LGBTQI

The acronym LGBTQI covers a diversity of human identities and experiences. In many cultures and countries, LGBTQI people experience social and political discrimination, particularly when it comes to reproduction and healthcare. In this context, the ongoing search for a genetic “cause” behind these multiple identities could open the door to new forms of genetic discrimination. But complex human behaviors and identities can’t be reduced to a series of nucleotides.

Assisted reproductive technologies have provided new paths to forming a family for some LGBTQI people; this is one way among many that LGBTQI families challenge discriminatory ideas about what counts as a family and the meaning of biological relatedness.


Biopolitical Times

A recent article in the Journal of Medical Ethics argues that controversial nuclear genome transfer techniques (aka mitochondrial replacement, mitochondrial donation, or 3-person IVF) should be made available to lesbian couples for the purpose of creating genetically-related children. The authors, both bioethicists at King’s College London, continue an unfortunate trend of promoting experimental reproductive technologies to queer communities under the guise of reproductive equality in a particular form – one that privileges genetic relatedness achieved through unsafe, experimental technologies over...

Biopolitical Times

The Child-Parent Security Act, which would have legalized commercial surrogacy in New York, did not make it out of the State Assembly last week. The controversy that surrounded the bill reverberated well beyond the state, highlighting the complexities of crafting surrogacy policy grounded in social justice principles. Many of us who advocate for women’s health, reproductive justice, and LGBTQ rights will continue to grapple with how to develop equity-oriented recommendations for public policy, professional standards, and on-the-ground practices. We...

Aggregated News

Some people once felt that the reason to look for a “gay gene” was so that it could be eliminated...

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Changing the name or gender on a government-issued document like a driver’s license has long included a frightening step for...

IVF

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a photo of New York City Hall

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brown wooden gavel with scales of justice in background

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a graphic of a figure holding a cup, from which a bubble shows sperm, and there is a form with a pencil next to the figure

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a person in a lab coat looks through a microscope

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a graphic showing an insurance card and an ivf test tube

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