Access and Equity in Synthetic Gametes for Same Sex / Queer Couples

Abstract: Predictions of success abound for synthesizing human gametes from various kinds of stem cells to produce human children, techniques collectively known as in vitro gametogenesis (IVG). The imagined beneficiaries of IVG are typically characterized as people with impediments to fertility rooted in anatomy, physiology, disease, or disease treatment. For example, IVG is seen as a potential benefit for women with cancer whose circumstances preclude treatment with gonadotropic-releasing hormone agonists and cryopreservation of oocytes, embryos, and ovarian tissue. Some researchers and commentators do mention same sex / queer couples as beneficiaries of IVG, but other commentators resist the idea that these couples have any strong claim to IVG because their infertility is not rooted in disease, disorders, or social injustice. These commentators also challenge the very motive for IVG, namely the interest of parents in having a shared genetic relationship with their children. These commentators claim this interest is largely a social artefact structured by objectionable values. One commentator warns against “pandering” to the desire for genetic filiation with children, and another characterizes this as a “mere wish.” Others argue against government or insurance subsidy to secure biogenetically related children. Rather than treating IVG as strictly therapeutic. I argue that we should understand it as an instrument of status equality for sex and gender minorities. Moreover, the alleged harms of the interest in genetically related children do not override the importance of respect for reproductive autonomy. This reconceptualization underwrites prima facie entitlement to access to IVG and possible third-party financial subsidy.