POINTERS OF DEVELOPMENT
France’s lower house of parliament is set Tuesday to approve a law that will allow single women and lesbians access to medically assisted reproduction for the first time.
LGBT rights groups, who had pushed for the reproduction measure since France legalized same-sex marriage in 2013.
The new law will expand access to fertility treatments such as artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization (IVF), currently reserved only for infertile heterosexual couples.
In France, fertility treatments are free — and once the law passes this would also include lesbian couples and single women.
The reform will bring France in line with several European countries, including Belgium and Spain, currently two of the top destinations for French lesbian couples and single women looking for help to conceive.
It allows children conceived with donor sperm to learn the donor’s identity when they become adults, ending the anonymity that donors in France have been guaranteed until now.
This law has its advantages and disadvantages. It’s undoubtedly a great initiative by the Government of France because sexual preferences shouldn’t be seen for women to give birth.