The Pathway of Female Couples in a Fertility Clinic

Porto Biomedical Journal

Ceschin²

2023

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The ROPA (Reception of Oocytes from PArtner) method, also known as lesbian shared IVF (in vitro fertilization), is an assisted reproduction technique for female couples, in which one of the women provides the oocytes (genetic mother) and the other receives the embryo and gestates (gestational mother). As a double parented method, it is the only way lesbian women may biologically share motherhood. This is a narrative review of data concerning ROPA published in PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library. A total of 35 articles were included, 10 about motivations for undergoing ROPA, 13 about ethics or legislation, 4 about motherhood, and 8 studies reporting clinical outcomes. Despite being used for more than a decade, there is a paucity of data regarding this technique in scientific literature. Most women choose this technique to share biological motherhood, but medical issues may also justify its use. Many ethical and legal issues are still to be solved. Despite the small number of studies, data regarding the outcomes of this technique and the resulting motherhood are reassuring.

“…They also found that passive patients in one-way reproductive techniques were 2 years older than active patients, but no differences were found within ROPA patients. 23 …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lesbian shared IVF: the ROPA method: a systematic review

Porto Biomedical Journal

Ceschin²

2023

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“…An interesting example is the reception of oocytes from partner (ROPA) method, or lesbian shared IVF, in which both women share biological motherhood, one will be the gestational mother (the one giving birth) and the other will be the genetic mother (the one providing the oocytes). 133 In surrogacy, 3 people may be involved in motherhood: the carrier (which will be the birth mother), the oocyte provider and the intended mother (depending if it is with own or donated oocytes, these last two will be the same or different women, respectively). 134 In the majority of countries, legal motherhood is based upon the fact of birth.…”

Section: Ethical Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Commercial Surrogacy: An Overview

Rev Bras Ginecol Obstet

Garrido

2022

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Objective Surrogacy is the process in which a woman carries and delivers a baby to other person or couple, known as intended parents. When carriers are paid for surrogacy, this is known as commercial surrogacy. The objective of the present work is to review the legal, ethical, social, and cultural aspects of commercial surrogacy, as well as the current panorama worldwide. Methods This is a review of the literature published in the 21st century on commercial surrogacy. Results A total of 248 articles were included as the core of the present review. The demand for surrogate treatments by women without uterus or with important uterine disorders, single men and same-sex male couples is constantly increasing worldwide. This reproductive treatment has important ethical dilemmas. In addition, legislation defers widely worldwide and is in constant change. Therefore, patients look more and more for treatments abroad, which can lead to important legal problems between countries with different laws. Commercial surrogacy is practiced in several countries, in most of which there is no specific legislation. Some countries have taken restrictive measures against this technique because of reports of exploitation of carriers. Conclusion Commercial surrogacy is a common practice, despite important ethical and legal dilemmas. As a consequence of diverse national legislations, patients frequently resort to international commercial surrogacy programs. As of today, there is no standard international legal context, and this practice remains largely unregulated.

“…This method allows both women of a same-sex couple to share biological motherhood. 29 One of them provides the oocytes (donor or genetic mother) and the other receives the resulting embryo (recipient or gestational mother). [30][31][32] Some define this method as a donation of oocytes (thus the name ROPA), others regard this technique as an embryo donation and others consider that it is not a donation at all, since it is within a couple, just as for conventional IVF for a heterosexual couple, in which the man provides the semen to his wife.…”

Section: Ropa -Lesbian Shared Ivfmentioning

confidence: 99%

European policies on same-sex relationships, adoption and assisted reproduction

Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol

2022

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Same-sex civil union, marriage, adoption and access to assisted reproduction have progressively been more accepted worldwide. However, many differences exist in national legislation regarding the matter. This work is a review of current national policies of 31 European countries, including all the European Union, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. At the moment, many European countries recognize same-sex civil unions, marriage and adoption, as well as the access of single women and lesbian couples to assisted reproduction, specially the northern and western countries. However, there is still an important number of countries where there is no official recognition of gay partnerships and adoption, and fertility treatments are exclusive to heterosexual couples. In addition, given the need to surrogacy, male couples have quite limited options concerning assisted reproduction in Europe. Europe is progressively allowing same-sex couples to legalize their relationship and to open adoption and assisted reproduction to everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation or marital status.