A married lesbian couple are to launch a landmark “gay tax” discrimination case against the NHS after they faced higher IVF costs because of their sexual orientation.
Megan Bacon-Evans, 34, and her wife Whitney, 33, have accused their NHS fertility branch of discriminating against them because they are gay.
The local clinical commissioning group in Windsor requires “same-sex partnerships, single women and couples unable to undertake vaginal intercourse”, to pay privately for 12 IVF treatments before becoming eligible for NHS help.
Given that very large numbers of people do manage this on their own perhaps it is valid to ask those who decide not to do it on their own to pay at least a bit toward their ambition? Not that I’m particularly wedded to any particular explanation here but the base idea does seem reasonable enough. After all, the claim is that the NHS should go collect some sperm for one or other of them. They’re not claiming that the NHS must take cells from one and alter them so as to fertilise the other (apparently this has been done somewhere or other). They’re demanding free sperm from some random bloke. And free sperm collection does seem to be easy enough as nightclubs the land over demonstrate every weekend.
Would seem to me, IVF or no IVF, neither of these two is going to succeed in impregnating the other. So whether they’re “married” or not is irrelevant.
They should just toss a coin to see which one of them is going to take one for the team. Save time and money all round.
Hmm. I think the custom is that hetero couples have to try for years before being eligible for NHS treatment. They need to prove IVF is the only way.
Why should singles or same-sex couples not have to prove that they can’t get pregnant by the usual method?
We know they refuse to, but not that they “can’t “.
But – 12 private sessions is a lot of money.
This is the kind of thing the NHS could consider getting round to after it has cured all the sick people.
I’m okay with being polite to the confused and to fantasists but not with subsidising them.
Relevant.
No pun intended but fuck ’em both
In the early 1980s, a friend of mine lived in Bath and played in a band. One of the regular hangers on in the music scene who my friend got to know was an incredibly beautiful young gay man. Blond, angelic yet chiselled features. People would actually stop and stare in the street.
My friend told me that a lesbian couple had been on a search for a suitable donor and had chosen this bloke because he was so beautiful. Such things were less common in those days, and we all pondered the grisly details of turkey-basters and him combining recent memories with a washed-out tomato puree jar or whatever the heck they do.
About ten years later I was sat near some middle-aged bloke on a train from London to Bath. I wondered why he looked familiar. Someone from Uni? Too old. Some bloke off the telly? It was, of course, the sperm-donor. He had turned into a jowly Frankie Howard, but miserable-looking. I wonder if the ladies had kept in touch.
Exactly my time hanging around that same scene. Also Bill Bailey’s but that’s another matter – and neither of us were going to be picked out for our physical beauty.
If there was nothing in it for them the answer is almost certainly no. It is a strong shock to discover how mercenary and self-serving the majority of humans are. Esp if you had romantic notions of women. A very very few match the ideal to a higher degree. But most will use you up and move on to a new victim as long as they can. That they reach a point where they cannot is a small example of natural justice. Too little and too late but better than nothing.
As for the youth–10 years is a short time to go Frankie Howard. Sodomy just cant be good for you.
The NHS offers infertility treatment. In order to establish whether a couple are infertile and therefore in need of treatment – they’ll need to answer the question “have you actually been trying?” in the affirmative. That’s what the IVF private stuff is a proxy for. Now as tim says the ivf is one thing, but turkey baster plus random student is probably cheaper. If its not a spot of de-regulation allowing veterinaries to offer the service would probably do the trick.
Aren’t sperm donors financially on the hook for their offspring?
And even if they’re not at the moment, what’s the betting the law won’t be retroactively changed?
If it’s through an NHS clinic then no, no hook. Although they might turn up at age 18 to say “Hello, Dad!”. Records are now kept to allow that. It’s it’s a private arrangement then yes, hook exists.
Tom,
That was my understanding. Only IVF clinics can dodge child support.
Can’t they just call a plumber or a pizza delivery guy, like all the lesbians in those Foreign Art Films?
If it’s the one on the left even the most jaded plumber or pizza deliverer might decline.
Surely it’s more expensive to hire lawyers to fight a rather dubious case than to shell out for private fertilisation. It’s not in vitro with all the associated costs, it’s (ahem) home brew.
So the motivation must be a) ensuring sperm anonymity or b) Look at ME, ME!!! or possibly both.
I can’t see either reason inspiring much support in the uninsane part of the population.
From the article: “heterosexual couples only need to signal that they have been trying to conceive for two years before accessing treatment.”
Does the NHS make enquiries to check what exactly the heterosexual couples have been doing? If not, why treat them differently? Maybe a lesbian couple have been trying to conceive by reasonable means.
They could try one of those lesbians that has a cock, 2 balls and a beard?
Ye gods – a “landmark” “gay tax” discrimination case
A landmark? Sounds more like frivolous wasting of court time.
Sadly it’s worse than this as there’s some groups arguing that having children is a basic human right and so gay men should be provided surrogates to bear their child under fertility programs.
It’s funny how society can make offering to pay for sex for illegal but paying to rent a womb is fine
A lot of lesbian women tend to have a phase of dating men before discovering they’re attracted to women. Maybe they can make one more “mistake” with a guy who has good genes. And hey, the guy gets to sleep with a lesbian. Maybe he can have at it with both of them and see which one(s) get pregnant. I’m just saying, let’s make it fun.
Perhaps they should spend a weekend in the Sharia district of Rochdale? I would suggest at least one of them will be pregnant by Monday morning.
Are they 12 then? I rather assumed they were older than that if they were threatening legal action.
BiW,
If they wore shortish skirts, failed to cover their heads and faces, and acted as if they had a mind of their own, they would be classed as whores, and therefore fair game. Their problem would probably be being allowed to leave the Sharia district of Rochdale on the Monday morning. Sex slaves don’t grow on trees, you know.