About us
Avenir means future in French. We chose that name because your future is exactly what we are here for.
We built this agency because we went through this process ourselves. We know how hard it can be. We know how confusing it feels. And we knew it could be done better, with more honesty, more care, and real people who actually support you every step of the way.
JUNIOR VELAZQUEZ
Founder & CEO
When Junior met Romain, Elliot was about a year and a half old. Romain had become a father through surrogacy and egg donation, and Junior stepped into that story with his whole heart.
He saw up close what it really means to build a family this way. The courage it takes. The trust you place in people you don’t know. The hope you hold onto through every step of a process that is anything but simple. He did not just witness it. He felt it. He lived it as a husband, as a stepfather, as someone who loves a child who came into this world through one of the most extraordinary acts of human generosity.
That changed him. And it never left him.
Junior speaks English and Spanish and works with families from all over the world. He oversees the US and Mexico programs, the team, the clinic partnerships, all of it. But what you notice first about Junior is not any of that. It is that he actually listens. He asks the right questions. He tells you what you need to hear, not just what sounds good.
He built Avenir because he believes every family going through this deserves someone who genuinely cares about how their story ends. Not just professionally. Personally. He is that person.
KATIE BARNES
Program Coordinator, Education & Advocacy
Katie has been a surrogate three times. Let that sink in for a second.
Surrogacy did not just change the lives of the families she carried for, it changed hers too. After her third journey she found herself wanting more of this world, not less. The connections, the purpose, the feeling of being part of something that genuinely matters. So she went looking for a way to stay in it, and found her place here at Avenir.
She will tell you she is practical, creative, and deeply detail-oriented, but what you notice first is how much she genuinely cares. The administrative side of surrogacy, the coordination, the paperwork, the moving pieces, that is her territory. She handles all of it so that the intended parents and the surrogate can do what they are actually here to do: get to know each other and build something real together.
Katie has walked this path herself. Three times. So when she says she gets it, she actually gets it. The waiting. The appointments. The emotions that do not have names yet. She has been there. And because of that, she makes it her mission that nobody on her watch ever feels like they are navigating this alone.
Outside of work she is out in her garden, on her Peloton, planning her next trip somewhere, even a weekend away counts, and at home with her family and her five cats. She also spends a good amount of time online advocating loudly for LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and human rights. That is just who she is.
Katie shows up for this work the same way she showed up for three surrogacy journeys, fully, and without reservation. That is not something you train into someone. That is just who she is.
