The World Needs More LGBTQ+ Family Building Medical Research
Underrepresented but growing. This summarizes the current state of medical research on queer family building from the largest U.S. conference on assisted reproduction. The American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) had its annual conference in Denver Colorado from October 19th to the 23rd, and there was an abstract presented that reviewed the last decade of research on LGBTQ+ family building. In this week’s BabyMoon Family article, I review the abstract and share a summary of some previous BabyMoon Family articles on other scientific publications related to rainbow families.
Anticipation for ‘The Modern Family Show’ in London
This weekend, I am thrilled to be attending ‘The Modern Family Show’ in London, which is a unique conference that offers educational content on all types of rainbow family creation. Some of the topics include: In vitro fertilization (IVF), intrauterine insemination (IUI), surrogacy, fostering, co-parenting, fertility preservation, solo parenting, and egg/sperm donation. If you are interested in attending, read more and use the BabyMoon Family discount link in the article. I hope to see you there!
Not All Queer Parents Are Treated Equally
While the majority of recent queer celebrity baby announcements have been met with more joy than animosity, this, unfortunately, has not been the case for Joseph and Nathan Hughes. The case of the Hughes demonstrates that not all queer parents are treated equally, and it also highlights queer people's fight for equality and rainbow families and how much further we still need to go.
Queer Parenthood in the UK (and the World) Has a Long Road to Acceptance
UK LGBTQ+ charity Just Like Us has released a report on the state of schools for queer parents and their children. The results are not great. However, there is a lot to be learned from this report. So check out the article here to see how schools in the UK and around the world can be made more inclusive, and how BabyMoon Family and others can continue the fight for acceptance of rainbow families.
Science Says: Gay Dads are Close to their Adult Children
In this installment of the BabyMoon Family journal club, I review the the first study of adult children of gay fathers to explore associations between timing of sexual orientation disclosure, parent-child relationship quality, and individual well being among adult children. It’s a novel study that has important applications to all queer fathers.
Ireland is Taking a Modern Regulatory Approach to International Surrogacy and the European Union Should Take Note
Ireland is working to propose a new piece of legislation that will regulate international surrogacy for Irish IPs. These recommendations come from the Irish Joint Committee on International Surrogacy, and in this article, I will review the positive and challenging aspects of the recommendations, as well as discuss the potential implications for international surrogacy in Ireland, the EU, and the world.
Queer Future Science: Same Sex Couples Could Have a Child Genetically Related to Both Parents
Recent experiments with mice have allowed two male mice to have genetically related offspring. This process is called in vitro gametogenesis, or IVG. This article discusses how IVG works, the results of the IVG experiments in mice, when IVG could be used in humans, and what this could mean for same sex couples and assisted reproductive technology (ART) in the future.
The BabyMoon Family Vision: A Comprehensive Reproduction Center for All Queer People
The ultimate vision for BabyMoon Family is a comprehensive reproductive center for all queer people, by queer people, leveraging the amazing LGBTQ+ community to make rainbow families a reality. This would be the world’s first queer reproductive center, but how would it work? Read more here.
The Surrogacy Crisis in Greece and How the World Should Respond
The worst thing that could happen with regard to surrogacy has happened in Greece. An IVF clinic and agency has exploited women in Ukraine, Romania, and Georgia. This is horrible. Unfortunately, it is exactly what fuels the anti-surrogacy movement. However, there is a way to perform surrogacy with significant regulations and oversight that leads to a beautiful journey of family creation. Hopefully, the world can move in a positive direction after this Greek scandal and not towards more countries banning surrogacy.
Will More Queer Parents and Their Children Make the World a Better Place?
Queer intended parents (IPs) go through significant financial, emotional, and psychological challenges to have children through surrogacy. They desperately want these children. Given this, will these children grow up to be happier and have a more positive on society as a whole? This phenomenon is not new. After the passing of Roe v Wade in the U.S., children - on average - were more wanted. This led to a decrease in societal issues such as crime. Will the same be true of rainbow families?
ChatGPT Wrote an Article on Gestational Surrogacy
What does ChatGPT know about surrogacy? In this article, I give ChatGPT a prompt regarding gestational surrogacy for queer men. I then share its its output as well as my critical review of the contents. Let’s see what AI knows about surrogacy, and what it can still be taught from humanity and the Internet.
Why Every LGBTQ+ Person — Especially Intended Parents (IPs) — Should be Furious at Italy Right Now
Meloni’s right-wing Italian government is doing everything possible to erase current and future rainbow families. There are policies that have already resulted in queer mothers being removed from their children’s birth certificates, essentially removing their rights as a parent. Future steps discussed in this article will make surrogacy done in any country illegal in Italy, essentially preventing queer men from pursuing fatherhood through this option. Read more and be supportive of our Italian rainbow brethren during this horrific time.
The Beginning of Our Surrogacy Journey
My husband and I are currently pursing IVF and surrogacy in California while living in Sweden. This is the first of what will be many articles detailing our journey. In this article, I discuss all the major decision points for the process, as I believe it is important to have a full understanding and a complete perspective as to the type of journey you want to have before embarking on it. This article provides an overview of all the major decisions and team members you will need to involve in your own journey to gay fatherhood through surrogacy.
Gay Celebrities and Surrogacy
Celebrities are trailblazers when it comes to bringing attention to emerging social phenomena. Surrogacy is no exception to this, and many gay celebrities have embarked on a journey to build their families through IVF and surrogacy. This article showcases some of these public figures and includes quotes regarding their own process to queer fatherhood and admiration for their incredible gestational carriers.
From Stonewall to Surrogacy: The LGBTQ+ Community and Family Planning
More and more LGBTQ+ people are planning on having or growing their families. In this article, I review the latest statistics and trends for rainbow families around the world. There are several ways to have children as a queer person, and surrogacy is one option that is growing amongst queer men. Read to find out more.
Netflix’s ‘The Surrogacy:’ A Terrible Portrayal of Surrogacy That Comes at a Bad Time
Netflix’s ‘The Surrogacy’ is a terrible portrayal of the journey to parenthood with a gestational carrier. In this article, I examine the inaccuracies of this series, what the surrogacy journey in the United States is actually like, and how detrimental a show like this can be to the delicate topic of surrogacy.