Our Team
Each of our team members bring different skills, expertise, and perspectives to the table. We work collaboratively to provide wrap around ongoing care. We are here to ensure you are receiving the support you need, when you need it.
Erin BarnesNP, MN, BScN, BA
Erin Barnes is a Nurse Practitioner with almost two decades of experience providing empowering, inclusive reproductive healthcare to folks across the spectrums of age, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity. She is particularly excited about supporting queer folks as they build their families and loves finding ways to make this sometimes complicated journey less overwhelming.
She completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Trent University, followed by a Master of Nursing and her Nurse Practitioner certification at Athabasca University. She has been licensed as a Nurse Practitioner in Ontario since 2014 and has extensive experience in all areas of reproductive health care including, of course, fertility care, but also sexual health care, abortion care, and gender affirming care.
In addition to her nursing education, Erin holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Women’s Studies from Trent University. She also completed in-depth trauma training in her previous role as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner which she later applied when leading a trauma-informed clinic within a gender-based violence shelter in Toronto. She approaches all client interactions with a trauma-informed lens and does not take it lightly when people trust her with their vulnerabilities.
The common thread throughout all of Erin’s work has been that she is meeting people at stressful and emotionally challenging times and supporting them through things that are often fraught with shame and silence. In addition to applying her clinical skill and knowledge, Erin approaches all of her consultations with an authenticity that helps to quickly create the safe space needed to provide fertility care.
Co-Founder
Elisa Gores, MSW, RSW
Elisa is a psychotherapist specializing in fertility and family-building support, as well as sex and relationship therapy. She previously worked as an in-house reproductive counsellor at Twig Fertility, supporting clients at all stages of their family-building journeys. Elisa sits on the Board of Directors at Stella’s Place, and on the Counselling and 2SLGBTQ+ Special Interest Groups of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS). She is thrilled to offer mental health support for queer families navigating this process and all of the many feelings that come with it.
Co-Founder, Fertility Counsellor
Co-Founder, Fertility Support Practitioner Laine Halpern Zisman, PhD
Laine Halpern Zisman, PhD, is a certified fertility support practitioner, full spectrum doula, and author specializing in 2SLGBTQ+ family building and fertility care. She brings more than a decade of experience in 2SLGBTQ+ equity and research.
Laine’s approach combines practical fertility knowledge, care coordination, and individualized support. She helps clients make sense of their options, prepare for appointments, navigate clinics and providers, understand next steps, and make decisions that reflect their priorities, identities, relationships, and family-building goals.
Laine is the co-founder of Family Building Canada, Chair of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society’s 2SLGBTQ+ Special Interest Group, and Director of Training and Education at Birth Mark. She teaches in Sexual Diversity Studies at the University of Toronto and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Victoria’s School of Public Health and Social Policy.
She is also the author of Conceivable: A Guide to Making 2SLGBTQ+ Family and a recipient of the Fertility Matters Change Maker Award. Her work is grounded in the belief that fertility care should feel informed, affirming, collaborative, and centred on the person or family moving through it.