Fertility law changes hailed ‘huge win’ for LGBT+ community and people with HIV

Gay couples where one or both have non-transmissible HIV will be able to have children via surrogacy thanks to a change in the law.

Ministers have announced a raft of changes to UK fertility laws to “ensure equality for people living with HIV and female same-sex couples in accessing IVF”.

This includes changes to allow people with non-transmissible HIV to donate their sperm or eggs to a wider group of people who know they have HIV.

Ministers also announced plans to scrap additional screening costs for female same-sex couples undergoing a specific type of fertility treatment.

The changes are expected to benefit gay couples where one or both have HIV who want to have a baby via surrogacy; female couples seeking a sperm donation from a friend who they know to have non-transmissible HIV and lesbian couples planning shared motherhood – the process by which one woman has their eggs collected and fertilised and the other carries the baby.

Campaigners hailed the announcement as a “huge win” for both HIV and LGBT+ rights.

The government said changes to the law will enable more people to fulfil their dream of becoming parents.

Under current fertility rules, only a man with HIV can give their sperm to their female partner and not to anyone else.

But the changes will mean people with non-transmissible HIV will be able to donate their sperm or eggs to people they know to help them become parents, as long as the recipient is aware of their HIV status.

Donors with HIV must have an “undetectable viral load”; will have been receiving antiretroviral treatment for at least six months prior to donation and the recipient must be aware of their HIV diagnosis.

The move will also help gay couples where one or both have non-transmissible HIV to have a baby via surrogacy.

And at present, lesbian couples are forced for pay for screening for syphilis and genetic tests – which can cost up to £1,000 – while heterosexual couples do not need to undergo these expensive tests, but the changes will eliminate these extra screening costs.

Hundreds of couples are expected to benefit from the changes.

The National Aids Trust (NAT), which has been calling for change for years, said that the current rules on IVF create an “unjust barrier” for LGBT+ people with HIV who wish to be parents.

Deborah Gold, chief executive of the charity, said: “As an HIV rights organisation, we have worked hard to bring about this change and are delighted that this discriminatory law will be coming to end. Removing this needless barrier is a huge win for both HIV and LGBT+ rights.

“We share this victory with our colleagues at the British HIV Association, parliamentarians who have spoken out on this injustice, our supporters, and importantly every person living with HIV who shared their own stories to raise awareness of this issue."

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Richard Angell, chief executive of Terrence Higgins Trust, added: “It’s a true good news story that people living with HIV can now donate eggs or sperm to start a family thanks to the work of National Aids Trust, as everyone undergoing IVF should be treated fairly.

“This change in the law will also change the families, futures and lives of people living with HIV who otherwise would have been unable to become biological parents.

“We’ve made huge progress in the fight against HIV in the last 40 years and these changes around IVF are yet another example of just how much HIV has changed.”

Health Minister Maria Caulfield said: “These changes will allow more people to fulfil their dream of becoming parents.

“We have changed the law to ensure equality for people living with HIV and female same-sex couples in accessing IVF with no extra screening costs, the same as heterosexual couples.

“These changes will help create a fairer system by removing barriers to accessing fertility care as we have set out in the Women’s Health Strategy .”

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