3 decades and had hoped to continue practicing infertility medicine for many years to come. He passed away unexpectedly in April 2020.

Dr. Hickey never wanted finances to be an obstacle for families who wanted to start a family. He would have been so happy to know this his mission would continue with this family building grant.

The Sophie St. Aubin PGD for Family Building Grant was a one-time grant awarded in 2018 to help defray the financial challenges of IVF/PGD infertility treatment.

Please note the PGD grant is no longer available.

Jen and Pete St. Aubin were overjoyed to find out they were expecting their first child in January 2014. The pregnancy progressed uneventfully until the routine 20 week ultrasound when the baby was diagnosed with a rare genetic kidney disease known as Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease (ARPKD). It is a recessive genetic disorder that affects approximately 1:20,000. Jen and Pete decided to carry the pregnancy to full term. Sophie Marie St. Aubin was born on September 15, 2014 and lived for approximately 12 hours due to underdeveloped lungs which is a common complication of the disease.

As it turned out, one of Jen’s long time close friends’ first daughter is also affected by ARPKD but is doing very well. She proceeded to have two unaffected children through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and is expecting her third. In addition to providing emotional support during Jen’s pregnancy, she was also able to provide education and guidance on how to have future healthy children through IVF utilizing PGD. She introduced the St. Aubins to Dr. Eve Feinberg, founder of The Life Foundation, and they began the genetic testing and IVF process several months after Sophie passed away. With the help of IVF and PGD, Jen became pregnant with a healthy baby girl. Sadie Kathryn St. Aubin was born on October 3, 2016. She was an absolute incredible blessing. Jen and Pete had two frozen unaffected and chromosomally normal embryos left and decided to try another transfer nine months after Sadie was born. Jen and Pete are expecting another healthy baby girl in April 2018.

The “Sophie St. Aubin – PGD for Life” grant is Jen and Pete’s way of keeping Sophie’s memory alive and celebrating the legacy her DNA helped to create: Sadie Kathryn and her soon-to-be second little sister. Jen and Pete are deeply grateful for the technology that exists today to be able to perform IVF/PGD and the dedication of their wonderful reproductive endocrinologist, Dr. Feinberg. Jen and Pete’s hope in funding this grant is that they can help another couple that is impacted by a genetic disorder to experience the joy of having a healthy family.