Our Professional Team
Dara Roth Edney
(she/her)
Dara has been practicing since 2000, and is committed to providing services that are inclusive, empathetic, personalized and helpful, informed by her educational background and years of clinical and research experience, and inspired by her own long journey with infertility, IVF, loss, and ultimately, surrogacy. Personally, Dara experienced years of infertility herself, and eventually, after countless tests and surgeries, numerous unsuccessful intrauterine inseminations (IUIs) and multiple failed in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles, turned to gestational surrogacy. Today, she and her partner are grateful to have two daughters, each carried by a different and wonderful gestational surrogate.
Professionally, Dara’s works closely with individuals and couples, guiding people through the family building process as well as life after infertility. She provides reproductive counselling, psycho-educational and decision-making coaching, and overall mental health supports, in particular around grief, loss, bereavement, trauma, interpersonal relationships, anxiety reduction techniques, and the complexities of identity and family building through donation and surrogacy.
In her daily practice, Dara draws from numerous therapeutic models, including: Emotion-Focused, Solution-Focused/Oriented Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behaviour and Narrative Therapy, and Structural and Systems Therapy. When appropriate, she also incorporates Positive Psychology, Coaching and Mindfulness methodologies. She works closely with Ontario and Saskatchewan residents, Canadian and international patients coming to Ontario for treatment, and clinics and affiliated professionals across North America.
In addition to counselling and coaching supports, required assessments for donation and surrogacy, as well as group and peer support facilitation, Dara works closely with professional and community organizations and is a regularly invited speaker at conferences, workshops, webinars/live stream talks, community organizations, university campuses and fertility clinics. She is an instructor in Wilfred Laurier University’s Faculty of Social Work Professional Development Program, teaching their first course on fertility and assisted human reproduction. She is actively involved in government consultations, beginning in 2002, when she delivered an invited presentation to the Canadian Legislature House of Commons, Standing Committee on Health, in regard to Bill C-13 (legislation that led to the Assisted Human Reproductive Act), to more recently when she was an invited witness at the Ontario Legislature, presenting before the Standing Committee on Social Policy regarding Bill 28 (the All Families are Equal Act). In the years between and on an ongoing basis, Dara is involved in numerous other government consultations, as well as industry research.
Dara holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from the University of Toronto and Bachelors’ Degrees from York University (BSW) and McGill University (BA). She is a member of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS), is Past Chair of the Counselling Special Interest Group (CSIG) of the CFAS, a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and ASRM’s Mental Health Practitioner’s Group (MHPG) and sits on the Board of Directors for Donor Conception Canada. She is a Registered Social Worker (RSW) with the Ontario College of Social Workers and the Saskatchewan Association of Social Workers, as well as a member of the Ontario Association of Social Workers (OASW) and a professional member of Fertility Matters, Canada’s patient support and advocacy group.
Dara feels very fortunate that her professional training, long personal experience with infertility and her family’s journey through surrogacy (twice!) combine to provide a unique and empathetic perspective for Informed Fertility’s clients. Her ability to respond to the particular needs of intended parents, donors, surrogates and donor conceived adults allows her to provide support and guidance that gets to the heart of the matter, with compassion, respect and pragmatism.
Blair Wexler-Singer
(she/her)
Blair Wexler-Singer (BSC, MSW, RSW) is a social worker and psychotherapist registered in the provinces of Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia, practicing in the field of reproductive counselling. She has a certificate in Perinatal Grief and Loss and has over 17 years’ experience working extensively with people who have endured trauma, grief and loss, addiction, mental illness, and attachment challenges.
Blair is passionate about providing positive foundations and wrap-around support for individuals, couples and groups hoping to grow their families through collaborative and assisted fertility options. She provides sensitive education and thoughtful guidance to help clarify roles, expectations and potential outcomes during pre-conception, pregnancy, and postpartum stages, as well as to those wishing to explore pathways to adoption, or considering life without children.
Blair earned her Master of Social Work degree at Columbia University and completed her bachelor’s degree in Therapeutic Recreation at Dalhousie University. Her therapy approach is strengths based, mindful and solution focused. She is a current member of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, Alberta College of Social Workers, and the British Columbia College of Social Workers. She is a member in good standing of the Ontario Association of Social Workers, and the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS), where she holds the position of Vice Chair of the Counselling Special Interest Group (CSIG). She is also a professional member of Fertility Matters, Canada’s national fertility patient advocacy and support organization.
With a background in family and child welfare, Blair worked as the Foster Care Coordinator at Jewish Family & Child Service (JF&CS), where she provided mentorship and family support to both foster and adopt families. Blair became highly skilled at developing and implementing psycho-educational training workshops, as well as regularly conducted mandatory assessments for prospective foster, kinship, and adopting families.
Personally, Blair comes to fertility counselling after her own first-hand experience with surrogacy, having been a Gestational Carrier for close friends. Already indirectly familiar with the pain of infertility and loss through her role in foster and adoption work, this journey provided her with new insights into the world of assisted fertility, IVF and Collaborative Family Planning. Her surrogacy experience had a profound impact on her, leading to a mentorship with Dara, extensive professional development in the area of Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR), and ultimately, a full-time career shift into reproductive/fertility counselling where she officially joined Informed Fertility in 2022.
Along with Dara, her experience includes compassionately and respectfully conducting the required counselling and assessments for 3rd Party Donor and Surrogate arrangements, pre-IVF and Egg Freezing Counselling, as well as providing support to those dealing with infertility, miscarriage, and bereavement.
Beyond her education and wealth of experience, Blair is warm-hearted, flexible, open-minded, and strongly believes in an inclusive and anti-discriminatory approach to care. She lives in Toronto, Ontario with her family and dog, is very proud to have been a gestational surrogate and a current Family Building Practitioner with Informed Fertility.
Kate Koei
(she/her)
Kate Koei (MA, MACP, CCC) is a compassionate Counselling Therapist and Certified Grief Educator with a master’s degree in counselling psychology from Yorkville University. With close to a decade of clinical counselling experience, she specialises in grief and loss, childhood and adult trauma, immigrant challenges, domestic violence, complex relationship patterns, and supporting survivors of abuse.
Kate has extensive experience working with individuals and couples navigating the emotional complexities of infertility, pregnancy and infant loss, as well as the additional challenges of family building through surrogacy, donation, adoption, physical health issues, and other life circumstances. Her deep understanding and empathy stem from both professional training and personal experience with pregnancy loss, recognizing the unique, often isolating nature of this journey.
With a growing interest in assisted human reproduction (AHR) and 3rd party reproductive technologies, Kate joined Informed Fertility in 2024. After many months of in-depth training and mentorship, Kate is pleased her skills now include providing counselling and assessments for surrogacy and donation cycles, in order to comprehensively and sensitively support Intended Parents, Donors and Surrogates as they embark on their collaborative family building plans.
Committed to a trauma-informed approach, Kate provides an attentive and inclusive environment that honors each person’s culture, faith, values, and beliefs. She acknowledges the profound impact of trauma, culture, and relationship dynamics on one’s ability to cope and navigate through the family building journey.
Kate’s eclectic counseling approach draws from a range of therapeutic models, including Narrative Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Somatic Experiencing, Solution-Focused Therapy, and Mindfulness practices. This flexibility allows her to tailor the therapeutic process to meet the unique needs of each and every client.
Beyond individual and couple counseling, Kate is a skilled group facilitator, clinical supervisor, sought-after workshop presenter, and speaker for various community organizations. She is also an active advocate in her community, educating on mental health in general, perinatal and post-partum mental health in particular, and addressing issues affecting marginalized groups and immigrants. Kate’s ultimate goal is to create a safe, compassionate space where clients feel empowered to honor their journey, explore their experiences, and find hope and healing.
Kate is a member of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS) and CFAS’ Counselling Special Interest Group (CSIG). Based in Calgary, Alberta, she is a professional member of the Canadian Counselling and Psychology Association (CCPA), The Association of Counselling Therapy of Alberta (ACTA), and a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC). As such, she is registered to provide virtual services to Informed Fertility clients across Canada as well as internationally and feels privileged to join the dedicated team at Informed Fertility, supporting people through every step of their family building journey, no matter where their path leads.
Our Administrative Team
Amanda’s personal and professional life is motivated by a keen sense of empathy and kindness, as well as exceptional organizational skills. She understands the importance and value of making things as easy as possible for everyone around her, which she does every day for the counsellors and clients of Informed Fertility. Amanda’s identity is also closely associated with her strong work ethic. In addition to administrative support, her background includes personal organization services, brand management, and in her youth, helping to run her family’s farm. Amanda takes great pride in facilitating the smooth running of a business, and her commitment to high standards of client care ensures messages are returned quickly, and client needs are met with respect, flexibility and understanding.
Hannah loves helping people overcome barriers, so facilitating Informed Fertility clients access counselling supports is tremendously meaningful to her – which makes her the perfect person to step into Amanda’s shoes when she is away from the office for more than a few days.
Amanda and Hannah both know first-hand that a timely and compassionate administrative response can make a huge difference in people’s experience of and ability to access health and social services. They feel privileged to be the people behind the Informed Fertility counsellors who are so deeply committed to an inclusive, non-judgmental practice and have such a high degree of specialized expertise, in a field so challenging and emotional.
Memberships and Associations
