LGBT Family Building

Shady Grove Fertility is proud to help gay and lesbian couples create families with the assistance of fertility treatments. Treatments include: sperm donation, insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), egg donation, and gestational carriers.

All patients will have an initial consultation with their physician to discuss their medical history, discuss testing, potential treatment and financial options. The next step is diagnostic testing to discover the level of fertility in either partner. Once testing is complete, your medical team will develop a protocol and treatment can begin.

Fertility Treatment for Lesbian Couples

Typically, the couple will decide which partner will carry the pregnancy. This partner will proceed with “day 3 blood work” to test hormone levels and a HSG to determine the health of the uterus and fallopian tubes. If she has a good prognosis, then the couple will select a sperm donor to be used to achieve the pregnancy. Donor sperm will be used in an intrauterine insemination (IUI), a simple procedure where the sperm is placed directly into the woman’s uterus.

 - Read more about Day 3 Testing

If medical issues are identified in one partner, a lesbian couple may choose to have one partner provide the egg and the other partner carry the pregnancy. This is a more complex treatment protocol where both partners will be tested and take medication to boost their fertility. The partner who will donate her eggs will also undergo a surgical egg retrieval procedure. The eggs will be inseminated with the donor sperm and once mature, the other partner will have an embryo transfer. While this is an excellent way for both partners to feel connected to the child it is more expensive and only utilized if compromised fertility needs to be overcome in one partner.

 - VIDEO: What to expect the day of your retrieval

Although Shady Grove Fertility is not a sperm bank, your medical team can refer you to a reputable sperm bank that meets our criteria.

 - Read Modern Families: Lesbian Couples’ Path to Parenthood

Fertility Treatment for Gay Couples

Gay men planning to build a family through fertility treatments will meet with their physician to discuss the details of using an egg donor and gestational carrier. The partner wishing to use his sperm will undergo a semen analysis to test motility, volume, concentration and morphology of the sperm. The couple will then meet with the Donor Team to review our egg donors. Donors identified through an agency can also be used as can a family member, if medically appropriate.

 - Read more about Male Factor Infertility and what goes into a Semen Analysis

Shady Grove Fertility does not provide gestational carriers, but your medical team can refer you to agencies and attorneys who specialize in identifying gestational carriers.

Once the couple has identified both a gestational carrier and the egg donor, one or both male partners will provide sperm samples to be used in the insemination of the donated eggs. Once mature, the embryo or embryos from only one partner’s sperm sample will be transferred to the gestational carrier. In this way the genetic lineage of the child is established at embryo transfer.

Family Building Using Donor Egg or Donor Sperm

At Shady Grove Fertility, in accordance with national ASRM standards, all patients using donor sperm, egg donor, or a gestational carrier, will meet with our Psychological Services team. In this very helpful consultation, you and your partner will explore your views on your planned treatment and how and when to discuss issues of third party reproduction in an age –appropriate way with your future child.

If you have any questions or wish to schedule a consultation with a physician, please call 1-888-761-1967 or click here.