Inclusive Fertility for Transgender and Non-Binary People

For many, starting hormone replacement therapy or surgery as quickly as possible is the priority when experiencing gender dysphoria. However gender reassignment surgery and hormone medication can affect your fertility, and freezing your genetic material (eggs, sperm or creating embryos) can give you the option of having biological children later. This may not be top of mind right now, however you may feel differently in the future. Talking to one of our fertility advisors or nurses can help you understand your options and make an informed decision about your fertility and your future.

If you are taking hormone replacement therapy (either oestrogen or testosterone) to transition, this can suppress your fertility over time, eventually affecting it permanently. Gender reassignment surgery to reconstruct your genitals could also mean you won’t be able to have children biologically and may need intervention or the help of a surrogate. This might include salpingo-oophorectomy (surgery to remove the fallopian tubes and ovaries), hysterectomy (removal of the womb), orchidectomy (removal of the testes) and penectomy (removal of the penis).

There are a number of fertility treatments for transgender people.

Fertility preservation such as egg or sperm freezing, allows you to store your genetic material before undergoing a medical transition. And for when you are ready to have a family, egg donation and IVF treatments are available.

Single transgender men and women may need a sperm or egg donor for an IVF cycle to help them have a child, while a trans couple may choose to use frozen gametes in an IVF cycle, sometimes with a surrogate if both have undergone a medical transition.