Florida Family Formation
Helping families grow.
Our Mission
Florida Family Formation is a law firm committed to helping families grow through assisted reproductive technologies. We offer our clients guidance, preparation, support, and advocacy throughout the ART legal process. We represent intended parents, surrogates, and donors. However, what sets us a part is that we do it with the future child in mind.
Jessica Hoffman is a licensed attorney practicing in Jacksonville, Florida. She is the founder of Florida Family Formation and her practice concentrates solely on assisted reproductive law representing intended parents, surrogates, and donors in surrogacy, egg and embryo donation, second parent adoption, stepparent adoption, and other parental establishment situations.
After years of battling infertility treatments and stigma, she grew her own family via a gestational surrogate. Since then, she’s proud to have helped hundreds of families grow through ART law. Jessica is a member of the Florida Bar and serves on the executive council of the American Bar Association, Family Law Section’s ART Committee.
Jessica’s Story
I first heard the term “surrogacy” in the late 90s when my friend told me her cousin offered to carry a child for her. I won’t lie, the process sounded bizarre! Her family felt the same way. So against her body’s warnings, she went to extreme measures to get pregnant. She ultimately lost her life when her body could not handle the pregnancy. From that day forward, I felt a fire burning inside me to spread the word about the miracle of ART.
Fast forward a few years and I too was using ART to overcome my own fertility issues. I was pregnant (again) and hopeful THIS time would not end in miscarriage. One day I road up the elevator to see my doctor thinking about nursery decor and road back down with literature about chemotherapy. I was diagnosed that day with Gestational Trophablastic Disease, a form of cancer in the uterus.
After months of chemo and a partial hysterectomy, I was fed-up! I had a new fire burning. I was going to spread the word about ART, help families achieve their dream of having a baby, AND I was going to have a baby of my own! My struggles with infertility ended when my amazing sister-in-law gave birth to my daughter. Meanwhile, I studied the law so I could fulfill my dream of helping couples build their families.
In 2011, I joined the ART Committee of the American Bar Association. Through my work on the committee, I’ve met ART’s most influential professionals…in the US and across the world. I now spend every day achieving my dream and helping others realize theirs.
Why I love practicing ART
Miracles abound
Two bio dads. One donor. Twin babies. One surrogate. (…oh my!) I may have to draw a flow chart to keep track of the resulting cross adoption, but I love this scenario. It’s easy to take the medical magic of ART for granted, but in this scenario, the miracle is evident.
Using legal magic for good
A woman called us very distraught. She wasn’t our client, but she needed advice. Her son was due via surrogate in a few weeks and, because of several complications, her path to parental establishment was blocked in the birth state. To make matters worse, she had been told, at best, her legal status over her biological son would be only as a guardian. This was not the case to run from; this was the case to remind ART practitioners that we owe a duty to children born of our ART contracts. Helping this woman and her son obtain the legally-binding parentage order they deserved has been the highlight of my legal career.
Better than brownies
In my corporate days, I’d bring brownies to meetings for smiles. These days, all I need to bring to the judge’s chambers is an ART case. After a long day on the bench, many judges welcome granting parentage to IPs who have long awaited the honor. We all part with smiles…calorie-free!
Working with angels
How amazing is this woman who is taking time out of her life to help you! This isn’t just the buy-a-coffee-for-the-person-behind-you good deed. This is a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week job for 10+ months. Needles are involved! I’ve found working with the woman who are surrogates and donors to be extremely rewarding. I’ve been the infertile IP and all that comes with it. To use that experience to help my surrogates and donors understand their IPs is truly a calling.
Featured Publications
Articles
- Reproductive Technology Law in Florida, Florida Bar Association Health Law Section
- You Say Adoption, I Say Objection: Why the Word War Over Embryo Disposition is More Than Just Semantics, American Bar Association Family Law Quarterly, Vol, 46, No.3
Articles Written About Jess
- Law Student Makes Personal Interest in infertility a Work of ART. Coastal Law Magazine
Disclaimer
The purpose of our website is to inform visitors about Florida Family Formation. Nothing on this site is intended, nor should it be used, as a substitute for legal advice. This site does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Jessica Hoffman Esq., Florida Family Formation, or any of its attorneys or clients, and the information contained on this site is not guaranteed to be correct, complete, or up to date. This site is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship between you and Jessica Hoffman Esq., or Florida Family Formation, and you should not act or rely on any information in this site without seeking the advice of an attorney.