Beginning Families gives hope
Tulane School of Social Work alumna Suzanne Loeb has helped welcome dozens of babies in Louisiana. She counsels intended parents, birth parents, donors and gestational carriers. Loeb keeps an office, but often counsels clients in their homes to make them feel more comfortable. (Photo by Paula Burch-Celentano)
When Suzanne Loeb sits down to counsel a woman desperate to become a mother, she knows the woman"s anguished inner struggle between disappointment and promise, heartbreak and hope.
Loeb, who got her master"s degree in social work from Tulane University in 1994, has made a career out of helping create families for others through Beginning Families, a New Orleansâ“based business that specializes in egg donation, gestational carriers and adoption. Loeb works with people on all aspects of fertility issues, from counseling intended parents to psychiatric evaluations for birth mothers and gestational carriers “anything dealing with infertility or building a family,” Loeb said.
“Infertility is a disease for which there are many cures.”—Suzanne Loeb, social worker, Beginning Families
“The way I look at things, infertility is a disease for which there are many cures. But everybody"s choice is different.”
A licensed clinical social worker, Loeb works alongside attorney Amy Kern at Beginning Families, which helps clients navigate Louisiana"s complicated laws. Most of their clients are referred by infertility clinics or by word-of-mouth.
Loeb has counseled all sides at one time or another intended parents, birth parents, donors, gestational carriers and even the children born into these unique families.
Loeb said she has been in the delivery room as the only support for birth mothers who plan to place their babies for adoption.
“I don"t want them to be alone for that. I treat the client in the manner in which I"d like to be treated if I were in their position. They are, in my opinion, making the most courageous and caring decision for their child.”
She also has a private practice where she counsels not just those involved in adoption or fertility struggles, but also teens in crisis.
Loeb is nationally certified in crisis intervention and suicide prevention and intervention. She also teaches other clinicians about signs of suicide and suicide awareness in school-age children.
