Nancy Block, RN

PLS Founder and Director of Operations, Nancy Block, started her career as an OB/GYN and fertility nurse, and staff educator at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. In 2000 she founded The Center for Egg Options Illinois, a highly sought after egg donor and surrogacy matching agency. After helping build families for 15 years, she sold her company to a national agency where she stayed on to assist with business development. Though she loved this part of the business, her heart longed to work with parents and surrogates again.

A mentor to many, Nancy has built strong relationships and friendships throughout the industry. Today she sits on the Advisory Board of Parents Via Egg Donation, and on the Executive Board of the Society of Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy. In 2018, she received the Shining Star award for her lifelong commitment to the industry’s best practices.

Nancy lives in the Chicago suburbs with her family and two dogs. You can often find her cooking for friends and family.

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Mark Silverberg, DDS, MD

Executive Director, Dr. Mark Silverberg, comes to PLS with over thirty years of medical experience and knowledge in a number of significant specialties. As an Anesthesiologist working in multiple operating facilities, he has reviewed countless patient records to evaluate suitability for procedures. Many of the patients he has anesthetized were having Obstetric and Gynecological procedures. The physicians he has worked with are from several locations in the US, specifically the Chicago Metropolitan area. Dr. Mark has also been requested to train new physicians as to his techniques on the safe practice of medicine in the operating room when administering anesthesia.

Dr. Mark is imaginative and a creative thinker with four patents to his name. As a result, he is able to summarize prenatal and delivery records for individuals wanting to be gestational surrogates in a succinct fashion. He supports growing families, and contributing to the happiness of all deserving parents-to-be going through third party fertility treatment.

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Jan Telman Berman

Our Global Surrogacy Coordinator, Jan began her career while in a post-graduate counseling psychology program in Chicago. Her passion is educating and guiding all involved in the surrogacy process.

Jan’s 18+ year career has involved working for a Woman’s health clinic and more recently in the Egg Donor/Surrogacy arena. She has extensive experience managing cycles for national and international clients. Jan sees herself as a team player and abides by the highest standards. Her goal is to coordinate the many moving parts of the surrogacy process with the end resulting in a healthy baby.

Jan lives in the Chicago suburbs. In her free time she travels the world, takes Pilates classes and spends time with her adult children, family and friends.

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Natalie Gaudio-Fricano

Natalie, our Case Manager, comes to us as a former egg donor and successful gestational surrogate.  She has been working in the medical field since 2002 and at fertility based companies for over 5 years.  Natalie’s passion for helping people build their families began in 2003 when a friend educated her on surrogacy.  She went on to become a successful egg donor for three different families over the next few years and surrogacy was put on the back burner until she had completed her own family.  Fast forward to 2015, when her youngest was in preK, she decided to look into becoming a surrogate again.  She delivered a healthy baby for an international couple in 2016.  They have continued to remain friends, texting often.

Natalie’s professionalism, compassionate heart and personal experience in reproductive medicine, makes her a great addition to the PLS team. Her past experience includes being a Surrogate Intake Coordinator and then an Intended Parent Coordinator for Egg Donation.  Her favorite part about her time as a Surrogate Intake Coordinator was when she was able to present potential surrogates to intended parents and the excitement and hope that came with that moment.

Natalie resides in Woodstock, IL along with her family.  She is an avid reader, averaging about 100 books annually.  When the weather is warm and the river waters are up, her and her family can be found kayaking; that is, when their busy soccer schedule allows for them to have a Saturday or Sunday off!

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Jenni Symons

Jenni is our Case Manager and a well seasoned surrogate. She was born and raised in Idaho and is a lover of all things Disney. Her first glimpse into the world of surrogacy was when a dear friend suffered pregnancy complications that led to an inability to carry on her own. From there, she was hooked. Fast forward a few years, Jenni realized her calling and became a surrogate for a lovely single dad in Spain. She delivered a sweet as can be, baby boy in 2019. They still stay in touch and Jenni plans to visit them in Spain. Then, in 2021, she delivered another baby boy for a wonderful California couple, who she loves to get together with for “family reunions.”

Jenni’s optimism, compassion, and personal experience make her a natural fit for Private Label Surrogacy. She has previously worked as a Surrogacy Intake Coordinator, which led to her becoming a full-fledged Case Manager. Jenni has now been working in the family building industry for 4 years and she has found working in surrogacy to be fulfilling and extremely rewarding. She has even cultivated lifelong friendships with former surrogates she’s guided.

When Jenni is not working, you can find her spending time with her husband and 3 daughters, enjoying all that Idaho has to offer with hikes, bike rides, and walks. Although, most of her free time is filled with all her daughters’ dance activities.

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Maribel Urrutia

Maribel joined the Private Label Surrogacy team as our resident Marketing Manager. She graduated from the University of Missouri in 2019 and comes to PLS with 5+ years of working in marketing for fertility companies and knows the ins and outs of recruiting surrogates, egg donors, and intended parents to build lifelong relationships.

She has an established track record of creating solutions centered around client experience, engagement, and consumer behavior changes. Throughout her career, Maribel has advised organizations tackling growth, innovation, and strategy updates. Her skills and passion for surrogacy and egg donation resonate with the core PLS values and bring a fresh perspective to current practices.

Maribel currently lives in Chicago. Outside of the office, she can be found recipe testing new dishes, reading, and on the weekends you can find her running the lakefront path with her German Shepherd Dog.

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Julie Bendix, MPH, RD, LD, CLC

Julie serves as our Registered Dietitian (RD) and Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC). Julie counsels surrogates throughout their pregnancy to optimize their prenatal health and nutritional status and subsequently the health of the fetus. As the founder of Julie Bendix Nutrition Consulting, her areas of expertise include nutrition counseling for fertility and preconception, pregnancy and postpartum, gestational diabetes, lactation and breastfeeding, infant and child nutrition, and food allergies.

Julie earned a BS in Dietetics from the University of Wisconsin, and an MPH (Masters in Public Health) from the University of Michigan. In addition to her private practice, she has worked as a public health dietitian for Heartland Alliance in Chicago, the Chicago Department of Public Health, Food & Friends in Washington D.C., and the Breastfeeding Center of Greater Washington.

Julie currently lives in the Chicago Suburbs with her husband and three young children. In her free time, Julie stays active with yoga, cycling, hiking, traveling, and cooking.

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