If you’re a woman in a same-sex relationship and want to have a baby with your partner, did you know that you may be able to egg-share to benefit from subsidised treatment?
Egg-sharing means opting for IVF treatment to have your baby. IVF for same-sex female couples simply involves stimulating the ovaries of whichever of you is going to be using your eggs for treatment. The eggs are then collected and fertilised in our laboratory using sperm from your chosen donor. The best quality embryo is then selected and transferred into your uterus to grow as in natural pregnancy.
If you are willing to share half of the eggs collected from you, and you meet the criteria to be an egg donor - which includes being aged 35 or under, with a clear medical history and a healthy BMI - then you could receive your IVF cycle with donor sperm at a reduced rate, inclusive of all necessary screening tests and drugs.
As same-sex couple, you can also opt for one of you to be the egg donor and for one of you to actually carry the baby. This means that instead of having your eggs collected and then the resulting embryo transferred back into you, you can decide instead to transfer the embryo into your partner’s uterus. This means that she carries the baby throughout the pregnancy and gives birth, and that you are the egg donor to your partner.
You may decide on this option if, for example, you are younger than your partner and so have the better quality eggs due to your age, but you want your partner to experience carrying your baby and giving birth. There are legal implications however if you decide to take this option in terms of parentage, but you will see one of our experienced counsellors as part of your treatment – as you are using donor sperm and may be egg-sharing - where this will be discussed with you in full.
We have successfully helped many same-sex female couples have their families here at Manchester Fertility, so if you’d like to talk to us about your options please get in touch with our friendly team today on 0161 300 2737.
Last updated: 20th January 2020
