Carrie Lauterbach, Advocate of the Year, 2023

Almost a year ago, Ohio made fertility fraud a crime to protect donor conceived people and recipient parents. Carrie Lauterbach’s persistent, passionate, and nonstop advocacy on this issue merits our awe and this fitting accolade.

Carrie used her difficult personal discovery to make a difference for others. A few years ago as Adoption Network Cleveland was getting started advocating to criminalize fertility fraud in Ohio, Carrie was finding out, through a DNA test, that she was doctor-conceived, and all that entailed. For Carrie this included getting connected politically with other victims who were taking action to make this deceitful and unethical practice illegal.

Carrie found her voice and used it. As she uncovered the actions of her mother’s fertility specialist in Cincinnati, Ohio, she sought the truth of her story. Carrie organized, testified, and spoke out in TV news stories. She never declined an opportunity to be heard, even when speaking out came with a personal cost.

Carrie actively supported our Lobby Day, even making canvas bags for all our volunteers to aid our visibility and success.

Carrie is a huge part of why fertility fraud is now illegal in Ohio. Shortly after our Ohio law passed, Carrie was on a plane to D.C. to aid with the national effort to fight fertility fraud and regulate our country's largely unregulated fertility/reproductive technology industry.