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Jenny Soronen - Director/Coordinator
Since childhood, Jenny has longed to make a difference in this world. In her opinion, changing the world starts by changing one life at a time.
Jenny earned a degree in Office Administration as well as completing study on Human Relations. She spent years working in various aspects of client relations in the corporate environment. After the birth of her second child, Jenny viewed a program about the struggles infertile couples endure and the family building options they faced, including surrogacy and egg donation. After many months of research she made the decision to become a gestational surrogate for a wonderful couple and went on to deliver twin boys.
Upon completing her surrogacy, she was invited to work for the agency who had assisted her in her journey. Through her work as a coordinator with this agency, she gained a wealth of knowledge regarding the aspects of facilitating the process for couples and their egg donors and/or surrogates. When the owner of the agency closed her doors, Jenny chose to continue on and, in 2003, Baby Steps was born.
Jenny finds her greatest satisfaction by being a constant presence, a reliable source, and a true friend to every special couple,surrogate mother and egg donor she assists.
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Judy Moretz ,R.N. - Coordinator/ Surrogate & Donor Screening
Judy Moretz is the newest member of the Baby Steps team. Her caring, full-of-life personality and extreme dedication to educating, evaluating and assisting our clients has greatly enhanced the services provided by our agency.
A graduate of St. Anthony School of Nursing, Judy spent a large part of her career working in labor and delivery. However, for more than 10 years, she has worked in reproductive endocrinology with some of the most premier IVF Centers.
Judy has worked in all aspects of REI nursing including marketing, advertising, supervision of nursing staff and management of an ambulatory surgery center and its accreditation as well as updating protocols and procedures with her physicians. She has worked extensively with clients undergoing treatment for ovulation induction and IVF, and for more than five years specialized as a donor/recipient/third party parenting coordinator.
Judy is a member of ASRM, SART and the Nursing Professional Group. She has participated on the Nurses Advisory Board of Shering-Plough (Organon), outreach programs and "lunch and learns" to help educate potential clients, as well as the medical community, regarding the aspects, causes and treatments of infertility. Judy has also worked with the Watts School of Nursing, mentoring students who rotated through the center to give them exposure to the world of reproductive medicine, in hopes of giving them a brief outlook regarding infertility and perhaps encouraging them to seek out this specialty in their nursing careers.
Judy is the mother of 5 wonderful young adults and grandmother of one little girl with another on the way. She is excited to be a member of the Baby Steps family and we are absolutely overjoyed to have her with us!
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Troy Soronen - Administrative Assistant/Recruitment
Troy's gentle nature, paired with his no nonsense view on various matters, make him a welcome and productive part of our agency. He is proficient at handling a multitude of tasks and doing so with a SMILE.
Troy handles recruitment of new donors and surrogates, preliminary review of new applicants and travel arrangements.
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Darlene Moss - Assistant Coordinator/Liason~ Jimmy Moss - Webmaster
Baby Steps is so blessed to have this wonderful couple on our team. The loving, devoted manner in which they perform their duties further enhances the family-like feel of our incredible agency.
Darlene is an efficient, dedicated part of our administrative team and an angel to the donors and surrogates working with us. In addition to providing assistance to our coordinators, Darlene serves as a liason for our surrogate mothers and egg donors, ensuring all needs are being met and all instructions followed. Her attention to detail, motherly nature and genuine care for all of the individuals we work with make her a wonderful, warm part of the Baby Steps family.
Jimmy is a fresh, creative part of the Baby Steps team. He puts his whole heart and all of his creative energy into every task. His ideas have enhanced the look of our web site and made it a more user-friendly place for our couples to find their ideal donor. Additionally, Jimmy has updated the format in which we present surrogate mothers, thereby making information easier to review and the matching process more refined. Watch for the changes coming to our online donor database this month!
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Michelle Topal - Licensed Clinical Social Worker/Psychotherapist
Michelle received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from State University of New York and a Masters in Social Work from University of North Carolina. She has been in the community helping people for over 25 years and, in addition to her wonderful work with Baby Steps, maintains a private practice in the Raleigh, NC area.
Michelle's experience includes performing evaluations and assessments, heading support groups, and providing counseling on various issues with couples and individuals from youth well into adulthood. Her education and experience include women's issues, youth, teen and early adulthood as well as the LGBT community.
Michelle assists Baby Steps with the evaluation process for egg donor and surrogate mother applicants.
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Surrogate Mother & Egg Donor Mentors
Baby Steps is pleased to implement the use of our Surrogate and Donor Mentor Program. This program gives all of our first time surrogates and donors the opportunity to talk one on one with an experienced surrogate or donor regarding the ins and outs, ups and downs involved with the surrogacy or egg donation process.
We feel it is extremely important that all new surrogates and donors have a full understanding regarding the various scenarios they face while undergoing the this journey. This helps to ensure they can be certain of their ability to commit to the program and enables them to have their questions and concerns addressed by someone who has "been there, done that".
Some of our mentors have completed their journeys through our agency. This enables them to learn a great deal not only about the overall process, but the process as it pertains specifically to working with our agency. Their easy-going nature and vast experience make them extremely well suited for this position and we are excited to have them.
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