[Requests for assisted reproduction formulated by same-sex couples consulting physicians in France].

BACKGROUND, MATERIAL AND

METHODS

In order to determine the characteristic features of requests for assisted reproduction formulated by same-sex couples consulting physicians in France, we conducted a study in collaboration with professional organizations, general practitioners, gynecologists and obstetricians who distributed an email questionnaire among their recruitment.

RESULTS

In our sample, 191 physicians (71% of responders) reported that 1040 homosexual couples expressed desire to become parents in 2011-2012. Nearly all of the physicians (94%) reported that the couples sought assistance before participating in an assisted reproduction technology (ART) program in a foreign country, but 35% reported that advice was solicited concerning natural reproduction and 48.5% reported requests for advice concerning inseminations performed by the woman herself. Most of the physicians responded to all or part of the requests and 61% of those who had been consulted reported they had directly participated in preparing an ART program in a foreign country. Among the 270 physicians who participated in this study, 162 (60%) believed that ART should be assessable to homosexual couples in France, but less than half of them were in favor of reimbursement by the national health insurance fund.

DISCUSSION: Although biased and non-representative, this study shows that assisted reproduction, with or without medical intervention, is a real-life phenomenon for many homosexual couples, and for many physicians, even before same-sex marriage became legal.