How do fertility treatments work for same-sex couples?
- Same-sex couples can achieve pregnancy with the help of assisted reproductive techniques.
- Artificial Insemination and In Vitro Fertilization can be used in this specific case.
Same-sex couples can turn to fertility clinics seeking help to achieve a pregnancy and have a child. What options can be offered? This depends on the composition of the couple:
A couple of two women.
- The first option is Artificial Insemination with donor sperm: in this case, one of the women is the gestational carrier using her own eggs. The process begins with menstruation, during which an ultrasound is performed to assess the state of the ovaries. Subsequent ultrasounds are conducted to monitor changes in the ovaries that indicate the growth and maturation of the eggs. Once the eggs are detected to be mature and close to ovulation, the insemination is scheduled, usually around day 12 of the cycle. On the day of insemination, the sperm sample is thawed, prepared in the laboratory, and loaded into a catheter—a thin, flexible plastic tube—which is inserted through the vagina and cervix to deposit the sperm at the top of the uterus. This is a painless procedure, very similar to a Pap smear. Fifteen days later, a pregnancy test is performed. The probability of success is similar to that of a natural pregnancy (20% per menstrual cycle).
- The second option is In Vitro Fertilization: this involves extracting the eggs from the ovary and bringing them to the laboratory. There, under controlled temperature and humidity conditions, they are exposed to sperm from the sperm bank. The fertilized eggs are then incubated for 72 hours until the first cell divisions occur. Once the embryo reaches the multi-cell stage, it is transferred vaginally into the uterus of one of the women. The probability of pregnancy is close to 50% per attempt, but this depends on the age of the woman providing the eggs.
A couple of two men.
To achieve a pregnancy in a couple of two men, a woman is needed to donate eggs and another woman to provide her uterus (surrogate mother).
- If the same woman is going to perform both roles, the procedure could simply involve introducing the sperm of one of the men into her uterus (Artificial Insemination) using a catheter. This is done at the time of ovulation.
- In the other option, a woman donates her eggs, which are fertilized in the laboratory with the sperm of one of the men (In Vitro Fertilization with donated eggs). The fertilized egg is then transferred to the uterus of a second woman, who will carry the pregnancy to term (surrogate mother).
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