Disparities between online assisted reproduction patient education for same-sex and heterosexual couples

Abstract

Funding was provided by the Medical Student Summer Research Scholarship, Barbur Khalique Foundation. There are no competing interests.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender content on reproductive endocrinology and infertility clinic websites

“…As previously mentioned, two prior studies analyzed fertility center websites for content pertaining to alternative family building and provision of fertility services to the LGBT patient population (18,19). While our findings for the proportion of clinics offering information specifically tailored toward the LGBT community are comparable to more recent published data, we also present new data and findings regarding several significant clinic factors that impact the likelihood of a center providing LGBT information on its website.…”

“…The study involved website reviews of fertility practices that reported to the CDC at two points in time, once in 2014 and again in 2015, to examine possible effects of the 2015 Obergefell vs. Hodges ruling. It reported a statistically significant increase in the prevalence of clinic websites containing educational content for LGBT patients, from 31.1% (121/ 389) to 45.5% (185/407) (19). These prior studies demonstrate that LGBT inclusion in fertility care is growing but incomplete, despite favorable legislation.…”

More Than a Biological Condition: The Heteronormative Framing of Infertility

“…LGBT individuals are under-represented in infertility-related research. Although infertility research is beginning to examine this population, several studies noted that heterosexual couples are generally thought of as the main, if not the only, group using fertility services [1,15]. One researcher interviewed 17 heterosexual women of high socioeconomic status and 95 individuals from non-dominant groups using fertility services, including women of low socio-economic status, men, and women in same-sex relationships, to gain a better understanding of the medicalization of infertility [1].…”

“…It must be noted, however, that the underutilization of services by female-to-male patients may be a consequence of these patients not identifying with typical gender roles attributed to women, like motherhood [11]. Additionally, the limited service uptake by transgender patients may be associated with the substantial difficulties faced by LGBT subgroups, including limited financial resources, discrimination, and poorly-educated health professionals [1,2,15,19,20]. Further research is needed to examine utilization of fertility services in LGBT subgroups, specifically transgender individuals, to substantiate these deductions.…”

“…LGBT individuals regularly face exclusion from fertility services. For example, a review of fertility centre websites found that patient education was heavily focused on heterosexual couples and did not provide similar information for same-sex couples [15]. Moreover, lesbian mothers and lesbians attempting to become mothers experience stigma and discrimination [19,21,22], in addition to the typical challenges associated with infertility and motherhood [2].…”