Laine Halpern Zisman, PhD

Birth Mark Doula, Toronto

Birth Mark Doula, Seed & Sprout

Specialty: fertility doula, facilitation

Dr. Laine Halpern Zisman is a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Public Health and Social Policy at the University of Victoria. Her work moves through the intersections of 2SLGBTQ+ equity, culture, and reproductive care. She received a PhD from the University of Toronto in 2018, prior to which she completed an MFA in Documentary Media at Toronto Metropolitan University in 2013. Laine is a certified fertility support practitioner and family-building educator, helping people navigate all stages of their perinatal journeys. She has published two collected volumes, Women and Popular Culture in Canada (2020) and the second edition of Queerly Canadian, co-edited with Professor Scott Rayter (2023). Her next book Conceivable: Making 2SLGBTQ+ Family will be released in Fall 2024 (Fernwood Publishing). Laine currently lectures at the University of Toronto.

Recent Awards and Fellowships: Community One Rainbow Grant (2023); SSHRC Partner Engage Grant (2023); SSHRC Connection Grant (2022); CIHR Health Hub fellowship (2022); CATR O'Neill Book Prize (2022); Graduate Mellon Fellowship (2017); and Course Instructor Teaching Excellence Award (2018)