Treatments for Lesbian Couples

same sex couple with their baby

At Concept Fertility we believe that everyone should have the chance of having a family.  We are proud to support the LGBTQ community and give lesbian couples the very best chance of having a baby.

Concept Fertility works in partnership with you and your partner to develop a personalised fertility treatment plan to help you have a baby. We offer contact with trusted donor sperm banks and IUI, IVF and support shared motherhood with excellent success rates.

Here’s a useful overview of your fertility options as a same-sex couple wishing to become parents.

To start your journey, three key issues will need to be discussed:

  • Where will your sperm come from?
  • Whose eggs will you use?
  • Who will carry the baby?

With regards to treatment, there are three main options, based on your choices and your needs after a fertility assessment:

1.    Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)

2.    In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF)

3.    Reciprocal or Partner IVF  (aka “shared motherhood”)

Your treatment choice will be decided by how you feel about the first three questions, personal preference, your fertility age and pre-existing medical conditions and your general health.

Sperm Donation

We have sourced dedicated sperm banks with good reputations who we, and other fertility clinics we liaise with, have had good pregnancy/birth results.

How to Obtain Donor Sperm

The process is streamlined and basically the same no matter which sperm bank you use. You go on to their website and select your donor. They confirm with you/us that the donor is appropriate for your requirements. You pay them online then their lab and ours liaise and arrange the shipping and compliance with legal and quality requirements. Once you have made your selection we normally receive the sperm within a few days.  We strongly recommend you do not purchase any donor sperm until after your treatment plan with us has been done.

Known Sperm Donors and Considerations

You may wish to provide your own sperm donor rather than use a sperm bank. He may be a family member or he may just be a friend, the latter being more common amongst same-sex couples. There are a couple of other considerations in these cases. The first is to account for scenarios where you, the donor and the child might meet, either together or separately. We have implications counselling for you and the potential donor to take, where you will go through these scenarios, be able to put some questions to the professional counsellor and consider some possibilities.

The second consideration is the cost and time. Donor selection involves a sequence of consultation, viral testing, counselling, donating, quarantining and retesting. All of this costs money. Sperm banks reject most, maybe 95%, of their applicants, but they still incur these selection costs . They address this by spreading the costs of donor selection over all the recipients. A donor may be allowed to produce 10 families in the UK but they can produce additional families in other countries too, depending on their laws. Therefore sperm banks can divide these costs amongst many. However, if you are using a known donor you will probably have to pay all the costs yourself.

icon

FREE MINI CONSULTATIONS

Book a FREE 15 minute consultation with a Fertility Doctor.

The consultation will take place online and is a great way to start your fertility journey and get your initial questions answered.

Call our Patient Services Team tom book now on 020 33 88 3000

or email us at info@conceptfertility.com