Family Building Options for
Birth-Designated Females

After Hormone Therapy and/or Sex-Reassignment Surgery

baby holding hand 300x200 If you were birth-designated female and are thinking about building a family after undergoing sex-reassignment surgery (SRS) and/or hormone therapy, you should consider the routes to parenthood available via Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).

Options available to you depend on your circumstances.

There are many routes to parenthood currently available to transgender individuals.

If you are single, or partnered with a man

In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) using a surrogate will be necessary.

If you have frozen embryos before SRS and/or hormone therapy, you have the option of using those for a Frozen Embryo Transfer to a gestational surrogate.

If you have frozen eggs, you can thaw them and inseminate with either donor or male partner sperm before transferring to a surrogate.

Please note: embryos created must be quarantined for a period of six months before release for use. This ensures there is no risk of infection to the surrogate.

If you are partnered with a woman

If you have frozen embryos ready for use, you can have them transferred to your partner to carry the pregnancy. If you have frozen eggs available, you can thaw and inseminate the eggs with either known or unknown (clinic-recruited) donor sperm to create embryos. Your partner can then have the embryo transferred to her to achieve pregnancy.

If your partner doesn’t want to or is unable to carry the pregnancy, a surrogate will be necessary.

If you don’t have frozen eggs or embryos in storage, we can discuss the possibilities of egg donor and surrogacy, or if you have a female partner, IVF treatment with donor sperm.

PLEASE NOTE:

People wishing to have assisted reproductive treatment in Victoria must undergo a criminal records check and child protection order check. For further information please visit our page Legislative Requirements – Victoria.
When contemplating fertility treatment, you should be aware of the possible risks, some of which are comparable to those of elective surgery. We encourage you to discuss these with your treating specialist.
All treatment procedures are carried out in our RTAC (Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee) accredited fertility clinics, where gametes (eggs/sperm) and embryos are also stored.

Before going ahead with fertility treatment, please consider that each state has different legislation in regard to assisted reproductive treatment, for example:

In Victoria, traditional surrogacy is not permitted.
In South Australia, surrogacy is permitted only for the commissioning parents who are legally married or in a registered relationship; or have lived together continuously in a marriage-like relationship (irrespective of their sex or gender identity) for a period of three years.
In South Australia, according to the state’s legislation, females (single women or lesbian couples) are now able to access Assisted Reproductive Technology services if it appears they are unlikely to achieve a pregnancy, due to personal circumstances, other than by assisted reproductive treatment.

Therefore, we encourage you to refer to your own state legislation for more information and see one of our specialists to discuss your individual circumstances and explore your options.

At Rainbow Fertility, our specialists have extensive experience in helping create LGBTI families. Feel free to contact our friendly team to learn more about the fertility treatment options available to you.

Call: 1300 222 623
email: info@rainbowfertility.com.au

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