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Dr. Betsy P. Aigen |
| CHILDBIRTH CONSULTATION SERVICES | |
| 220 West 93rd Street, Suite 1A | |
| New York, NY 10025 | |
| Phone: (212) 496-1070 |
Dr. Betsy Aigen is the founder and director of Childbirth Consultation Services, started in 1986. She has been a practicing psychotherapist for 25 years, and has worked with infertile and adoptive couples for more than 10 years. Dr. Aigen holds a Masters degree in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University and a Doctor of Psychology degree in Clinical Psychology from Rutgers University.
She conducted a 3-year study involving 200 surrogate mothers concerning their motivation for birthing for couples, and has devised a screening process for the selection of surrogate mothers with the information gathered from research. Every woman screened by Dr. Aigen, who birthed a baby, has had a positive experience. All but one have asked to birth a second time.
Dr. Aigen is the psychologist that screened and rejected Mary Beth Whitehead as a potential surrogate mother and wrote a brief as testimony for the Supreme Court in the "Baby M" case. She has testified as an expert in numerous governmental hearings and appeared on over 200 radio and television shows, such as 'CNN', 'The McNeal/Lehrer NewsHour' and 'Sally Jessy Raphael'.
She is a member of OPTS, RESOLVE and Adoptive Parents Committee as well as a co-founder of 'The American Organization of Surrogate Parenting Practitioners'.
Dr. Aigen is the happy mother of two daughters-Jennifer and Samantha (a newborn), both born to her through surrogacy. Because of this, she is acutely aware of the stresses that infertility causes in a marriage and on a person's sense of self-worth, and understands the desperation that couples go through. She is also very personally involved with the people she helps and provides them with individual attention throughout the process. Dr. Aigen accepts couples and surrogates with different programs for consultations, support and counseling. She treats people the way she would have liked to have been treated.
Her major focus is the psychological aspects of this 'cooperative birthing' process. Issues like "If", "When", "What" and "How" to tell your child, friends and family about the birth and preparing for risks involved in surrogacy are focused on. Dr. Aigen is devoted to working together to make the birthing process a joyful experience for everyone involved. In her own words, "I love doing this work and consider myself privileged to be instrumental in helping people like myself have a family. It helps me repair the trauma of my own infertility".
