Conceptual Options

Theresa Arickson & Mary Ann Lathus

MARY ANN LATHUS AND THERESA ERICKSON are two sisters who never dreamed they’d work together as business partners helping couples and individuals create their families through egg donation, embryo donation and surrogacy. Since its beginnings in 1999, Conceptual Options has helped bring more than 300 babies into the world, with another 50 babies on the way.

“Our business developed in an area where we saw a real need,” says Theresa Erickson, cofounder and attorney who specializes in reproductive law. “There was a need and we were there—thankfully for these families.” Assisted reproduction is becoming more acceptable, notes Lathus (cofounder and director), a result of increased media coverage of celebrities who have gone public about using third-party reproduction.

Conceptual Options is one of the premier practices nationwide dedicated solely to issues of family formation and reproductive law, including surrogacy and egg, sperm and embryo donation. The number of attorneys like Erickson who specialize in reproductive law is small in California.

One of the most important benefits of using Conceptual Options is protection for all parties. Since there are few regulations in the reproductive industry, a client has few protections if the practice is not affiliated with an attorney or doctor. Conceptual Options also adheres to strict professional guidelines and ethics as members of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Society for Reproductive Professionals.

The cofounders are also frequently involved in nonprofit organizations and participate in volunteer work to enlighten patients and better the community. Most recently, Conceptual Options sponsored a contest donating a complete IVF treatment cycle—valued around $20,000—as a way of giving back to others. More than 100 couples sent in letters describing how their infertility has affected them, including any financial limitations. Although everyone certainly deserved to win, Lathus says they ultimately selected a couple in Texas. The wife, a former flight attendant, had her fertility unknowingly affected by exposure to toxic chemicals.

Although Erickson and Lathus try not to take work personally, they say it’s hard—especially when it involves a child.

“We don’t stay detached emotionally,” says Lathus. “We put ourselves in their position and do whatever it takes, legally, emotionally or otherwise, to mediate any issues.”