No Barriers to IVF: Same-Sex; donor sperm and reciprocal IVF
Same-sex couples make up a significant portion of our patient base, due in part to the range of donor sperm options we have available but also due to the how simple we make the reciprocal IVF process if you wish to pursue this.
Demeter Fertility boasts the largest library of international donor banks and donor sperm in Australia with no waiting period to access donors and no extra fees for undergoing donor-specimen cycles or because of your individual circumstances.
There are a few ways same-sex couples opt to undergo treatment;
- Both female partners undergo egg collections and use the same donor sperm to fertilise their eggs. They then transfer their own embryos or ‘donate’ these to the other partner to transfer in a frozen embryo cycle.
- One partner undergoes the egg collection and fertilises any eggs, the ‘donates’ these to their partner to under a frozen embryo transfer
- One partner undergoes the entire treatment including egg collection, fertilisation and embryo transfer.
At Demeter we offer each of these options to all our same-sex couple patients, with only some paper work and the related counselling session required. All our treatment consents and other forms have both partners names included as is standard for any couple undergoing treatment.
In the instance partners ‘donate’ their gametes to each other, this is often referred to as reciprocal IVF. At Demeter Fertility this is a standard treatment approach and is an option for all same-sex couples, we work with you throughout your initial journey to develop your preferred treatment approach based on your preferences, goals and any related results.
While same-sex couples undergo treatment because of their sexuality and access to donor sperm, there is often an assumption that there are no other fertility challenges, however statistically many women will find their base chances of pregnancy are often lower than average regardless of sexuality and may inadvertently have a related fertility diagnosis, which would make you eligible for medicare rebated treatments.
It’s important to pursue treatment through the ‘traditional’ pathways with a GP referral and undergoing the related and required pathology tests in order to access both accurate and effective treatments but also maximise your financial position through medicare rebates you are eligible for.
Find out more about our donor sperm program here or contact us to make an appointment or chat with someone directly.
