CGS : LGBTQI

About Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, & Intersex Communities & Human Biotechnology

New genetic and reproductive technologies affect LGBTQI communities in exceptional ways.

Some of these are beneficial. For example, advances in assisted reproductive technologies enable a growing number of gay men and lesbians to become parents of biologically related children.

However, some advocates of reproductive cloning assert that gays and lesbians in particular should support it, because it would allow same-sex couples to have children that are genetically related only to a member of the couple, free of "external" DNA. Of course, such techniques do nothing to address the underlying issues of inequality and homophobia that plague society.

Genetic theories play as strong a role in shaping our social and individual identities as they do in shaping our families. Recent years have seen a resurgence of assumptions that complex human behaviors, including sexual orientation, are simply products of our genes. Though scientists have yet to find a genetic marker for homosexuality, many continue to try. Such genetic determinism and reductionism open the door to new forms of discrimination.

Shifts in the Global Body Market: Access or Exploitation?by Jessica Cussins, Biopolitical TimesApril 1st, 2013PlanetHospital claims that new surrogacy regulations in India have ruined a “golden opportunity” and paints Mexico and Thailand as the surrogacy frontiers – where it happens to have business arrangements.

Cloning, De-extinction, and Possibly Human Applicationsby Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesMarch 29th, 2013Synthetic biologist and entrepreneur George Church and cloning expert Robert Lanza are starting a company to change animal reproduction — and maybe human, too, but they wouldn't say that even if it were true.

Surrogacy's Painful Path to Parenthoodby Julia Medew, The AgeMarch 23rd, 2013Reports of abortions, questionable medical bills and baby mix-ups are increasingly emerging from overseas destinations where commercial surrogacy is legal.

Surrogacy Laws May Leave Australian Babies Statelessby Kerry Brewster, ABC News [Australia]March 4th, 2013Australian babies may be left stateless and unable to leave India as a result of changes to the country's commercial surrogacy laws.

A Call for International Prohibition of Forced Genital-Normalizing Surgery and Sterilizationby Jessica Cussins, Biopolitical TimesFebruary 21st, 2013A new report from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture focuses on human rights abuses in health-care settings, and bolsters LGBTQI activists in their fight against involuntary sterilizations and genital-normalizing surgeries.

Promoting the Civil Rights of Children Born With Variations of Sex AnatomyAdvocates for Informed ChoiceFebruary 6th, 2013The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture calls upon all States to repeal any law allowing intrusive and irreversible treatments, including forced genital-normalizing surgery, involuntary sterilization, and unethical experimentation.

French Gay Marriage Plans Stir Parenthood Debateby Associated Press, NPRJanuary 31st, 2013The president's promise to legalize gay marriage was seen as relatively uncontroversial when it first came up, but the news reopened a raw national debate on fertility treatments, surrogacy and adoption.

Human Rights and Sweden’s Repeal of Required Sterilization for Transgender Peopleby Jessica Cussins, Biopolitical TimesJanuary 23rd, 2013The Swedish law that required transgender people to undergo sterilization before they could be legally recognized as another gender has been recognized as a violation of human rights.

Sweden Ends Forced Sterilisation of Sex Change PatientsMedical ExpressJanuary 10th, 2013Sweden will no longer require sex change patients to be sterilised, ruling that the practice is unconstitutional and in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.

New Guidelines: India Not A Viable Option For Gay Couples, Unmarried Couples Or Single Individualsby Andrew Vorzimer, The Spin DoctorJanuary 4th, 2013India’s Ministry of Home Affairs has released guidelines that apply to foreign nationals seeking an Indian surrogate.

Exclusive: Rise in Number of Couples Seeking 'Wombs for Hire' Abroad by Jeremy Laurance, The IndependentDecember 28th, 2012The number of British couples formally registering children born to foreign surrogates has nearly trebled in five years, raising concerns that poor women in developing countries are being exploited by rich Westerners.

New Calif. Law Eases Sperm Donor Testing RulesMercury NewsDecember 28th, 2012California women who want to get pregnant using sperm from a donor they know should find the process easier and less expensive next year, thanks to a new state law.

Law Lags as Aussies Employ Overseas Surrogate Mums[radio transcript]by Damien Carrick, ABC (Australia) RadioNationalOctober 23rd, 2012Though surrogacy is illegal in Australia, a child is born in India to Australian parents every day. What are the legal and ethical dimensions of hiring a woman from another country as a surrogate?

Surrogacy, Now Big Business in Southern Californiaby Michael Cook, BioEdgeOctober 20th, 2012A promotional video used for gay couples in “the surrogacy friendly state of California” lacks any discussion of the difficult moral terrain.

Is This Informal Surrogacy or Exploitation?by Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesOctober 2nd, 2012A bizarre situation in Texas is either the result of a horrible misunderstanding about an informal, unpaid surrogacy or an appalling case of exploitation.

Complete Video Now Online for Eugenics in California: A Legacy of the Past?by Center for Genetics and Society, Biopolitical TimesSeptember 28th, 2012A video recording of a public event at Berkeley School of Law about the legacies of eugenics in California.

Feel-Good Surrogacy?: The New Normal Tackles ARTs with Lighthearted Banterby Jessica Cussins, Biopolitical TimesSeptember 17th, 2012The New Normal showcases a lighthearted vision of surrogacy and gay parenthood that has moving moments, but largely misses the mark.

The Dangers of Fetal Engineering by Emily Beitiks, Biopolitical TimesAugust 17th, 2012A recent study considers the troubling off-label use of a risky drug in pregnant women whose baby girls may not be born with normal-looking genitals.

Pride: In Your Genes? by Daniel Sharp, Biopolitical TimesJune 28th, 2012A new "gay gene" study and a strange float at the Pride Parade present a context to reflect on genetic determinism and the meaning of pride.

Designer Babies in Popular Cultureby Jessica Cussins, Biopolitical TimesJune 21st, 2012The Whitest Kids U’Know’s comedic parody of genetic counseling is reminiscent of a similar scene in GATTACA.

Revealed: How More and More Britons are Paying Indian Women to Become Surrogate Mothersby Shekhar Bhatia, The Telegraph (UK)May 26th, 2012The sheer scale of the “baby factory” phenomenon is now causing concern with the Indian government. There are up to 1,000 unregulated clinics, comprising an industry worth as much as £1.5 billion a year.

Same-Sex Custody Battle Could Change Florida Law by James Rosica, NewsOKMarch 4th, 2012The battle over what defines motherhood is being played out on prime-time television shows and in courtrooms across the country.

Is Hollywood turning surrogacy into a trend?by Joanne Richard, Toronto SunAugust 16th, 2011There's a baby boom in Hollywood and celebrity surrogacy is front and center. Celebrity surrogacy could in fact be a trend, says Dr. Stuart Fischoff. After all, a baby bump is not for everyone.

Gene of the Week: Christianityby Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesApril 1st, 2011Gay scientists are reported to have isolate the 'Christian gene' and to have successfully removed it from experimental rats.

New film depicts a genetically engineered, anti-gay future by Doug Pet, Biopolitical TimesMarch 17th, 2011Nisha Ganatra’s Beholder depicts a future in which children are genetically designed and homosexuality is screened out of the population.

India moves toward regulation of assisted reproduction and surrogacy by Doug Pet, Biopolitical TimesFebruary 10th, 2011The Indian Ministry of Health has finalized its 2010 ART Regulation bill, which if approved will have enormous implications for global ART and surrogacy.

On the scales: Social justice and pluralism in reproductive tourismby Gina Maranto, Biopolitical Times guest contributorFebruary 1st, 2011Bioprospecting for eggs or colonizing wombs are not morally equivalent to bargain hunting or bypassing prejudice about who may become parents.

Surrogacy Law: Conn. Gives Non-Genetic Parents Legal Rightsby Susan Donaldson James, ABC NewsJanuary 20th, 2011Connecticut's Supreme Court honors a signed agreement between a surrogate mother and a gay couple.

Researchers produce two-father mice babies, and bait the hype trap by Marcy Darnovsky, Biopolitical TimesDecember 14th, 2010Scientists fuel sensationalist speculation about reproductive methods for gay families.

ART and Art in the Movies 2010by Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesAugust 25th, 2010Assisted reproductive technologies are a repeating theme this year in Hollywood, and the results seem to be decidedly mixed.

Other uses for laboratory-produced sperm?by Jesse Reynolds, Biopolitical TimesJuly 13th, 2009Advances in laboratory-produced sperm--if perfected--could also be used for other purposes, including troubling ones.

Will women one day father children?by Sheryl Ubelacker, The Globe and MailJune 18th, 2009Could same-sex human reproduction using stem cells one day become reality?

Fertility clinics to recruit more lesbians as egg donors for IVFby Sophie Goodchild, Evening StandardJune 9th, 2009Fertility clinics are targeting lesbians as egg providers after research found higher IVF success rates than among heterosexual women

Stripped down embryo bill passes Georgia Senateby Matt Schafer, Southern VoiceMarch 20th, 2009Georgia lawmakers passed a bill regulating the creation of embryos

Homo Genesis [PDF]by Marcy Darnovsky, BitchJune 6th, 2008Techno enthusiasts are marketing extreme reproductive technologies to gay families in a way that could set us on the road to a new chapter in eugenic experimentation.

Conceiving the Future [PDF]Reproductive-justice activists on technology and policyby Andi Zeisler and Emily Galpern, BitchJune 6th, 2008Emerging reproductive and genetic technologies have raised critical issues for social-justice movements. This roundtable discussion features some of the women who've been engaged in these national conversations.

Female sperm and gay guinea pigsby Marcy Darnovsky, San Francisco ChronicleMarch 12th, 2008While gay families and their supporters await the California Supreme Court's ruling on the constitutionality of a voter-approved law banning same-sex marriage, a few researchers and pundits are proposing that same-sex procreation with bio-engineered gametes will undermine one of the key arguments of same-sex marriage opponents.

Are male eggs and female sperm on the horizon?[Quotes CGS's Marcy Darnovsky]by Peter Aldhous, New ScientistFebruary 2nd, 2008In a handful of labs across the world, biologists are trying to make genetically male cells develop into eggs, and female cells into sperm.

Gay couple buys 'designer' sons from USby Peta Hellard, The Daily Telegraph (Australia)October 14th, 2007A gay couple has travelled to the US to buy "designer twin boys" through a surrogate mother at a cost of as much as $133,000.

Can’t discard them as embryos, abort them as fetuses, or cast them out? Try hormone patches.by Marcy Darnovsky, Biopolitical TimesMarch 16th, 2007A leading evangelical would support hormonal "treatments" for fetuses if genetic tests that can identify them as predisposed to be gay are developed.

LGBT Community Discusses Reproductive and Genetic TechnologiesGenetic CrossroadsMay 12th, 2006A two-day series of events titled Designer Genes: Genetic Technologies and the De-selection of Queer Bodies was held in early May at the New York City LGBT Community Center.

Designer GenesGenetic Technologies and the De-selection of Queer BodiesMay 6th, 2006The LGBT Center, the Committee on Women, Population, and the Environment, and the Center for Genetics and Society invite you to a free panel and discussion tracing the links between reproductive and emerging genetic technologies, our identities as LGBTQI people, and the history of eugenics.

Genetic Technologies and the LGBTQI Community: Myths and FactsApril 17th, 2004This "fact sheet" from CGS offers rebuttals to commons myths about reproductive cloning and other emerging human reproductive technologies, and the LGBTQI community.

Ethical Issues in New Uses of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosisby Edgar Dahl, Human ReproductionJune 1st, 2003In this brief article, German bioethicist Edgar Dahl raises and dismisses five objections to the future use of embryo screening to choose the sexual orientation of children. He does not mention any evidence for, or controversy about, a "gay gene," but concludes that if a "safe and reliable genetic test" for sexual orientation were to become available, "parents should clearly be allowed" to use it, as long as they are permitted to select for homosexual as well as heterosexual children. Dahl has previously argued that PGD should be allowed for sex selection for social reasons.

The Mystique of the Phantom "Gay Gene"by Philip L. Bereano, Seattle TimesFebruary 26th, 1996There is significant social debate on whether homosexuality is a biological characteristic.... The scientific argument for a biological basis for sexual orientation remains weak.

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