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My Surrogacy Journey About Us

My Surrogacy Journey (MSJ) was founded by Michael and Wes Johnson-Ellis. Dads through UK independent surrogacy, they have two children, Talulah born in 2016 and Duke in 2019. 

They built their family through friendship and developed a solid relationship with their gestational surrogate and her family. When it came to eggs, Michael and Wes also had additional help from two donors, one anonymous, and one known.

When Michael and Wes began their journey, the demand on other not-for-profit organisations meant they had to explore independent surrogacy.

They dived deep into the online surrogacy communities, made a tonne of friends and contacts and began learning about surrogacy – the do’s and don’ts, the clinics who genuinely specialise in surrogacy, egg donor waiting lists, the current law and the reform, the Parental Order process and the limited professional counselling available.

It was clear there was an opportunity to create a new offering for anyone wanting to go down the surrogacy route, combining technology with support, experience with expertise, and ensuring everyone involved in the process is supported equally and has a voice.

A UK surrogacy organisation like no other – founded and run by parents through surrogacy, bringing a unique approach to developing pathways that reflect their own experience and balanced approach to surrogacy. They created a membership package unlike anything available, built an experienced team to help support every single member, and brought together a team of fertility and surrogacy experts to form one of the most enviable advisory boards for a surrogacy not-for-profit organisation.

My Surrogacy Journey, the new face of surrogacy, was born.

Meet the My Surrogacy Journey Team

Senior Team

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Wes Johnson-Ellis

Co-Founder and Co-CEO

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Michael Johnson-Ellis

Co-Founder and Co-CEO

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Debbie Evans

Clinical and Compliance Director

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Mary Tatlow

Business Operations Director

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Carly Dalgliesh

Membership Director - Global

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Rachel Freeman

HR Director

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Jess Warr

EA to Michael Johnson-Ellis

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Amy Martin

Head of Brand and Marketing

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Kay Read

Head of Global Strategy, Policy and Ethics

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Melissa McKinlay-Dunn

Head of Member Services

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Matthew Stapleton

Member Operations Manager - Mexico City

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Nikki Banks

Mexico City Operations Director – Mexico City

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Sophie Burgess

Finance Manager

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Leigh H.

Financial Controller

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Jocelyn Hill

Global Surrogate Membership Manager

UK Team

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Julianne Boutaleb

Consultant Perinatal Psychologist

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Lisa Guilfoyle

MSJ Counsellor

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Sam Bishop

Embryologist

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Debbie Howe

MSJ Counsellor

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Gina Kinson

Surrogate Co-Ordinator

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Hayley Aldis

Surrogate Co-Ordinator

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Sophie Smith

Membership Manager – UK Mexico City

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Jessica Williams

Membership Manager - North America

Mexico City Team

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Dr Natalia De La Maza

General Medicine Doctor

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Eduardo Garcia Molina

Intended Parent Concierge Manager

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America Sarai Perez

America Sarai Perez

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Ennya Casandra Garcia Escutia

Surrogate Concierge Manager

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Beatriz 'Betty' Reyes

Nurse Specialist

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Dr Alejandro Leyva

Resident Medical Officer

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Fernanda Lopez

Surrogate Membership Manager

The My Surrogacy Journey Foundation

We believe that family building is an issue of reproductive justice, and we envision a world in which everybody has equal rights to accessing quality and caring experiences.

When brands and businesses are born out of a social cause there are inevitable issues, agendas and concerns that arise and need to be addressed to ensure that services, products and systems are supporting the needs of the communities they are designed to serve.

To continue to invest in the ethical growth of My Surrogacy Journey globally we need to make sure that we are inviting the whole of society along with us.

Fertility is advancing at pace clinically and economically- The Foundation acts as a tool to ensure that this rapid change is inclusive, fair and equitable so that nobody is left out or excluded. 

My Surrogacy Journey Foundation is a charitable organisation working to enhance society, law, policies and practices that impact on our members and communities. We operate under four central pillars and co-produce partnerships and programmes that make the world a better place for our members and the communities we serve.

Email Kay to find out more about supporting the charity.

Our pillars

We provide and create educational tools and programmes to enhance knowledge

We create and sustain communities of people who support you and one another

We advocate for changes to Law, rights and practices that impact family building

We support and develop research to evidence the importance of modern families

Donate and get involved

The Foundation operates as a not for profit and our work is grounded in making sure the world is a better place for people on family building journeys.

We love to hear from people who are keen to volunteer with us, donate to our work, get involved as partners or ambassadors and to explore ideas on how to ensure we achieve our vision.

We welcome you to consider how you might support The Foundation by visiting our Donate page to hear more about our current campaigns and programmes.