LGBT individuals who want to conceive child often face physiological and legal challenges

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals who want to conceive a child may face the same problems as some of their heterosexual and cisgendered peers, such as reduced fertility, but in addition they often face additional physiological and legal challenges to become parents. A comprehensive review of the most recent advances in assisted reproduction options is presented in the article "LGBT Assisted Reproduction: Current Practice and Future Possibilities," published in LGBT Health, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Cutting-edge research and options likely to be available in the future are also discussed. The article is available free on the LGBT Health website.

A. Evan Eyler, MD, MPH, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington; Samuel C. Pang, MD, Reproductive Science Center of New England, Lexington, MA; and Anderson Clark, PhD, a Reproductive Biologist from Boston, MA, discuss the many medical options available to the LGBT community. The authors provide expert commentary on topics such as gestational surrogacy, in vitro fertilization, donor egg banks, and techniques to preserve future reproductive capability for transgender individuals whose transition plan entails procedures that will, or are likely to, compromise their fertility. The article also explores important economic and legal implications of assisted reproduction.

"In the past, many people in the LGBT communities did not regard reproduction as a realistic option; however, social and scientific progress have changed that," says Editor-in-Chief William Byne, MD, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. "Clinicians who work with LGBT-identified people, particularly transgender youths and their families, should familiarize themselves with the material covered in this interview. Future options may become available even for transgender youths who undergo pubertal suppression prior to the production of viable gametes."