“Sexual Orientation Should Not Be a Barrier to Having a Family in the UK.”

Wife and wife duo, Whitney and Megan Bacon-Evans (aka Wegan) have been embarking on their baby journey this year. With that, they encountered unexpected barriers and discrimination towards the LGBTQ+ community in the UK. “We definitely didn’t expect to find discrimination still lurking in 2020! As a result, we launched a petition that is near and dear to our hearts.” says Whitney Bacon-Evans.

The couple were devastated when they found out that they cannot do home insemination with sperm purchased from a sperm bank.

“We wanted to be able to ‘give it a go’ at home in a loving environment, like so many other couples get to do. But our only option is being forced to go to private clinics, being treated medically infertile and with extortionate fees. 
Consequently, it saddened us to hear some of our followers had given up on having a family because of this. It also worried us that others were finding men online to be sperm donors, which can be a dangerous and unsafe route for them and their future child.” says Megan Bacon-Evans

They were even more shocked to find out that LGBTQ+ couples, single women & trans men have to go through multiple rounds (normally 6) of IUI to ‘prove infertility’ before being entitled to 1 free round of IVF. In contrast, most heterosexual couples qualify after two years of unprotected sex, which albeit a long time, holds no additional financial cost.

Whitney and Megan decided that something had to be done and they stated:

“If not by us, then who! We couldn’t sit by and just let it continue to happen. We therefore launched a petition on Sunday, 22nd November, with an exclusive in The Sunday Times by Alice Hutton. We’re calling on the government to do a review into the fertility sector. This is not for us but for everyone else out there.”

“Sexual orientation should NOT be a barrier to having a family in the UK.” states Megan. In their fertility equality campaign, they are asking for the following from the UK government:

They are also urging the government to do a review of the fertility sector by following the below steps:

1. Sign the petition
2. Download graphics to share #fertilityequality
3. Write to your MP, grab this letter template for ease.

Watch the below video to find out more of why they started their petition, as well as hear from other LGBTQ+ women and their own fertility experiences.

As seen in:

• The Sunday Times
• Channel 4 News
• ITV News
• BBC 5 Live with Emma Barnett (from 1.40 mins)
• BBC Radio Berkshire

UPCOMING:

Refinery 29– Coming out in December 2020