Is Counseling Required for All Insemination Clients?
Q: Dear Liz,
My partner and I are in the process of trying to get pregnant (via insemination) for the first time. Our doctor told us that we would need to go to counseling before he would provide us with insemination services. Is this required for everyone or are we being singled out because we are lesbians?
We live in Texas, by the way.
Thank you.
Jaine
A: Hi Jaine,
I can understand your frustration at being told to have counseling when you have probably been considering your decision to have a child for some time.
Your doctor can require counseling before he inseminates you. He is probably thinking that there are many issues to be considered and he wants to be sure you and your partner are educated and prepared before he undertakes treatment with you. This can feel like discrimination against lesbians, and in some cases it is.
However, if your doctor is a reproductive endocrinologist and you are seeking inseminations at an infertility clinic, it is standard practice to have a counseling session as part of the intake process. This is because they offer infertility treatment through assisted reproductive technology. This treatment can be stressful and invasive, and often results in multiple births.
Even if you are only seeking simple inseminations, an infertility clinic will require you to go through the usual intake procedure. If you feel you are being discriminated against because you are lesbians, look for another medical provider.
I wish you the best in your journey to have a child.
Liz Coolidge
Coolidge is coordinator of the LGBT Family and Parenting Services at Fenway Community Health in Boston.
May 31, 2005
For additional information, visit the GLMA Physician Referral Service website.