Assisted Reproduction for Gays and Lesbians
In recent decades, it is evident that the LGTBQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community are blurring the boundaries of what it means to enter parenthood. With more acceptance towards the LGTBQ community, increasingly more gays and lesbians open about their sexual orientation, [1] and with fewer laws, in some countries compared to others, restricting gays and lesbians from expressing themselves freely in society, [2] it calls for more equality to be present. This makes it possible for gay and lesbian couples to have access to clinics offering medically assisted reproduction along with reproductive technologies, which are also available for heterosexual couples, that assist with conception if desired. [1] Because same-sex couples are not biologically capable of producing and conceiving a child with one another, assisted reproduction offers gays and lesbians a chance to become parents without having to adopt. [3] In this way, gay and lesbian couples can be the biological parents of the child or children they wish to have. [3]
Emergence of Assisted Reproduction
Being gay or lesbian in the past was deemed unordinary and was widely unaccepted in many societies.[1] Nonetheless, beginning in the 1970’s, lesbian women were seeking parenthood together and made their concerns known to the public.[1] Thus, clinics began accepting lesbian women in order to aid with conception.[1] A decade later, gay couples started showing their interests in wanting to become fathers too, so this was a period when substantial amounts of reproductive treatments first started being conducted for males as well.[1]
Types of Reproductive Treatments and Methods
In the 21st century, there are numerous options and methods available for same-sex couples wanting to conceive a biological child.[3]
Options for Lesbians
A common assisted reproductive option available for lesbians is called donor insemination.[3] This is when sperm from a male donor is taken and inserted inside the female to fertilize the females eggs.[3] The many methods, other than sexual intercourse, of transferring the male donor semen to the female’s eggs is known as artificial insemination and includes: intrauterine insemination, gamete intrafallopian tube transfer, zygot intrafallopian transfer, and lastly in vitro fertilization.[3] In vitro fertilization is widely used and is when the sperm of the male parent is used to fertilize eggs gotten from the woman. Next, the developing offspring is grown in a lab and later placed in the uterus of the woman.[3]
Options for Gays
A popular reproductive health option available for gay men is surrogacy.[3] Surrogacy refers to the process of a woman, who is the surrogate, conceiving on behalf of a male by artificial insemination.[3] In this case, one or both male partners may provide the sperm for fertilization.[3] Moreover, the surrogate can both carry the child and provide the eggs for fertilization or the woman can carry the child but not provide the eggs for fertilization.[3] The surragote is typically a friend or relative of the gay couple, or a surrogate can also consist of someone who identifies themselves as lesbian.[3]
Laws on Assisted Reproduction
Some countries are more accepting of same-sex partnership, marriage, and conception, where others are not. With this in mind, laws on people who identify as either gay or lesbian differ in various countries and either condone or prohibit the practice of assisted reproduction by enforcing rules and regulations.[1]
Canada
In 2004, Canada's government passed the Assisted Human Reproduction Act. [2] This act outlines rules and constraints about practicing assisted reproduction in Canada, for both the future parents and the health care professionals commencing with the treatment.[2] Furthermore, the act treats some reproductive circumstances as a criminal offense and this essentially causes controversy as well as complications for citizens seeking assisted reproduction in Canadian society. [2]
United States
Under the United States’ federal government, laws on assisted reproduction do not consist of criminal restrictions. [2] However state laws can limit the rights of individuals seeking access to medically assisted reproduction. For example, the Florida has a law banning gays and lesbians from adopting children. To add, surrogacy for gay men is a much more difficult process to achieve if residing in New York.[3]
Controversies Surrounding Assisted Reproduction
There are various concerns that arise when the topic of assisted reproduction is brought forth. For instance, many gay and lesbian couples face scrutiny over their capability of becoming parents in society. [3] In addition, the psychological and mental health of a same-sex couples children is debated. [3]
Issues Gays and Lesbians Face
Same-sex couples endure discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes due to their sexual orientation. Many in society question why gays and lesbians would contemplate becoming parents and hold judgements that imply that gay and lesbians would not be as beneficial to their children as heterosexual parents would be.[3] To add, the gender roles, behavior, and emotional states of gays and lesbians are challenged more so than heterosexual couples. Solely based on gender, there are beliefs that two men would lack the nurturing qualities necessary to raise a child. Likewise, women are presumed to be too emotionally unstable to succeed in their parenting.[3]
Child Well-Being Concerns
Some may hold the belief that the child of gay or lesbian parents will be effected in a negative way when reproductive technologies are used. [3] Studies on gay and lesbian parent families have concluded that there is no greater psychological or emotional distress that comes about in children growing up with same-sex parents. [3] Another popularly held belief is that the child will have an unsteady relationship with his or her parent when in fact, this is not the case. [3] Essentially, there is no significant difference found in a child who is raised by a man and a woman when compared to a child who is either raised by two men or two women. [3] However, recent research has found that assisted reproduction is tied to an increased risk of birth defects in children even when a substantial amount of assisted births are found to be free from such defects. [4]
Assisted Reproduction Contributions
Medically assisted reproduction is important in that it gives a new meaning to parenthood for individuals who are unable to produce and conceive a child of their own. Essentially, reproductive technologies have helped shape the path to fatherhood and motherhood for gays and lesbians. In a larger sense, the dynamic between individuals and technology can be examined. [5]
Future for Assisted Reproduction and Reproductive Technologies
The demand for assisted conception and the use of reproductive technologies is expected thrive for both heterosexual and homosexual couples.[5] Moreover, assisted reproduction will continue opening doors to countless new studies and research in the fields of science, medicine, law, psychology, anthropology, and sociology.[5] Research involving gay and lesbian couples can further explore topics such as the effects of reproductive techniques on the development of the child, the parent-child relationship, and the development of the child in a same-sex parent household.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Greenfeld, A. D. (2016). Same-sex reproduction: medical treatment options and psychosocial considerations. Current opinion in obstetrics & gynecology, 28(3). 202-205. doi:10.1097/GCO.0000000000000266
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Annas, J. G. (2011). Assisted Reproduction- Canada’s Supreme Court and the “Global Baby”. The New England Journal of Medicine, 365. 459-463. doi: 10.1056/NEJMhle1101361
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 Burnett, A. J. (2005). Use of Assisted Reproduction Technology and Gay and Lesbian Couples. Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling, 1(1). 115-125. doi:10.1300/J462v01n01_08
- ↑ Davies, J. M., Moore, M. V., Wilson, J. K., Essen, V. P., Priest, K., Scott, H., Haan, A. E., & Chan, A. (2012). Reproductive Technologies and the Risk of Birth Defects. The New England Journal of Medicine, 366(19). 1803-1813. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1008095
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Courduries, J., & Herbrand, C. (2016). Gender, kinship and assisted reproductive technologies: future directions after 30 years of research. Enfances Familles Generations, 21. 1-57. Retrieved from http://efg.revues.org/493