The findings highlight the different ways trans+ people in the UK are successfully using a wide spectrum of assisted reproduction options
BY NIC CROSARA
Over the last 14 years, 64 individuals who are either trans or non-binary, or have a trans+ partner, have attended London Women’s Clinic in hopes of either starting a family or preserving their fertility in order to have the option to do so in the future. This retrospective observational study offers vital information on the different pathways trans+ people can take when it comes to family making.
The report, titled Fertility preservation and family making in transgender and non-binary patients in the UK; fourteen years of family formation at a UK-licensed centre, offers many insights to readers.
Some of its key findings were:
- Trans+ people in the UK are successfully using the spectrum of assisted reproduction options to build families.
- Members of this community have made families through donor gametes, IVF, IUI and, occasionally, surrogacy. IVF notably overperformed IUI.
- With inclusive and legally-informed care, family formation for trans+ patients is not only feasible but effective.
I asked London Women’s Clinic’s Dr. Kamal Ahuja how he hopes this first-of-its-kind report helps both healthcare providers and trans+ people. “My hope would be that through the examples that we put out, more people will be able to use this as evidence of either choosing to proceed with their family formation desires, or choose to say, ‘you know, that’s not for me, it’s too complicated’. The good thing is that what it does for them, and for us as practitioners, is that it clarifies the legal framework within which these things must happen,” he tells me
For many trans+ people, who are aware of the ways that medically transitioning can impact their fertility, it can feel overwhelming and impossible to have a family of their own one day. Not only are trans+ people a marginalised group within an already marginalised community, but we are also historically severely under-researched. This is why this report is so groundbreaking. It enables members of this community to make informed decisions when it comes to fertility preservation and family making.
“In many countries, there’s no legal framework. Therefore questions about the care of the child born may create complications later on. In the UK, we are very fortunate that the lines of accountability, both for providers of the services, as well as the consumers, are very clearly defined. As a consequence, in the 14 years that we have reported in this study, 64 people have been amazed that it has all been free from any complications,” Dr Ahuja adds.
The report highlighted how vital egg freezing can be for trans men and non-binary people. Dr Ahuja calls egg freezing “one of the most dramatic developments in the field of assisted reproduction technologies”. Throughout his career as a consultant embryologist, Dr Ahuja has observed not only the technological advancements, but also, how we have progressed in our views of the diverse different ways families can be formed. “I think our study will help in achieving a further understanding of the changing attitudes.”
You can read the report at: rbmojournal.com.
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