Governor's Veto Impacts Lesbians in Rhode Island

More women, considered single in RI, using IVf to conceive

(For detailed information about gay and lesbian parenting and family building through assisted reproductive technology go to GayIVF.com.)

LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 2007 – The Rhode Island governor’s veto of a state bill last week mandating insurance coverage for infertility treatment for the unmarried has a far-reaching impact on growing numbers of women whose parenting goals have been made more viable by recent advances in medical technology, say specialists at one of New England’s largest fertility practices.

Governor Donald Carcieri’s rejection of the legislation particularly affects three categories of infertility patients whose numbers have increased sharply in recent years: lesbian couples, professional women choosing single parenthood in their late 30s and early 40s, and a substantial group of heterosexual couples in long standing relationships but who choose not to be married.

Additionally, the move may also encourage single mothers who elect to pay for their own infertility treatment to take extra medical risks, physicians say.

 “Approximately 20 percent of my patients fall into the three categories. Of those patients, 50 percent are unmarried heterosexual couples, 30 percent are lesbian couples and 20 percent are choosing single parenthood,” said Samuel Pang, M.D., medical director of the Reproductive Science Center of New England, which operates an infertility clinic in Providence, Rhode Island.  “In the vast majority of cases -– about four in five -–- it’s erroneous to assume a child would be born to anything other than two parents in a long-term relationship. Of the rest, we are seeing more women who believe they face a choice of parenting alone or not at all.”

One indicator of a single-by-choice trend in mothering is use of donated sperm. In 2005, about 60 percent of the customers of California Cryobank, the nation’s largest sperm bank, were single women and/or lesbians, as compared with 40 percent in 1998, according to a report from MSNBC (“With No Mr. Right In Sight, Time For Plan B,” July 2005.)

"More unmarried women are coming to us to say they feel they have few to no parenting options,” Pang said. “That’s coupled with a number of medical advances that make IVF more attractive.” Among those advances are:

• A dramatic rise in IVF pregnancy rates, which have roughly doubled in the last decade nationwide.
• Improvements in freezing embryos and, more recently, eggs for postponing pregnancy attempts for later.
• More creative options for financing the cost of IVF treatment.
  

Governor Carcieri said he vetoed the measure that would have expanded mandated insurance coverage to single women because the state should encourage two-parent families, “not the reverse.” Rhode Island is one of about a third of the 50 states requiring some form of insurance coverage for infertility treatments.

However, the governor’s veto creates a catch-22 for many, Pang said. “He is saying that a woman needs to be married to get coverage for infertility services, but then he is opposed to allowing same sex couples to marry.”

In another area of impact, Pang said, women paying for their own IVF treatments often feel economic pressure to have more than one fertilized egg transferred to the uterus in order to boost odds of pregnancy and avoid the cost of a second attempt. But this also increases the risk of multiple pregnancies, which are associated with higher rates of birth complications and birth defects.