Should IVF be available to lesbians?

[TooBigForMyBoots]

And single women? Or should assisted conception only be for infertile women in heterosexual relationships?

[BluebellBlueballs]

NHS funded only when there is recognised infertility

So they would have to self fund IUI first

[Ladyofthesea]

Assisted conception isn't always ivf.....

[BluebellBlueballs]

@Ladyofthesea

If it wouldn't be available to lesbians then you want to force them have sex with a man against their will just to get pregnant? To me that feels like a form of legalized rape....

Oh ffs with the rape comment

What an insult to real rape victims

You do know a willing man can jizz in a container and leave it in the room?

[Shelefttheweb]

@Ladyofthesea

If it wouldn't be available to lesbians then you want to force them have sex with a man against their will just to get pregnant? To me that feels like a form of legalized rape....

Of course they wouldn’t! They could choose not to try to have a child. Or try a turkey baster .

[Winterday1991]

It's a difficult one, technically they are not medically infertile.

[Duckingella]

As the mother of a out and proud young gay woman I'd hope IVF wouldn't be denied to her by the NHS because of her sexuality

[Anonhopingforbaby]

Why should it not be? Will we then start to say it's only available to married women? To women who have been married for X amount of years? What a ridiculously homophobic and ignorant post

[ScandiNoirNuit]

Available - yes.
nhs funded - not unless infertile, although no idea how you prove that.

[readingisgreat]

No. The NHS was not designed for this.

[Emanresu9]

Available - yes

Funded by NHS - no (that goes for everyone)

[Shelefttheweb]

The question surely should be ‘should gamete donation be allowed’? For women, I think it shouldn’t be - egg donation is exploitative and harmful for the women involved. Obviously sperm is a different kettle of fish, and the ‘informal’ options are much broader and difficult to prevent. But I am not sure I am entirely comfortable with sperm donation either - creating a child purposefully divorced from its genetic heritage.

[Foreversearch]

@Ladyofthesea

If it wouldn't be available to lesbians then you want to force them have sex with a man against their will just to get pregnant? To me that feels like a form of legalized rape....

Have you never heard of turkey basters?

[TooBigForMyBoots]

I personally think that assisted conception should be available to women. Including single women and lesbians.

I ask because of some posts I've seen recently objecting to it. The reason given was that if lesbians can access help to conceive it would pave the way for more gay men to use surrogates.

[FredaFox]

Another vote for available yes, nhs no.

[lemons44]

@BordoisAgain

Available - yes

Funded by NHS - no (that goes for everyone)

That's a bit harsh regarding the NHS funding. Me and my husband are about to start NHS IVF as he has scar tissue preventing any sperm from entering his semen, which was caused by a hydrocele operation as a child (done by the NHS). Should we not be allowed NHS funded IVF in this instance either?

[olivehater]

Available yes.
Funded by the NHS -no.

[fabricstash]

@Shelefttheweb

The question surely should be ‘should gamete donation be allowed’? For women, I think it shouldn’t be - egg donation is exploitative and harmful for the women involved. Obviously sperm is a different kettle of fish, and the ‘informal’ options are much broader and difficult to prevent. But I am not sure I am entirely comfortable with sperm donation either - creating a child purposefully divorced from its genetic heritage.

So you think altruistic egg donation is not acceptable?

[IBroughtTheBunny]

I’m confused by so many people saying IVF shouldn’t be funded by the NHS?
You have to meet a lot of criteria to meet funded IVF, your BMI and life style choices are all taken into consideration and if they don’t fit right, you are told to go away and come back when they do. No other treatment on the NHS puts stipulations in place. They don’t refuse treatments to smokers or drug users and you generally never hear people say that they should. But then it comes to infertility and all of a sudden being a parent isn’t a right and we should just adopt.

[TrombonesAreNotBones]

The objection to surrogacy is not because the commissioning party is/are men/gay men. The objection to surrogacy is the ordering and creation of a baby that will be deliberately separated from it's mother at birth, a cruel act.

[fabricstash]

I ask as i did do it. I feel more like a living donor after I had my children

[dietcokelime]

@IBroughtTheBunny

I’m confused by so many people saying IVF shouldn’t be funded by the NHS?
You have to meet a lot of criteria to meet funded IVF, your BMI and life style choices are all taken into consideration and if they don’t fit right, you are told to go away and come back when they do. No other treatment on the NHS puts stipulations in place. They don’t refuse treatments to smokers or drug users and you generally never hear people say that they should. But then it comes to infertility and all of a sudden being a parent isn’t a right and we should just adopt.

You have to meet lots of criteria for a lot of NHS procedures, including losing weight, stopping smoking etc. They won't operate on people until they meet criteria.

I don't think "just adopt" is the solution either, obviously.

The NHS can't be everything to everybody. Being infertile is shit. It doesn't meant the taxpayer needs to fund IVF imo. The NHS shouldn't be providing IVF amongst a number of other things, it's unsustainable and I don't think it's a great use of public money.

[Anonhopingforbaby]

@TrombonesAreNotBones

The objection to surrogacy is not because the commissioning party is/are men/gay men. The objection to surrogacy is the ordering and creation of a baby that will be deliberately separated from it's mother at birth, a cruel act.

As opposed to all the babies born to cruel mothers who don't love them at all?

[Shelefttheweb]

@fabricstash

So you think altruistic egg donation is not acceptable?

Yes, I think it is not acceptable to put a young woman at risk like that or for her to suffer the harms of even straightforward ovarian stimulation and egg collection. I also think ‘altruistic’ hides the level of coercion that places women in that position. That aside, I have increasing doubts over gamete donation at all.

[CountZacular]

IVF should be available for all women with fertility issues on the NHS (regardless of whether they are in a relationship and whether that is heterosexual or lesbian).

If the issue is not infertility, then it should be an option but not an NHS funded one.

[theysaiditgetseasier]

No I don't think IVF should be available for same sex couples, I also don't think it should be funded by the NHS