LGBTQ Parenting
We as HART Fertility Clinic believe that the LGBTQ community should have the same reproductive opportunities to become parents as any other single parent or couple.
HART Fertility Clinic offers a wide variety of options for our LGBTQ community ranging from natural cycle treatments to donor or reciprocal In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) with or without a gestational carrier to support every type of lifestyle and partnership.
Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)
Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) is the injection of sperm directly into the uterus. This is performed in a similar manner to the pap smear examination in a regular clinic exam room. No anesthesia or sedatives are needed. The timing of the IUI procedure is determined based on your ovaries readiness to release an egg. The goal of this treatment is to increase the number of sperm inside the uterus that can potentially fertilize an egg.
IUI can be done in a natural cycle or a medicated cycle using medications such as clomiphene, letrozole or injectable hormones.
We recommend our patients select their donor through a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accredited sperm bank. This will ensure the donors are screened and selected properly and the legal framework is in place that will protect you and your family in the future.
Your physician at HART will be glad to determine if this treatment is the best option for you and guide through the process.
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
HART Fertility Clinic’s first In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) baby was born in 1992. IVF simply means that a physician will remove multiple eggs in order to allow fertilization by sperm inside the embryology laboratory. In order to achieve this, ovaries are stimulated using injectable hormones which result in the growth of multiple eggs. These eggs are extracted through a minor procedure called a transvaginal ultrasound guided needle aspiration (egg retrieval). Each egg is then injected with one sperm (ICSI). The resulting fertilized eggs are allowed to grow to the day 5 embryo stage (blastocyst) in our IVF laboratory. We again recommend our patients select their sperm donor through a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accredited sperm bank. This will ensure the donors are screened and selected properly and the legal framework is in place that will protect you and your family in the future.
These day 5 stage embryos or blastocysts undergo biopsy (removal of several cells from each embryo) in order to perform genetic testing to identify the embryos with a normal chromosome count (PGT-A). The embryos are frozen while waiting for the genetic test results which take several days for the genetics laboratory to complete. A few weeks later, a single embryo with a normal chromosome count is then injected into the patient’s uterus (embryo transfer). A blood pregnancy test is performed about 10 days after the embryo transfer.
IVF is sometimes desired by female same sex couples in order to have one partner produce eggs to make embryos for the other partner to have the embryos transferred to her uterus then carry the pregnancy and give birth (reciprocal IVF). Your physician at HART Fertility Clinic will customize your IVF plan based on your individual history, needs and desires.
Same-sex Male Couples
Physicians at HART also provide treatment plans for same-sex male couples using their own sperm. Donor eggs are fertilized using the patient’s sperm via In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). When these fertilized eggs form embryos they undergo genetic testing (PGT-A) to determine which embryos have the highest chances to achieve pregnancy. A single embryo with a normal chromosome count is then transferred into a gestational carrier’s uterus.
HART fertility clinic works with most donor egg agencies, gestational carrier agencies and attorneys. Your physician at HART will be glad discuss these details and more with you.
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