Mollie Walker, Co-Founder of TN Fertility Advocates
VP, Manager of Business Development at Simmons Bank
Mollie is the co-founder of Tennessee Fertility Advocates. She is a proud alumni of the University of Memphis, attends Grace Valley Church, and currently serves as the Manager of Business Development for Simmons Bank. She is also actively active in the Collierville Chamber and Collierville Rotary Club and President for Collierville Rotary Foundation Board. She is the wife to Taylor and a proud mother of two beautiful children; however, the road to having them wasn’t easy. With no insurance coverage for infertility, years of trying to conceive, and two miscarriages it felt overwhelming, lonely, and hopeless at times. Now she advocates passionately for others that the disease of infertility would be covered by insurance in the state of TN so the financial barrier is removed and allows more couples the opportunity to conceive their own children. Mollie feels truly blessed to lead the advocacy efforts for TN Fertility advocates. She gives thanks to the Lord for each and every day here on this earth and her prayer is that each day she wakes up she would be able to make a difference on this side of Eternity.
Mollie Walker, Co-Founder of TN Fertility Advocates
Lauren Brown, Co-Founder of TN Fertility Advocates
West Tennessee Marketing Specialist at Simmons Bank
Lauren is the co-founder of Tennessee Fertility Advocates based in Memphis, TN. She is a past and current fertility patient that is working to ensure that affordable fertility coverage is accessible to all families across the state of Tennessee. Lauren currently serves as a Marketing Specialist for Simmons Bank and shares her 4 year old daughter, Katherine and newborn, Caroline, with her husband Houston.
Lauren Brown, Co-Founder of TN Fertility Advocates
Kara Edwards - Founder, Starfish Infertility Foundation
Kara Edwards is the Nashville Grassroots Advocate Lead for TN Fertility Advocates. It took Kara, and her husband Brandon, nearly four years with six hundred and three injections, before welcoming their boy/girl twins in 2013. Blessed with the answer to their prayers, it did not come without a cost. They spent well over $100,000 creating their family, an amount insurmountable to most. In 2015, Kara created Starfish Infertility Foundation. SIF is a 501c3 committed to providing financial support for those struggling with infertility in the United States. SIF awards grants to those couples without provisions through their insurance, nor the financial resources to pay for treatments. SIF also partners with clinics to bring additional resources and treatment funding to those in need. Kara has become true advocate for the rights of the infertile. Her willingness to be an “open book” regarding her struggles has given so many woman a safe place to be truly open and honest about their own journey. While each injection was a terrible reminder to Kara of what her body could not do for itself, she is grateful for each and every single one. Not just because it gave her what she always wanted in motherhood, but something else she didn’t even know she was looking for—a purpose.
Kara Edwards, Nashville Grassroots Lead for TN Fertility Advocates
Chelsea Caldwell, Esq. - Midwest Fertility Law Group, PLC
Chelsea is a Tennessee assisted reproduction and surrogacy attorney and is a partner of Midwest Fertility Law Group, PLC. She has experience of serving clients worldwide seeking to build their families through surrogacy, gamete donation, embryo donation, and stepparent adoption. As both an adoptee and having personal infertility experience, Chelsea brings compassion and understanding to her clients and knows both personally and professionally the challenges that arise within family formation. Chelsea is a passionate advocate for ensuring that infertility treatment is affordable and accessible for all individuals that desire to grow their family.
Chelsea Caldwell, Esq. - Midwest Fertility Law Group, PLC
Erica Kaye, MD MPH - St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Erica Kaye is a pediatric oncologist and hospice and palliative medicine physician and researcher. She received her undergraduate degree from Yale, her medical degree from Harvard, and her Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins. Dr. Kaye shares openly about her personal experience with infertility and advocates for greater awareness of the impact of infertility on women in science and medicine. She is the author of a manuscript published in the New England Journal of Medicine calling for improved fertility benefits as an essential pillar of adequate healthcare coverage. Dr. Kaye is proud to join collaborative efforts to advocate for fertility coverage at the state legislative level in Tennessee.
Assistant Member; Department of Oncology
Associate Program Director; UTHSC Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program
Chair, Qualitative Research Network
Director, Student Research Program
Division of Quality of Life and Palliative Care
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Erica Kaye, MD MPH - St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Melody Harrah - East Tennessee Advocate Lead
Melody is the East Tennessee Grassroots Advocate Lead for TN Fertility Advocates.
Born and raised in Puebla, Mexico, but now calls Maryville, TN home. She lives in Maryville with her husband of ten years, Sante, and their two dogs, Buddy and Peppa. Melody has worked in public health for the past 6 years as a Certified Healthcare Interpreter, currently working at a local health department. After delaying infertility treatments for years due to the fear of costs, Melody decided that she was going to make a difference through sharing her own fertility journey and advocating for others to help achieve their goals of building their own family. She is a current fertility patient, and while it’s a very difficult journey both physically and mentally, she finds that giving her pain a purpose, through advocacy, gets her through the hardest days.
Melody Harrah, East Tennessee Advocate Team Lead
Alexis Ehrat
Alexis is a born & raised Memphian who presently lives in Germantown with her husband, Austin and their Labrador, Wrigley. She is an entrepreneur AND passionate volunteer. Alexis and Austin have been struggling with infertility for the past two and a half years with no diagnosis. Their life consists of appointments, procedures, medications, IVF and miscarriage while pursuing their goal - to grow their family.
Alexis Ehrat, Social Media Assistant for TN Fertility Advocates