For women who prefer a female provider, three out of six RSC's staff physicians are women. RSC embryologist Kristen Ivani, Ph.D, has served as the laboratory director since 1989.
RSC works with agencies that provide careful screening and uphold strict criteria for egg and sperm donation, surrogates, and gestational carriers. This ensures highest medical safety and protects couples from potential legal complications.
The primary procedures involved in family building for lesbian women are:
Selecting a sperm donor
Lesbian couples may decide which sperm bank and which donor to use. Information about a donor's physical characteristics, race, ethnic background, educational background, career history, and general health should be available.
RSC follows the American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommendation that they use only frozen semen and that the specimen be frozen and stored for at least 180 days.
For couples who prefer to use semen from a known donor, sperm analysis is relatively inexpensive and non-invasive. Sample collection may be performed at either a laboratory, a physician's office, or in some cases, the privacy of home.
Cervical insemination is a simple procedure. A soft catheter is passed through the speculum to the cervical opening and the semen is released from the catheter. The woman is instructed to remove the sponge in two to three hours.
Read more about selecting and using donor sperm
IntraUterine Insemination (IUI)
IUI is often used because of its superior success rates with frozen sperm. Sperm is injected, using a syringe and thin catheter, into the uterus via the cervix. Highest success rates for donor insemination are reported in women who have no infertility problems and are under 35-years-old. Lower success rates are reported where there is a female factor (ovulation problem, endometriosis, DES, etc.) or the woman is over 35.
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
IVF, fertilization of an egg outside the body, is the oldest assisted reproductive technology (ART) and still the most frequently used. IVF involves the retrieval of a woman's eggs, insemination of the eggs with sperm in a Petri dish, allowing the embryos to develop in the laboratory, followed by embryo transfer into the uterus of the woman who will carry and give birth to the baby.
Donor Eggs
Occasionally some lesbian couples need to use donor eggs to conceive due to the absence of ovaries or the inability of the ovaries to produce viable eggs in both women. Donors may include sisters or other family members, friends, or anonymous donors who are remunerated for their time, effort, inconvenience, and time lost from work.
Learn more about the egg recipient process
