Fertility treatment vs Gender Dysphoria treatment

[GimmieABreakOr3]

I work for a major health insurance company and I am disturbed that our cover includes gender dysphoria treatment including up to £200 for mastectomy bras (feel I could do with this just as a biological female) but not for cover for fertility treatment.

I absolutely despair and feel even more depressed and hopeless prior to checking my cover.

That is very depressing

The fertility point doesn't suprise me, as far as I know most insurers don't cover it.

I'm surprised it covers gender treatment though.

What is actually covered?

Diagnosis - up to three consultations with a consultant for gender dysphoria, outpatient hair removal, outpatient speech therapy, initial nice guidelines operation and treatment

Hmm.

I would presume this is because (rightly or wrongly), gender treatment isn't currently classed in the same "elective" / "lifestyle choice" box as fertility treatment.

Are these corporate policies or individual ones (or both)? I think I recall a news story a couple of years ago about a big employer adding gender cover to their employee policies. Could have been NatWest / Nationwide but I don't remember exactly.

I think it’s wrong - it is elective treatment imo . depressing that a biological woman with hormonal issues isn’t able to get care

If people are going to accept "gender affirming care" as acceptable at all, it has to be understood as life saving. Otherwise it would be considered far too dangerous as a cosmetic elective treatment.

So that's the story the medical system tells and insurers are in a bit of a bind given that the medical establishment has presented it that way (until recently at least.)

I agree with you, but at the moment it's not considered elective. Maybe that will change in the future, but at the moment it's not.

I think it's always been rare for insurance policies to cover fertility treatment, in fairness. It's not gender care at the expense of fertility treatment.

What do you mean it’s not gender care at the expense of fertility?

if they are now funding gender dysphoria treatment, I think we have a right to fertility treatment. It’s disgraceful.

And I guess reasoning would be mental health? What about how fertility and hormonal issues affects women’s (and men’s) mental health?

Again, I am not arguing with you personally per se on this, just presenting my thoughts!

I do hope it changes. Especially given so little people are having children now and we have an ageing population

I mean they're not providing gender care and taking away fertility care, or compromising it to provide gender care. Fertility care isn't usually covered and this has been the case for a good while.

Can you raise this internally at work?

Does the policy cover detransition care as well? I am going to guess not.

I wonder how the policy approaches the usual issue of not covering pre-existing issues ...

I think this is the reasoning in the US behind gender dysphoria still being classed as a medical condition / illness, even though the trans advocates always claim that it's not an illness. If gender dysphoria wasn't classed as an illness, the treatment would be viewed in the same way as other cosmetic procedures, and not covered by insurance.

It's just one of those contradictions in the genderism narrative. "It's not an illness, we don't need to be cured" alongside "It has to be classed as an illness so that I get the body modifications I want". See also "If I don't get the medical treatment I want, I might kill myself, but that doesn't mean I have a mental illness".

Well i imagine it will stop pdq as soon as they start to hear more about the litigation that may come their way

Nope - it does not.

Exactly. And this is what pisses me off!

Yet I, as a biological female, no children, difficulties conceiving due to PCOS is faced with the reasoning that fertility support is “elective” despite the fact that it causes me a great deal of distress, if not, to some extent, depression as to not being able to conceive.

I am not looking to freeze eggs. I’m looking for a prescription to help me conceive, and potentially IUI or IVF treatment. I think it’s wholly unfair, discriminatory and another example of medical misogyny or sexism.

They'd choose the gender affirming shit over fertility because the gender stuff affects men and we can't be having that now can we🙄 any kind of care for females is second place to men everywhere. It's fucking disgusting

Precisely

I think primarily US insurers cover it bc it is good PR for relatively low cost. Much as I think even one is too many, very few people who claim to be trans actually go through with the costly medicalization pathway. Health insurers can eat the cost in exchange for good press that appeases the people who are also most vocal about universal health care. (for the record, I myself amd VERY pro-UHC as are many people I know across the political spectrum.)

Fertility treatments would likely cost insurers much more as many more thousands of women would want to utilize it. And even with limits women could get treatment after treatment after treatment and still not get pregnant. Financially it just doesn't make sense for them I honestly think it has little to do with misogyny just dollars and cents.

I hadn't really thought about that angle but you're probably right.

I wonder how much the insurance premiums would increase for married women in their 30s if insurance providers covered fertility treatments?

Well they could cap it to 1-2 cycles like the NHS does. I am going via the NHS but concerned by wait times, and time is not on my side. That’s why I’ve been looking at my work health cover and considering private. I’m not sure I could afford to go private. It seems unfair.

As a manager for a charity, I’ve had a situation where one member of my team (female) didn’t qualify for sick pay due to an operation being considered elective surgery and the other (male) having something most would consider as elective surgery, being paid for their time off, and being considered stunning and brave! That didn’t unite my team, or feel very inclusive to some (actually ALL the women).

Lol, I'm talking about the US, where a single fertility treatments is likely thousands of dollars. Yes they could and would cap it, as they cap many things here, but again multiply say 3 treatments at US prices by tens of thousands of women per year. It's not unheard of for US women to go into massive debt, even upwards of $100,000, trying to get pregnant.

I’m in the UK… I thought this site was predominantly for people from the UK. Though I may be mistaken. Not sure what’s “lol” about that.

That’s awful and sounds like grounds for tribunal of some sort

having a child be it naturally or IVF is a lifestyle choice gender issues in adults is a genuine thing not a lifestyle choice and can lead to catastrophic consequences so I can see this as viable