Today we’d like to introduce you to Joanna Beck Wilkinson
Hi Joanna, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I joined the law practice of my mom, Professor Mary Beck, who has been working in family building law since I was a teenager. Before law school, I worked for two of her colleagues, contested adoption attorneys in the bay area. After law school, I worked and interned for her colleagues in Minneapolis, Chicago and Indianapolis. So I suppose it was my destiny, haha.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Family building is the happy kind of law and so many lawyers would like to be doing it. It is obscure enough that it’s difficult to find resources to learn it. So I am extremely fortunate to have a mentor who is one of the most widely respected professionals and scholars in the country.
Antiquated biases continue, despite a widening understanding of what makes a family. Many people still believe that the genetic relationship is the most important characteristic of a family whereas assisted reproduction has enabled the family formation with or without a genetic connection.
Collaborative reproduction is a new and rapidly evolving area where the law struggles to keep up with the science, and the science relentlessly evolves. For example, I don’t think any of us realized 17 years ago that gamete donors could not remain anonymous, that donor-conceived persons (“DCPs”) would find their gamete donors and their siblings and that their siblings could run into the hundreds. Donors cannot rely on twenty-year-old promises to protect disclosure of their identities. Multiple jurisdictions now extend identifying information to DCPs at the age of majority, and I think that trend will continue.
I am grateful to be a fellow in the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys which has over 500 members across the globe. Its conferences and list serve keep all of us educated to the scientific and legal evolution plus a code of ethics which evolves with good and nefarious challenges.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are a mother-daughter boutique law firm whose practice is limited to adoption and assisted reproduction law. We handle the legal process for family building via collaborative reproduction. Our firm has an exceptional depth of experience in this area. I’ve been practicing for 17 years; my mom for about 35. We are also unique in our participation in and contribution to the academic, legislative and judicial spheres that have shaped the field of family building law. My mom wrote the adoption law in Missouri and eight other states. I authored an Amicus brief that was quoted in a United States Supreme Court majority opinion. My mom taught at the University of Missouri law school for 30 years and I just finished writing the Missouri bar manual on parentage and assisted reproduction. I’m afraid we have not done much to develop a brand and spent more time writing laws and SCOTUS briefs than we did developing our website. But when clients hire us, they can feel confident that they are getting conscientious, timely, professional advocates who are chiefly concerned with the ethical practice of law, protecting our clients and promoting their interests.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Invitation to the Academy of Adoption & Assisted Reproduction Attorneys was one of highlights of my legal career; it’s an exceptional organization. I am also grateful to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine’s Legal Professional Group, the Missouri and Illinois and Kansas Bar Associations, the Women’s Law Association and the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.marybecklaw.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/familybuildinglawyer/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@familybuildinglawyer
Image Credits
Nathan Parker
