Fertility support and grants in Cincinnati

Julia was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She completed her undergrad at Ohio University where she made great connections in the Jewish Community through Hillel who eventually convinced her to move to Cincinnati post-graduation (after a brief stint in Santiago, Chile). Since moving to Cincinnati in 2012, Julia has lived in Clifton, Norwood, East Walnut Hills, and Pleasant Ridge neighborhoods and received her M.B.A. from UC. She is married to her college sweetheart, Brock, and they currently live in Mt. Washington with their yellow lab, Sadie. Julia likes running, crafting, reading, potatoes, ice cream, and puns. When she’s not working at The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, you can find her canoeing with Sadie and Brock on East Fork Lake in the summer or at a Starbucks all year round (and now in the drive thru line due to the pandemic).

Why JFF?

Julia believes in bringing a positive conversation about infertility into the spotlight. So many families struggle with it, and it affects many in the community. She believes in the work that JFF is doing to flip the narrative surrounding infertility from shame to education so we can all support the members of our kehila who are struggling. JFF provides a fantastic resource for the Cincinnati community and she is excited to help facilitate its growth!

Rachel Loftspring is a Partner at Essig & Evans, LLP, where she practices Fertility Law exclusively. As a Fertility Law attorney, Rachel counsels clients from the United States and around the world on family-building through surrogacy as well as egg, sperm, and embryo donation. Her clients are intended parents and gestational carriers, recipients and donors, married and single, and of all sexual orientations.

Rachel is a Fellow of the prestigious Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys and a member of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine and the American Bar Association’s Assisted Reproductive Technology Committee. Rachel posts about Fertility Law on Instagram at @FertilityLawAttorney.

Rachel received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she was inducted into the Order of the Coif, and earned her BA from Emory University, where she graduated magna cum laude and, as an alumna, served as President of the Emory College Alumni Board. Between college and law school, Rachel earned her culinary arts degree from Mausi Sebess in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship awarded to her by the Buckhead Rotary Club.

Outside of her legal practice, Rachel is an active participant and advocate in her community. She is on the board of the American Jewish Committee Cincinnati, Chair of the Jewish Fertility Foundation – Cincinnati, and regularly organizes and hosts events for an array of organizations and causes. Rachel and her husband, a cardiologist, live in Cincinnati, Ohio, with their 4-year-old Lady Gaga-loving daughter and airplane-obsessed 2-year-old son. In her spare time, Rachel is teaching her kids (and herself) how to grow a vegetable garden and is working on her Peloton groupie status.

WHY JFF?
In her Fertility Law practice, Rachel provides legal counsel for clients experiencing infertility who are building their families through third-party reproduction. But Rachel felt a need to do more. When she learned of Jewish Fertility Foundation and its incredible work in Atlanta, she immediately thought the Cincinnati community would benefit from having Jewish Fertility Foundation in Cincinnati.

Alexis brings almost 20 years of experience in education, curriculum, and exhibit design, with a particular focus on topics around the Holocaust, genocide, and human rights. Currently, she serves as a senior facilitator with Echoes & Reflections, a multimedia Holocaust resource collaboration between the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Yad Vashem, and the USC Shoah Foundation, and co-teaches courses in the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University. Until 2016, Alexis served as director of education with Cincinnati’s Holocaust and Humanity Center (HHC), where she was also the project director for the curated exhibition ‘Unlocking the Gates of Auschwitz’ hosted by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Most recently, Alexis spent a year at Cincinnati’s JCRC laying the groundwork for their Leaders in Light institute’s curriculum and branding. Prior to her work in Cincinnati, Alexis worked at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center (ILHMEC) and with the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. Alexis spent time teaching in Berlin, Germany, and is a graduate of the 19-day Teaching the Holocaust and Antisemitism course at Yad Vashem and the Jewish Non-Profit Leadership Institute. Alexis holds a master’s degree in European history from Binghamton University and a master’s degree in elementary education from Roosevelt University (Chicago, IL). She received her bachelor’s degree in history and women’s studies from the University of Pittsburgh. Alexis and her husband, Bartley are both transplants to Cincinnati, and were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend. They recently returned from Israel with Cincinnati’s 2nd Honeymoon Israel cohort. They have two adorably hilarious sons, and an overly affectionate pup, Nala. In her spare time, Alexis enjoys serving on the executive board of the Mt. Lookout Community Council, reading People magazine, and taking family hikes.

Why JFF?

Before welcoming their second son through IVF, Alexis struggled for almost four years with secondary infertility. Much of this struggle was in silence- and as a verbal processor, this was not easy. In addition to the financial shock and juggling work and childcare with fertility treatments, she wanted another woman to vent to, laugh about injections with, and someone to distract her during the unbearable “two week wait.” After discovering JFF, Alexis didn’t feel so alone in her family’s journey, and instead felt more empowered. She is thrilled to support and serve such a welcoming and warm organization as JFF.