Health

World AIDS Day: Labour Party says it will overturn archaic fertility law for people with HIV

Dec 01 2022
Written by Emily Chudy

A photo of a person putting on a red ribbon for HIV AIDS awareness on World AIDS Day

Labour is using World AIDS Day to call on the government to urgently review fertility laws for those with HIV. (Getty/China Photos)

The Labour Party has marked World AIDS Day by committing to ensuring that people living with HIV have equal access to fertility treatments.

Current legislation means that people with HIV are not allowed to use eggs or sperm outside of treatments involving their partner – because if they do, they’re then legally seen as a donor, and UK law imposes an outright ban on anyone who is HIV-positive from participating in that process.

This effectively rules out surrogacy for people living with HIV and their partners, impacting LGBTQ+ couples more than heterosexual ones, who may access fertility treatment if they are using their own reproductive cells.

These rules are despite the fact that there is now no risk of passing on HIV for those with undetectable viral loads, meaning there is zero risk of transmitting HIV by having an egg implanted into a consenting partner.

Current law discriminates against people living with HIV who want to access fertility treatment in the UK. We are fighting this law to ensure equal rights for people living with HIV! Sign our petition #NationalFertility Week #EqualHIVFertilityRights https://t.co/iqJdYOdMZq pic.twitter.com/jlaftaLwjR
— National AIDS Trust (@NAT_AIDS_Trust) November 22, 2022

Following months of campaigning by the National Aids Trust (NAT) and Terrence Higgins Trust, Labour is now using World AIDS Day to call on the government to urgently review fertility laws for those with HIV.

The shadow health secretary, MP Wes Streeting, told PinkNews: “Too many people living with HIV are held back from having children of their own.

“It’s time the law caught up with the science and allowed people living with HIV to fulfil their dream of starting a family.

“The next Labour government will bring the law into the 21st century so we have equal fertility rights for all.

“But there’s no need to wait for the next election – the government should be reviewing this with urgency to end this inequality. I am calling on them to do so this World Aids Day.”

NAT explained while campaigning for an end to the legislation regarding HIV and fertility treatment that the UK government: “Discriminates against LGBTQ+ people living with HIV who want to start a family.

“For example, the law treats a woman living with HIV who wishes to implant her egg in her female partner as a donor rather than a partner and currently prohibits her from doing so,” the charity continued.

“These restrictions also apply to heterosexual couples with different HIV statuses in cases where they require fertility treatment and whenever a donor is involved.”