GOLD Speakers
Marea Goodman, LM, CPM
Ray Rachlin, LM, CPM
- Country: USA
Biography:
Marea Goodman (she/her) is a licensed midwife specializing in pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and conception care for the LGBTQ+ community. A graduate of the National Midwifery Institute, Marea got her license from the California Medical Board in 2015 and spent the following year and a half working at birth centers in El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala. She founded her midwifery practice, Restore Midwifery, in 2016 in the Bay Area, and is now serving the community in Santa Cruz, CA.
Aside from midwifery, Marea is also a writer whose work has been featured by the Huffington Post, Ms Magazine, and Mother.ly. She co-authored the book, Baby Making for Everybody—Family Building and Fertility for LGBTQ+ and Solo Parents, which is set to be published in April, 2023. She lives in Santa Cruz with her three children and her wife, Andrea Ruizquez, who is also a midwife.
Ray Rachlin (she/they) is a Licensed Midwife and Certified Professional Midwife providing home-birth midwifery care, fertility and home-IUI care, and community education throughout the greater Philadelphia area and South Jersey. Ray founded Refuge Midwifery in 2017 to create a home for families not served by our current healthcare system.
In addition to their midwifery practice, Ray has been immersed in promoting affirming reproductive care for transgender patients and has taught midwives, doctors, nurses, and birth professionals throughout the country on trans-inclusive fertility, birth, and postpartum care. In their private practice, Ray specializes in natural fertility support for individuals with prior hormone use. Ray is the co-author of the forthcoming book Baby Making for Everybody—a Guide for LGBTQ+ and Solo Parents, coming April 2023.
Ray earned their Bachelor of Science in midwifery at Birthingway College of Midwifery in Portland, Oregon, in 2016 and also holds a Bachelor of Science in political science, urban studies, and labor studies from Queens College. Ray is a member of the Queer and Transgender Midwives Association. Ray lives with their partner and child in Philadelphia, PA.