Lesbians, Gays, and People Living With HIV: Facing and Fighting Barriers to Assisted Reproduction

Authors

Bebe J. Anderson, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc.

Abstract

Numerous discriminatory barriers limit the ability of gays, lesbians, and people living with HIV to participate in assisted reproduction. Many of these barriers are created by laws and regulations, such as state laws criminalizing sperm donation by people living with HIV, and insurance regulations that are interpreted to limit infertility coverage to persons who have engaged in unprotected heterosexual intercourse that has not resulted in pregnancy. Other barriers are rooted in policies or practices of individual entities or individuals. For example, a gay man in Florida and a lesbian in California denied fertility services due to their sexual orientation have been the subject of recent civil rights proceedings brought by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund ("Lambda Legal"), a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work. This article explains some of the discriminatory barriers affecting equal access to assisted reproduction currently faced by lesbians, gays, and people living with HIV and discusses legal strategies that have been used to attack those barriers.

Disciplines

Health Law and Policy | Law | Law and Gender | Medical Jurisprudence | Sexuality and the Law

Recommended Citation

Bebe J. Anderson, Lesbians, Gays, and People Living With HIV: Facing and Fighting Barriers to Assisted Reproduction, 15 Cardozo J. Equal Rts. & Soc. Just. 451 (2009).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cardozoersj/vol15/iss3/2