Treatment

LGBT Family Building

Gay & Lesbian Fertility Options at San Diego Fertility Center

San Diego Fertility Center believes that everyone who wants to build a family should be able to do so, and that every child deserves the chance to be born into a loving home. We welcome any couple, regardless of who they love, by offering open access to our cutting-edge LGBT fertility treatment methods. Options typically utilized by LGBT couples to achieve a pregnancy include artificial insemination and In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF).

LGBT family building also requires third-party reproduction services in the form of egg donors, sperm donors, or gestational carriers (surrogates). The team of reproductive specialists at our fertility center will guide you in this process as well as answer all questions and listen to any concerns you may have along the way.

Lesbian Fertility Options / Same-Sex Female Family Building

Family planning for lesbian couples typically includes intrauterine insemination (IUI) or In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Same-sex female couples will also need an anonymous or known sperm donor. Some of the questions for lesbian couples to consider include:

  • Who will carry the baby?
  • Which partner will provide the eggs?
  • Who will provide the sperm?

Once all decisions have been made and standard fertility testing has been completed, your fertility specialist will determine what type of fertility treatment will be best for you – either IUI or IVF. If IUI is the first line of treatment and a pregnancy is not achieved, the process may be repeated. Failure to achieve a pregnancy after multiple IUI attempts could indicate a fertility issue that will need to be treated.

Gay Fertility Options / Same-Sex Male Family Building

Gay couples wanting to have a baby can through gestational surrogacy. They will require an egg donor, a surrogate, and IVF treatment in order to build a family. Some of the questions for same-sex male couples to consider include:

  • Whose sperm will be used?
  • Who will donate the eggs?
  • Who will carry the baby?

The partner who is providing the sperm will undergo routine testing to analyze sperm motility, volume, and concentration. The sperm is then used to fertilize the donor eggs in the lab. After 3-6 days, the embryo(s) is (are) placed into the surrogate’s uterus.

LGBT IVF

IVF is an integral part of family building for LGBT couples using a fertility clinic. It is used for lesbian couples who are having trouble conceiving through IUI, and for gay couples who want to build a family through surrogacy using their own sperm. During IVF our doctors manually fertilize the eggs in the laboratory and then place the embryo(s) into the woman’s uterus. The treatment lasts four to six weeks and begins in the month preceding the actual IVF treatment. IVF is an essential part of the process of surrogacy for gay couples.

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