How to become a parent it you are LGBTQ+

The healthcare sector and the LGBTQ+ community have a long and often painful history of inequality. As a queer individual or couple, it can often feel overwhelming when you are at the start of your journey to parenthood. But it doesn’t need to be. 

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)

IUI involves placing sperm directly into the uterus to facilitate fertilisation. It’s a less invasive and often preferred option for many couples, especially those who are older or how low sperm quality.

In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF)

IVF is a process where eggs are fertilised by sperm outside the body, and the resulting embryos are then transferred to the uterus. This method is suitable for various fertility challenges.

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)

ICSI is a specialised form of IVF where a single sperm is injected directly into an egg. This technique is often used when there are male fertility issues.

Shared Motherhood

Shared Motherhood allows both partners in a same-sex female couple to actively participate in the pregnancy journey. One partner provides the eggs, which are fertilised and then transferred to the other partner's womb for the pregnancy.

Using a donor

Utilising donor sperm, eggs, or embryos is a viable option for individuals and couples looking to achieve pregnancy:

• Donor sperm:Choosing from a diverse selection of donor sperm to fertilise eggs, ensuring compatibility and preferences are met.
• Donor eggs: Selecting a donor with characteristics that align with your family's needs, facilitating conception through IVF.

• Donor embryos:Exploring embryos donated by other couples to achieve pregnancy, providing an alternative pathway to parenthood.

Fertility preservation

Fertility preservation allows individuals to safeguard their reproductive potential for future family-building efforts:

• Egg freezing: Preserving eggs through cryopreservation, ensuring fertility options remain viable after medical treatments or for personal reasons.
• Sperm freezing: Storing sperm samples for later use in assisted reproductive techniques, maintaining genetic material integrity.

Fertility treatment can be a long and tough journey. We offer counselling to all our patients to provide emotional support and help you navigate the challenges of treatment. 

It is important for LGBTQ+ couples and individuals understand the legal aspects of their treatment. In particular, surrogacy agreements are not enforceable in law and the surrogate and spouse or civil partner (if there is one) will be the legal parent of a child until a parental order is granted. At Care Fertility we will only provide treatment where we are assured that the intended parents will – subject to the surrogate’s consent – be able to get a parental order.  

For same-sex couples who are considering shared motherhood, there may be questions around adoption, to ensure that both parents are legally acknowledged. 

Surrogacy and adoption are particularly complex areas of family law and while we cannot recommend legal advisers, we have listed below a number of advisers who we believe have the relevant experience. There is no obligation for you to seek advice from any of these firms of course. 
Livingstons  
Laytons LLP  
NGA Law  
Makin Dixon  
JMW Solicitors 
Family Law Group  

Take the first step on the path to parenthood by booking a consultation with one of our fertility experts. 

“In our content, we use terms like 'same-sex male/female couples,' 'AMAB/AFAB individuals,' 'sperm donor', and ‘egg donor’ to be inclusive of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. We are committed to respecting and acknowledging the diversity within our community. If there are alternative terms you prefer or feel more comfortable with, please let us know."