We are delighted to take part in a collection of organisations to release a Fertility Justice Campaign Manifesto asking for equal access to fertility support for LGBTQIA+ people. The organisations include Diva magazine, LGBT Mummies, Two Dads UK, Progress Education Trust (PET), My Surrogacy Journey, LGBT Foundation, Equality for Trans Families, and Queer Platonic Co-Parenting.

All you need to do to support this campaign is find your local MP by clicking here and entering your postcode.

You will need to share information with your MP about why this campaign matters to you and we have provided a template to copy and paste into your email, or to send as a letter, below.

 

[YOUR ADDRESS LINE 1]

[YOUR ADDRESS LINE 2]

[INSERT DATE]

 

Dear [INSERT NAME OF MP],

I am writing to you regarding access to NHS fertility services in your constituency, to raise my concern that LGBTQIA+ prospective parents are treated in an unfair and discriminatory way by the system.

In this constituency:

  • Despite the commitment to equal access in the Women’s Health Strategy, the Integrated Health Board does NOT fund IVF for LGBTQIA+ people unless they have first completed XX rounds of private fertility treatment, costing as much as This means treatment is out of reach for many people.  Some give up on their dream of a family, others are driven into the dangerous informal market for home insemination
  • Primary care providers are not trained to provide accurate information to prospective parents, including information about the care we are legally entitled to. This means LGBTQIA+ parents can give up on their dreams of having a family or make decisions that aren’t right for them are based on false or misleading information.

All of this causes pain and suffering to LGBTQIA prospective parents as well as severe financial hardship.  It is not right.

I care deeply about this personally because [please personalise here, examples below]

  • I / people I love had to pay for fertility treatment, [describe amount and resulting financial hardship]
  • I / people I love gave up on having a baby as a consequence of financial barriers
  • I/people I love are looking to the informal market or to start our family
  • I / people I love have been given inaccurate information by our GP / been treated badly by our GP when seeking information about family formation

As my MP, I need you to: [Choose all that apply and/or add your own]

  • Demand that where the NICE Guideline is not being adhered to, reasons are given, in line with the UK Government’s commitments in its Women’s Health Strategy for England.
  • Demand the removal of the need for self-funded artificial insemination by same sex couples in line with the commitment in the 2022 Women’s Health Strategy.
  • Demand the implementation of access to NHS-funded treatment for single people without the need for self-funded artificial insemination.
  • Demand that access to NHS-funded fertility treatment for same sex male couples and single men is introduced.
  • Demand better training for GPs and frontline healthcare professionals, so that LGBTQIA+ prospective parents are not wrongly advised, excluded from care or denied their legal rights.

Please write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care calling on him to expediate the full implementation of the NICE Fertility Guideline and Women’s Health Strategy Commitments to improve access to NHS-funded treatment for all LGBTQIA+ people.

Yours sincerely,

[INSERT YOUR NAME]

View the full Manifesto here

Thank you for your support!