Gay Parenting | LGBT Family Building Services

Gay Couples Becoming Parents With Same Technology Straight Infertile Couples Use

Gay couples can become parents by the same assisted reproductive technologies (ART) that enable infertile heterosexual couples to have babies, and the good news is that it is possible to have your own biological child.  Back in July 1978, when Louise Joy Brown was born, she was the first baby brought into the world through IVF treatment (in vitro fertilization) by parents Lesley and Peter Brown who were struggling with infertility issues.  Since then, an estimated five million babies have been born using IVF technology and the technologies and options for parents have continued to develop.

Assisted Reproductive Technologies

Reproductive options selected by heterosexual couples facing infertility, including egg donation, sperm donation, and gestational carriers, also known generally as surrogacy, all provide family building options for same sex couples as well as gay men or lesbians who wish to become solo parents.  Some fertility centers, like Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut (RMACT), work to provide the medical, legal, financial, and other supportive resources that enable same sex couples or solo parents to have biological children.

International Movement to Provide Access to IVF

In January 2011, Brazil joined many other countries in opening up the option of IVF to same-sex couples and gay and lesbian singles wishing to have children.  While Brazil has the world’s largest Catholic population, a statement from Brazil’s national association of doctors says that the change “was a demand of modern society.”  Like elsewhere throughout the world, same sex couples and solo parents-to-be can freely pursue IVF, among other advanced reproductive options, as a way to add children to their families.