Fertility Options for Gay Men
The fertility specialists at the Los Angeles Reproductive Center believe that everyone deserves the right to bring children into their lives and build a family, regardless of their sexuality, gender identity, or relationship status. As such, we are proud to offer a range of LGBTQ fertility services that help individuals realize their dream of parenthood.
Here we focus on the fertility options for gay men that are available to our patients in the Encino, CA, Bakersfield, CA, Los Angeles, CA-area.
Surrogacy and Egg Donation
For gay males, the path to parenthood nearly always involves surrogacy and/or egg donation. In most cases, a donor provides a healthy egg, and a gestational surrogate carries the pregnancy. However, patients may also opt to work with a traditional surrogate. A traditional surrogate is one who acts as both egg donor and gestational surrogate, meaning that they are biologically connected to the child.
Choosing a surrogate and donor is an important part of the fertility process. If patients have personal friends or family members who are willing to accept those roles, we are happy to work with them, provided they have passed physical and psychological screening. If patients do not have a known surrogate or egg donor to work with, our fertility doctors can set them up with a partner agency who will help them select an anonymous donor.
Although donor agencies set patients up with anonymous donors and surrogates, it does not mean that patients make the selection blindly. Agencies can provide intended parents with information about the donor such as age, general health, personal hobbies, level of education, personality traits, and physical features.
In Vitro Fertilization
In vitro fertilization is one of the most common fertility services chosen by gay men. In vitro fertilization is the most appropriate option for males who are working with an egg donor and a gestational surrogate.
In vitro fertilization, or IVF, is a multi-step fertility treatment that assists throughout every stage of conception. When working with gay males, IVF involves collecting eggs from the donor, fertilizing those eggs with a sperm sample (the sample can be collected from either or both of the intended parents, or a sperm donor), and then selecting viable embryos to be transferred to the gestational surrogate in the hopes that the embryo will implant and result in a successful pregnancy.
Intrauterine Insemination
Intrauterine insemination, or IUI, is a fertility treatment that is typically recommended to gay males who are working with a traditional surrogate. This procedure is less complex than IVF treatment. IUI involves ovarian stimulation to promote the production of multiple mature eggs in the surrogate. After triggering the release of those eggs, a collected sperm sample is inserted directly into the uterus. This drastically reduces the distance that sperm must travel, and makes it more likely that fertilization will occur and result in a pregnancy.
Contact the Los Angeles Reproductive Center
At the Los Angeles Reproductive Center, we offer fertility services to assist those struggling with infertility, as well as to members of the LGBTQ community who are ready to start a family. If you’d like to learn how these services can help you on your path to parenthood, send us a message online, or call our office at (818) 946-8051.
