Meet Molly O’Brien

Today we’d like to introduce you to Molly O’Brien.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts with a degree in film production and I moved to Los Angeles in the early 2000’s to pursue that career. I waited tables to supplement my income and I lost that job, which, at the time, I thought was the worst thing in the world. Turns out it was the best thing in the world!

The film production company I worked for shared an office with a law firm that does a lot of fertility work and the partners in that firm offered me a job at an egg donation agency they owned. I needed the job, but I had no idea what it would entail and how it would change me. Within a few months of working there, I fell completely in love with this field and I ended up being hired full time at the egg donation company’s sister company – a surrogacy agency. I remember the moment I knew this was my future – while processing a client’s payment I noticed on the memo line of the check it said “For our hopes and dreams”. I was in.

After a few years at the surrogacy agency, the owners of the company came to me and said they saw a lot of potential and they thought I would be do well as a lawyer. I think I replied, “Are you crazy?” I was nearly 30 years old and still in debt from undergrad – I would have to be a fool to get into even more debt and start over with a new career at that age. The owners offered to pay for an LSAT prep course just to see how I would score. My scores were good enough to apply to schools so I did that with their blessing and their commitment that I could work during the day and go to classes at night. They allowed me to work like that all through law school and once I finished, that original law firm I knew (the one that hired me for their egg donation agency) hired me right after I took the bar exam. I worked for them for about five years before I started my own practice in 2015.

Every day I get to help people on the most amazing journey they will take. And it’s a happy kind of law, it’s full of kindness, hope, love, and gratitude!

It’s so interesting how the world comes full circle – I originally studied to produce films which taught me budgeting, scheduling, organizing, explaining, etc. Now I do the same thing to help people have babies! Budgeting, scheduling, organizing, and explaining!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not smooth at all! Getting fired from waiting tables was a huge struggle. I had resigned myself that I was going to have to move back home to Pennsylvania – but the job at the egg donation agency allowed me to stay out here.

Another huge struggle was the bar exam. The California bar exam is notoriously the hardest in the country (whether that’s really true, who knows). I managed to get violently ill during the final session of the third day of the exam. I was in the bathroom vomiting and I missed nearly half that portion of the exam. I was CERTAIN I had failed. I was so certain, in fact, I booked my hotel room for the next exam as I was leaving the test. When I saw I did actually pass the first time, I remember blinking and staring – it really took me several minutes to register because I had convinced myself there was no way I could pass having missed so much of the exam.

Please tell us about Law Offices of Molly O’Brien.
I run my own law firm that specializes in assisted reproduction. I help people (individuals or couples) become parents with the help of egg donors, sperm donors, embryo donors, and surrogate moms. I only became a lawyer to practice in this field as I had worked in the industry for seven years before I became a lawyer.

I am the only lawyer in this industry with that kind of background experience (working for an agency) so many of my clients really like to use me to help them put together all of their team for the journey (their agency, their doctor, etc.) because I have a unique knowledge and experience with the other sides of the industry.

Most of my clients are same sex males who live in Europe. LGBTQ rights is an issue very close to my heart and it is truly an honor to get to serve the LGBTQ community. I would estimate that more than 75% of my clients are LGBTQ. I am incredibly proud that I have dedicated my life to helping male, female, gay, straight, transgender families.

I have two big projects I am working on right now that are very exciting. I am the current Chair of the Legal Professional Group of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and I am creating the ethical legal standards for all lawyers practicing in this field – oddly we don’t have one yet! I am doing this in conjunction with the American Bar Association and Seeds (our industry’s ethics organization). The other big project that I am working on is with the American Military Partnership Association where we are creating a resource group for all military families (specifically LGBTQ families) for fertility, parenting, and related assistance.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Sailing!! Which is one of my passions for fun. And in fact, when I have clients in town I will always take them out on the water for a sail if they want to go! I’ve raced sailboats competitively since I was seven years old and now that I am out here on the Pacific I race several times a month here! I recently bought a 15-foot sailboat to race and I have the goal of single-handing it to Catalina Island.

Fun side story about sailing – I am very active in my yacht club (The Buccaneer Yacht Club in San Pedro) and last Thanksgiving I had two families who had just had children through surrogacy – a lovely couple from Italy who had a daughter and a lovely couple from Belgium who had a son. They both had to be here for several weeks after the birth and it was over the Thanksgiving holiday. I enlisted my yacht club to let me host these new parents in their first American Thanksgiving! I invited them and their babies to my club and I cooked them a traditional Thanksgiving dinner (along with the help of their surrogacy agency). We even deep fired a turkey!! Since this was the first child for each couple and they hardly knew anyone in the US, they got to share tips and talk and they became quick friends, too so it was truly a wonderful experience for everyone!

Contact Info:

• Website: WWW.yourfertilitylawyer.com
• Phone: 310-702-1373
• Email: [email protected]

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