Fertility law attorney Rich Vaughn combined his passion for family formation with over 20 years of experience in business and technology law and founded International Fertility Law Group (IFLG), one of the most successful and best-known law firms in the world focusing on assisted reproductive technology law.
Rich Vaughn first studied reproductive and fertility law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law in the early 1990s. In 1993, Rich began providing litigation, contract, technology, marketing and corporate legal services to individual clients, companies and municipalities in Chicago and Los Angeles. During his own experience of becoming a parent via egg donation and surrogacy, Rich discovered a renewed passion for fertility law and launched IFLG, which focuses exclusively on assisted reproductive technology legal services. Since then he’s had the opportunity to help thousands of intended parents from all over the world create families via assisted reproduction.
In addition to his busy legal practice, Rich devotes numerous volunteer hours to advancing the field of ART law and is a dedicated advocate for LGBT intended parents and families. He is immediate past chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Family Law Section Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology, which played a leading role in developing model legislation to assist states in regulating assisted reproductive technology medical providers and donor and surrogacy agencies. He is a founder of and speaker at the first Cambridge University International Surrogacy Symposium held in June 2019. He served on the National Board of Path2Parenthood (formerly American Fertility Association) and is an active member of the California Bar Association (CBA) and its Family Law Section, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) Legal Professionals Group, and the National LGBT Bar Association. He has been published in numerous professional journals, including the American Bar Association’s SciTech Lawyer, for which he also served as issue editor, International Family Law Journal, Family Law Review, American Journal of Fertility Law and the Australian Family Law Journal; he has presented at numerous legal and family-building conferences around the U.S., including Yale University School of Law and California Western School of Law; and he has been cited as a fertility law expert in numerous reports, including The Washington Post, CNN, National Public Radio (NPR), Parenting Magazine Live, and The ABA Journal, to name a few. Away from the office, Rich is a proud advocate for LGBT equality and gay and lesbian parenting as a member and supporter of the Family Equality Council and provides community service in the medical, health and wellness industries. He is also an experienced fitness instructor, triathlete, a former paramedic, and board member of a medical device company. In 2008, Rich and his spouse, Tommy Woelfel, were married in California and became the proud parents, through egg donation and surrogacy, of twin sons Aiden and Austin.
Juris Doctor (J.D.), Loyola University Chicago School of Law
Specialized in Reproductive and Fertility Law, early 1990s
In the still, often emotionally charged space where a family begins, hope meets uncertainty. For intended parents standing before a chart of embryos, each representing
At IFLG, we’ve been closely tracking the lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s executive order of January 20th, 2025, attempting to end birthright citizenship. TODAY, a
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THE SHORT ANSWER: It’s still unfolding. The Court’s decision on June 27, 2025, did not address the guarantee of citizenship for those born on U.S.
In a world too often defined by discord and delay, progress sometimes arrives without fanfare—just unspoken agreement that something long overlooked needs to be made
