Ray Rachlin

Licensed Midwife, Certified Professional Midwife, Queer Fertility Expert & Author

I’m a certified professional midwife, queer fertility expert, author, non-binary parent, partner, friend, activist, and educator based in West Philadelphia. When I founded Refuge Midwifery in 2017, I sought to create a home for families not served by the medical industrial complex’s approach to fertility and birth. I am a licensed midwife in New Jersey, and graduated with my BS in midwifery from Birthingway College of Midwifery in 2016, and also hold a BA in political science and (the other) labor studies from Queen College in 2009.

Over the years of providing queer and trans centered fertility, IUI, and home birth care, the gulf in knowledge and resources – and my own challenging family building journey – inspired me to create more resources for my community. My book Baby Making For Everybody: Family Building and Fertility for LBGTQ+ and Solo Parents, co-authored with Marea Goodman, was published by Hachette in 2023.

After Baby Making for Everybody, I began teaching midwives throughout the country how to offer the model of queer and trans centered fertility and IUI care. I’ve had the privilege to train hundreds of midwives and docs through my own practice and in partnership with medical schools, midwifery programs, and non-profits.

Yet I continued to be met with an undeniable need for expanded access to affirming fertility care across communities. After retiring from baby catching in 2025, I am focusing on helping Queer and Trans people access affirming, competent, affordable family building care everywhere — both at Refuge and by training the next generation of queer centered fertility and IUI providers.

You can find your path to getting care with me here. If you are interested in learning more about how to offer queer centered fertility and IUI care and deepen your expertise, I have created a learning center including my signature class IUI for Midwives, ongoing continuing education you can attend live or purchase for learning. I also partner with institutions to bring queer and trans centered fertility and perinatal education to the next generation of providers. If you are interested in having me teach at your program, fill out the contact form here.

values

Influencing Positive Change in Mainstream Health Systems From the Outside

Midwifery is reproductive justice through healthcare. Our work is grounded in Queer and Trans liberation, Black liberation, fat liberation, disability justice, and decolonization. These values shape not only who we welcome, but how we provide care.

We offer an attentive, respectful alternative to an infertility system that can overly medicalize Queer and Trans family building. Queer-centered fertility care begins with the assumption that you are fertile, and we work in partnership to help you understand your fertility and make the right decisions for yourself and your family.

We also practice from a weight-neutral, body-liberation framework. BMI does not define your health, and people of every size deserve individualized, evidence-based, respectful care.

We are committed to changing what fertility care can look like for everybody. We train other healthcare providers to bring this model into their own practices, so every queer person can have an affirming fertility provider in their own community.

We’re here to be a refuge for your family—or your midwifery practice—to grow.