British Fertility Society calls on NHS to offer egg storage for trans men
(Creative Commons)
A leading body on fertility has called on the NHS to offer free egg storage for transgender men who may wish to become parents in the future.
The British Fertility Society urged for the storage to become available on the NHS in new guidance issued today (January 4).
A trans dad feeding his child
Currently, a number of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGS) fail to fund fertility preservation.
The guidelines say that by allowing trans people to freeze eggs, embryos and ovarian tissue it will help to create equity within the NHS.
Related: This photo of a trans dad breastfeeding his son tells a great story of love and acceptance
Lead clinician of the Gender Identity Clinic at Tavistock, Dr James Barrett, said that the number of trans patients had upped in recent years and it was important to acknowledge the needs of these patients.
He said: “The number of people coming forward with gender dysphoria has increased rapidly over the past decade.
“But the consistent provision of NHS funding for fertility preservation for this group is yet to catch up.
“This is medical. It’s people whose fertility is impaired as a result of actually NHS mandated treatment for a well-established condition that has been treated by the NHS for the last 50 years.”
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Gender confirmation surgery has been available on the NHS since 1999, however crucial fertility storage services are not yet being funded.
However, many hormone treatments and surgeries are thought to drastically reduce the chance of having children.
Melanie Davies, of the Department of Woman’s Health for University College Hospitals London, explained that it was crucial for the guidelines to create change within the NHS before it was too late.
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
“I think five years ago we would not have been talking about treatment of transgender.
“Some CCGs say they will only fund for cancer. What I would like to see is equity. We should be funding it.”
Last year, 202 gender confirmation surgeries were carried out. A figure 23 percent higher than five years ago.
A number of transgender parents have spoken out in recent years about their stories about starting their families.
By July this year, 54 trans dads had given birth in Australia alone, and many more have told their stories filled with love of starting a family.
One couple, Trystan Reese and Biff Chaplow, publicly shared pregnancy photos and celebrated the birth with videos and photos published after a 30-hour labour.
“We are here, said Reese,” in an adorable post-birth video.
Hayden Cross was one of two trans men to give birth within a month of each other in the UK when he welcomed Trinity-Leigh back in April.
Scott Parker also told his story about giving birth to April around a month before.
Parker spoke out about how he thought he would never have his own kids after he transitioned.
“I did want to have my own children, and I had thought about how it might be possible with fertility treatment, but in the end I just wrote it off as something that is not going to happen,” he said.
Henry Steinn, of Iceland, gave birth back in 2016 after finding out he was pregnant as a surprise.
Then 19-year-old Henrý Steinn had started living as male when he found out he was pregnant via his boyfriend Doddi.
Speaking to Gay Iceland, the teen explained that the news came months after he began transitioning – and just weeks before he was set to start taking testosterone.
He said: “I was well into the consultation and was living as a man but was about one or two months away from starting the hormone treatment when I found out I was pregnant.
