Diane S. Hinson is the founding member and most senior attorney of Creative Family Connections. Her diverse background and skills -- and that of her team -- enables Creative Family Connections to offer the necessary legal expertise to help prospective parents make the complicated decisions that arise throughout the process of assisted reproductive technology. Diane and her team also help prospective parents understand and comply with the ever-developing laws in this area. And the team protects the parents' legal rights by preparing and negotiating a comprehensive set of legal agreements with the parents' donor and surrogate.

Diane's legal expertise in the area of Assisted Reproductive Technology has been recognized on multiple occasions when she has been asked to speak on relevant legal issues pertaining to egg donor issues and surrogacy at Resolve conferences in 2002, 2003 and 2004 in the Washington, DC area. Diane is a professional member of the Resolve organization (an organization that provides education, advocacy and support to men and women facing infertility issues). Diane has also spoken at conferences sponsored by Family Pride Coalition and Rainbow Families. What comes through always is how passionate Diane is about her work.

Professional background: Diane is a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School. In her career, she has had a number of firsts as a woman:

* She was the first woman to serve as the General Counsel of the FCC

* She was the first woman to serve as the General Counsel of the international satellite conglomerate Intelsat

* And . . . she was the first woman ever to be referred to as "Ms." by the New York Times!

Diane is a member of the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland Bars.

Personal background: Diane decided to become a single mother after her first marriage did not survive fertility challenges. She adopted a baby from a Russian orphanage -- a decision she describes as "the best thing I ever did." After subsequently meeting and marrying her current husband, and with the image of the orphanage children etched indelibly in her memory, Diane and her husband chose to return to Russia to expand their family by adopting another baby. Opening her firm's doors to gay clientele was simply a non-issue for Diane. She has both close friends and family who are gay, starting with her best male friend in law school, her brother-in-law who is also her son's godfather, and gay friends with adopted children who were invaluable in offering guidance and support to her when she was adopting. She has seen first-hand, therefore, that everyone can make a wonderful parent. Diane is now committed to helping all individuals and couples build their families through non-traditional means, and is particularly sensitive to the hurdles facing parents in non-traditional families.