Pride Month South Africa 2024 – Fertility Clinic Solutions for LGBTIAQ+ Persons
In South Africa, Pride Month is celebrated in October each year with the aim of raising awareness of the challenges faced by the LGBTIAQ+ community, and to support the recognition and protection of the human rights they are also entitled to – including the right to have a family.
For many years, Medfem Fertility Clinic has helped single LGBTIAQ+ persons and couples to start their families in a caring and professional environment. In celebrating this year’s Pride Month, we are proud to share in this article some of the family-building solutions we offer the LGBTIAQ+ community.
Each year in October, Pride Month is celebrated in South Africa, commemorating the first Joburg Pride held on 13 October 1990. It was also Africa’s first Pride event, and around eight hundred people marched in Johannesburg, their faces covered with paper bags because, at the time, LGBTIAQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, asexual, queer/questioning) rights were not yet protected.
Even though much progress has been made since then to affirm the rights of LGBTIAQ+ persons and couples, many often face challenges and obstacles when it comes to equal enjoyment of even basic human rights, including reproductive rights.
The World Health Organization https://www.who.int/ defines reproductive rights as follows: Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence.
One place where members of the LGBTIAQ+ community can be certain to find great respect and support for their reproductive rights is at Medfem Fertility Clinic in Sandton, Johannesburg.
For many years, our team has provided a caring and professional environment in which LGBTIAQ+ persons and couples can explore the best options for building their families. We know that the fertility options and issues facing LGBTIAQ+ persons and couples can be quite different from those available to traditional families. There are numerous medical treatment options, as well as financial, legal and emotional obstacles that require special attention and knowledge. We bring all our expertise and experience into play to give you the best chance of having a baby, and some of the solutions we offer are detailed below.
Sperm donations
Single women and lesbian couples, in most cases, require only a sperm donation and a medical procedure to fertilise one of the partners’ eggs. Such a sperm donation could be either from a known donor or an anonymous donor.
A known sperm donor could be a friend or a family member. The sperm donated is screened extensively for infectious diseases, before being frozen and placed in quarantine for six months. Thereafter it is tested again for infectious diseases, before it can be used.
Sperm from an anonymous donor can be selected from Medfem Fertility Clinic’s sperm bank, which features an extensive list of screened anonymous sperm donors, and provide information such as physical attributes, as well as education, profession and hobbies, among other details.
Based on an evaluation of the recipient’s reproductive function, the eggs may be fertilised through artificial insemination, or more advanced reproductive therapies such as IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation).
Egg donations
A couple may also need an egg donation to build their family. In this case, too, it may be a known or an anonymous donor. At Medfem Fertility Clinic, we work only with reputable egg donation agencies. Our team of specialists and our psychologist will also administer further extensive screening of prospective egg donors to ensure a safe and healthy outcome.
Artificial insemination
Artificial insemination is a simple procedure in which sperm is placed directly into the uterus, where it will meet and hopefully fertilise the ovulated egg.
This procedure can be performed during a natural menstrual cycle or a cycle in which ovulation is enhanced by oral medication or injectable ovulation induction agents that can significantly increase pregnancy success and often shorten treatment duration.
IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation)
Where artificial insemination is not a viable option, other types of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) solutions can be considered, most notably IVF, which can be performed with a woman’s own eggs or with donated eggs.
During IVF, the eggs are fertilised with sperm in a lab to create embryos (fertilised eggs). The embryos are then transferred into the recipient’s uterus, where it will hopefully implant and become a pregnancy.
Traditional and gestational surrogacy
Surrogacy is a solution for many LGBTIAQ+ persons and couples. There are two types of surrogacy: traditional and gestational.
Traditional surrogacy is a simple and relatively inexpensive treatment option, and can achieve pregnancy with basic fertility treatments and little coordination. Traditional surrogacy involves a surrogate mother carrying a pregnancy conceived with her own eggs and artificial insemination, for a couple who are the intended parents. The surrogate mother has a contract with the intended parents, and after the birth, she gives the child to the couple.
Gestational surrogacy is when a woman (called a gestational carrier) becomes pregnant after a fertilised donated egg is transferred into her uterus. Because the egg is donated, the gestational carrier is not genetically related to the child.
After birth, the child is given to the intended parents. Because this process involves more coordination between the intended parents, the egg donor, and the gestational surrogate, it tends to be more involved and costly than traditional surrogacy.
At Medfem Fertility Clinic, we will recommend that you seek appropriate legal advice prior to treatment to prevent any future difficulties arising regarding parenthood and your rights. Counselling is also a routine part of any surrogacy arrangement. In addition, our team of specialists and our psychologist will assist with extensive screening of prospective surrogates on your behalf.
Find Your Family-Building Solution
At Medfem Fertility Clinic, we have many decades of experience in assisting LGBTIAQ+ persons and couples to have a child of their own. In many thoughtful ways, we can help you achieve your family dream.
For example, we can assist LGBTIAQ+ couples to share the treatment and parenting experience. For a lesbian couple, we can assist by enabling one partner to serve as the egg donor, while the other partner acts as the gestational carrier. In a gay couple, we can arrange for the use of a combination of both partners’ sperm. Similarly, if an egg donor is related to one partner, sperm from the other male partner can be used to fertilise the eggs, creating a genetic link in the offspring to both intended fathers.
Our caring and supportive medical staff have a long history of working with non-traditional families and we support our LGBTIAQ+ patients through the entire process of creating their family.
If you would like to meet one of our fertility specialists at Medfem Fertility Clinic in Sandton, Johannesburg, simply click here to book an initial consultation or contact us telephonically on +27 (11) 463 2244.
Our fertility specialists can also meet with you during a virtual consultation via Zoom or Skype. Click here to book a virtual consultation now.
We look forward to meeting you!