Fertility preservation for transgender individuals

The field of oncofertility emerged to preserve the fertility of cancer patients whose treatment might render them as infertile or sterile. Today, the field of fertility preservation has expanded to other patient populations whose medical treatment may affect their fertility. One such population is transgender individuals undergoing gender affirming treatments. Although research on transgender individuals is limited overall and in particular regarding issues surrounding reproduction, transgender individuals are interested in biological reproduction. Because various gender affirming treatments will permanently affect their fertility, such as hormonal treatment and surgical removal of the gonads, it is important for transgender individuals to be offered fertility preservation before they start these treatments. There are, however, some factors that may make fertility preservation difficult or less attractive of an option for transgender individuals. Healthcare professionals offering fertility preservation should be aware of these factors so they can help mitigate them. Here I will discuss two of them. First, undergoing fertility preservation treatment can be stressful for both transgender and cisgender people, but there are some unique challenges for transgender individuals. Individuals with gender dysphoria may find it particularly difficult to undergo procedures involving anatomy that is discordant with their identity. For example, transgender women who are asked to retrieve ...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Tags: Health Care Reproductive Medicine Fertility LGBTQ reproductive rights syndicated Source Type: blogs