The Queer History of Reproductive Justice: Lesbians, In-Vitro Fertilization, & Roe V Wade

Intro: Inspirational Corporate Music by Denys Kyshchuk

Hi! My name is Rita Froehlich and in this podcast I will shed light on reproductive justice through a queer lens. Firstly, I would like to address the definition of the term ‘reproductive justice’. Loretta J. Ross, Co-Founder of the organization SisterSong further defines reproductive justice as including (1) the right to have a child, (2)  the right not to have a child,  and also (3) the right to parent the children we have, as well as to control our birthing options’’. These ideas emerge from the fourth pillar – the queer pillar – focusing on sexual pleasure, gender identity, and bodily autonomy. ¹

Lesbians couples have sought out ways to birth children for decades – oftentimes even settling for heterosexual sex – but who really wants to do that? Another option is self insemination– it  has been a historical practice, and offers a much more intimate experience between the couple as it excludes the need for a reproductive clinic.

So get ready to talk lesbian couples, but not limited to, couples who may face infertility challenges, and the right to access fertility treatments – specifically reciprocal and non-reciprocal in-vitro fertilization, otherwise known as IVF.

I was scrolling through my tiktok for you page – as an eighteen year old college student does – procrastinating her homework, when I stumbled upon an account by the name @LundenandOlivia – a lesbian couple in their twenties from Roswell, Georgia. 

From documenting their so-called “royal” wedding, creating lifestyle content, and now sharing their reciprocal IVF journey on social media platforms, they contribute to the rise of lesbian visibility. 

By showcasing their pregnancy journey—including its most intimate, raw, and emotional moments— this Peoples Magazine featured couple, Lunden and Olivia, offer an example of what the fight for reproductive justice can look like for lesbian couples, while simultaneously deconstructing social medias long standing preference for heteronormativity. 

Now you may be wondering – what exactly is reciprocal IVF and why is it so important? Reciprocal IVF is commonly used among lesbian couples, allowing for their child to possess biological ties to both partners. One partner provides the eggs, which are fertilized with donor sperm, while the other partner carries the embryo eventually giving birth to their child – and all with the continual assistance from reproductive health centers. ²

Access to R-IVF and other forms of artificial insemination allow for access to one’s bodily autonomy as well as the right to become a mother – both of which are crucial in achieving reproductive justice. 

It is important to recognize that reproductive justice and queer liberation have always been deeply connected, and this isn’t just an issue—it’s a fight that’s been going on for decades. 

Let’s go back to the early 2000s, when initiatives like Causes in Common were already linking these movements. In 2003, Kim Gandy, then-president of the National Organization for Women, proclaimed:  ‘“all those ‘isms’ we fight – are connected – they all share the same roots and require the same conditions to flourish”. ³This activism was built on the “human rights framework”, focusing on the intersections of identity, inequality, and systemic oppression within the fight for reproductive justice.⁴ As you see, Reproductive freedom and LGBTQ+ liberation are two sides of the same coin – they truly do coexist – and this statement has rung true for a long time. 

But the challenges queer families have faced go back much further, pushing back against the idea that queer lives had to be childless. They faced vast barriers: sperm banks refusing single or lesbian women, adoption agencies denying queer families children, and courts questioning co-parenting or donor custody arrangements.⁵ 

By the 1980s, insemination methods became more popular for lesbian couples, but access was far from easy. Many were turned away or had to rely on informal networks to learn the process. That’s where the grass roots of the lesbian feminist movement came in—offering real solutions – such as ‘make-a-baby’ classes, connecting women with sperm donors, and even founding their own sperm banks.  And it wasn’t just women helping women—gay men also stepped up, volunteering as donors to support their lesbian peers. ⁶

While we’ve made progress in some areas, those echoes of discrimination and inaccessibility are still present today, which is why the work of modern advocacy groups is so important.

For example, R-IVF treatment is incredibly expensive – I’m talking tens of thousands of dollars – twenty thousand being on the more pricey side – and that’s not including medication, genetic testing, storage fees, and so on  – not to mention, it takes on average two and a half cycles to actually get pregnant. ⁷ The problem is – most insurance plans in the U.S. don’t fully cover the cost of R-IVF – only some states, such as New York, Main, Massachuettes, Connecticut do in fact require that health insurance cover IVF⁸ – this makes it just that much more difficult for lesbian couples in more conservative states to access fertility treatment and have their own families.

And now, without the federal protection of  Roe v. Wade, reproductive technologies, including IVF, are subject to state-level legislation, which leave individuals at risk for being negatively impacted when seeking or accessing fertility care. Since IVF usually involves creating, discarding or freezing embryos, such practices could become criminalized or restricted⁹. This is exemplified as, on February 16th, 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court issued the decision saying that frozen embryos can be constituted as legal children, ultimately shutting down access to IVF and additional reproductive technology¹⁰.  And medications like misoprostol, which are used not only for abortion care, but also for fertility treatments have faced restricted access in states with abortion bans. The implications of this could potentially delay or complicate IVF and other fertility procedures​. 

This further puts queer families at risk for losing access to treatments that seek to grant reproductive autonomy and equity. 

This growing push to revoke previously-established rights – those that have taken years to secure –raise concerns about the future of queer families – especially regarding the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which established the right to same-sex marriage.¹¹

Though this information may seem overwhelming and frightening, we can rise up and use the power of community, advocacy, and education to amplify voices, and work to implement or change laws. It is crucial that we remain informed regarding state and federal legislation, and work to maintain the frameworks in which fight for reproductive justice.

Here are the four main LGBTQ organizations that are working on the grounds of parental rights – I’ll name them and also link them down below. GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Family Equality, and the Movement Advancement Project. These organizations strive to protect the civil and human rights of queer families and individuals through a collection of methods – and you can get involved too –  even if it may just be by donating or educating yourself! 

And just like that, the fight for reproductive justice continues – we have already come this far and we will continue to push against any setbacks!

Outro: Inspirational Corporate Music by Denys Kyshchuk

 Rivers, Daniel Winunwe. “She Does Not Draw Distinctions Based on Blood or Law.” In Radical Relations : Lesbian Mothers, Gay Fathers, and Their Children in the United States since World War II., 173-206. University of North Carolina Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/smith/detail.action?docID=1120507.

LundenandOlivia. TikTok profile. Accessed November 20, 2024. https://www.tiktok.com/@lundenandolivia.

Silvert, W Lea. “Reproductive Justice and Abortion.” In The Sage Encyclopedia of LGBTQ+ Studies, 2nd Edition, edited by Abbie E. Goldberg, 2463-2466. SAGE Publications, Incorporated, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/smith/detail.action?docID=31288980.

Nordqvist, Petra. “Reciprocal In Vitro Fertilization.” In The Sage Encyclopedia of LGBTQ+ Studies, 2nd Edition, edited by Abbie E. Goldberg, 2382-2385. SAGE Publications, Incorporated, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/smith/detail.action?docID=31288980.

Grass, Gary. “Religious Leaders Launch Voter Drive”. People’s Weekly World, December 13-19, 2003. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1914531966?accountid=13911&parentSessionId=IgPp0wm%2BbLjIxp5dhU2lBV79tULpWyBrWdTsN4Vpl10%3D&sourcetype=Historical%20Newspapers

Gerard Letterie and Dov Fox., “Legal personhood and frozen embryos: implications for fertility patients and providers in post-Roe America.”, Journal of Law and the Biosciences, 10, No. 1, (January-June 2023): 1-13, https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsad006

Bond-Theriault, Candace. Queering Reproductive Justice. Stanford University Press, 2024.

“Understanding the Cost of IVF.” ARC Fertility. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.arcfertility.com/patient-resources/understanding-the-cost-of-ivf/#:~:text=While%20the%20average%20base%20cost,must%20be%20taken%20into%20account

“GLAD Responds to Unprecedented Alabama Supreme Court Ruling Undermining Access to Family-Building Healthcare,” GLAD, accessed November 25, 2024, https://www.glad.org/glad-responds-to-unprecedented-alabama-supreme-court-ruling-undermining-access-to-family-building-healthcare/.

“An Update on the Fight for LGBTQ+ Rights.”GLAD. Accessed November 26, 2024. https://www.glad.org/an-update-on-the-fight-for-lgbtq-rights/.

Oakly, Cathryn. “Your Right to Conceive Babies Could Be At Risk if Roe v. Wade is Overturned.” Human Rights Campaign. February 28, 2024. https://www.hrc.org/news/your-right-to-conceive-babies-could-be-at-risk-if-roe-v-wade-is-overturned

Causes In Common. Papers. Sophia Smith Collection of Women’s History, Smith College Special Collections

Family Equality. Path2Parenthood Fact Sheet: The Cost of Pregnancy. Accessed November 26, 2024. https://familyequality.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/P2P-Factsheet-CostofPregnancy.pdf.

SisterSong, “Reproductive Justice,” accessed November 26, 2024, https://www.sistersong.net/reproductive-justice.

Denys Kyshchuk, “Inspirational Corporate”, Free Music Archive. 

• https://www.glad.org
• https://www.nclrights.org
• https://familyequality.org
• https://www.lgbtmap.org
• https://www.sistersong.net