Any Couple Can Share the Joy of Raising Children

Like heterosexual couples, many people in same-sex marriages or relationships eventually turn their attention to having children and starting a family. Since conventional means of conception are not physiologically viable for gay and lesbian couples, family planning is often more complicated. There are a number of different ways a homosexual couple might choose to have children.

  Adoption  A same-sex couple might elect to adopt their new

child. This option bypasses the need for biological conception, but it can be extremely time consuming dealing with various agencies, legal requirements and waiting periods.

In Vitro Fertilization  Prospective lesbian parents could induce pregnancy

through IVF, a medical procedure that involves an egg being retrieved from one of the mothers and fertilized in a lab by sperm from a donor before being implanted back in the mother, who then carries the pregnancy to term.

  Gestational Surrogacy  Both gay and lesbian parents might also choose to

have their child carried by a surrogate mother. The surrogate is found, screened and selected through an agency and once one has been decided on,

the IVF process is carried out using sperm from one of the fathers and an egg from a donor, or an egg from one of the mothers and sperm from a donor. The egg is then implanted in the surrogate, who will birth the couple’s child. Click here to learn about finding an egg donor in El Cajon.