Same-sex Couples Infertility Treatment Obstacles

Author: American Sociological Association
Published: 29th Aug 2015
Peer-Reviewed Publication: N/A
Additional References: IVF, Adoption, Fertility Publications

Summary: Same-sex couples encounter more obstacles to treatment for infertility than opposite-sex couples.

Main Document

Same-sex couples encounter more obstacles to treatment for infertility than opposite-sex couples, suggests a new study that will be presented at the 110th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA).

"For example, same-sex couples often must undergo psychological evaluations before being treated for infertility -- a process that is not normally required for opposite-sex couples," said study author Ann V. Bell, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Delaware, who noted that the U.S. medical system is standardized to work with heterosexual couples.

Bell's study is based on interviews with 95 people - 41 heterosexual women of low socioeconomic status, 30 heterosexual men, and 24 women in same-sex relationships. "These people are on the margins of our understandings of infertility, as it is generally viewed as a white, wealthy, heterosexual woman's issue," Bell said.

The new study builds on her 2014 book Misconception, which focused on the 41 women of low socioeconomic status, as well as 17 women of high socioeconomic status, to explore social class and infertility. Through her interviews with the 41-women for the book, Bell found that their experiences related to infertility were shaped by inaccurate stereotypes and that doctors often assumed infertility was not a problem for them.

Bell has extended her earlier research beyond social class to include the effects of infertility on men and same-sex couples. The "medicalization" of infertility -- studying and treating it as a medical condition -- is a process that has increasingly led to disparities and inequalities, she said.

"Most of the research out there is about women, even though just as many men are affected by infertility," Bell said. "It's still viewed as a woman's issue."

In addition, despite increasingly sophisticated medical treatments for infertility, such as in vitro fertilization, the high cost of many treatments and the "9-to-5 nature of medical practice" makes it hard for working-class people to afford the treatments or to access them while holding a job.

"Overall, researchers and the public focus a lot on the negative aspects of medicalization, but the medical advances that have been made are often very beneficial," Bell said. "The important thing is to recognize the kinds of inequalities that this medicalization is perpetuating and other new ones that it's creating."

Post to Twitter Add to Facebook

Latest IVF, Adoption, Fertility Publications
The above information is from our reference library of resources relating to IVF, Adoption, Fertility that includes:
	Do Heterosexual Parents Want More Children Than Same-Sex Parents? Study explores predictors of parents desire for more children, whether heterosexual parents want more children than same-sex parents, and if there is a difference between homosexual fathers and lesbian mothers when it comes to the desire for more children. Publish Date: 26th Oct 2022 - Updated: 5th Jan 2023
	Transgender Men Need Fertility Preservation Counseling Researchers provide guidelines for fertility preservation counseling before gender-affirming medical procedures for transgender men. Publish Date: 6th Sep 2022 - Updated: 5th Jan 2023
	Sex Survey Results for Should Same-Sex Couples be Allowed to Adopt? Results from annual sex survey, where over 1,000 adults were asked how they felt about gay and lesbian couples adopting a child. Publish Date: 15th Feb 2018
	Success rates in Same Sex Female Couples Undergoing Intrauterine Insemination with Donor Sperm RMA of NY presents findings from research study exploring fertility treatments outcomes of same-sex female couples, single women, and infertile heterosexual couples. Publish Date: 11th Nov 2017