Medical group expands definition of “infertility” to include same-sex couples

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) Practice Committee has announced they are updating the definition of “infertility” to be more inclusive.

The new definition will include single people and same-sex couples. It will consist of anyone needing medical interventions “in order to achieve a successful pregnancy either as an individual or with a partner.”

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“We made it explicit that lack of access to the kind of gametes you need is a condition deserving of treatment,” Sean Tipton, ASRM’s chief advocacy and policy officer, told CNN.

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“That is, the reason you may need medical assistance to build your family, it can be because your fallopian tubes don’t work, or it could be because your sperm don’t swim right. But it could also be because you’re single, or because you are in a relationship with a person who doesn’t have the kind of gametes you need. Those are legitimate causes of infertility, and they need to be treated accordingly.”

“It is our hope that this definition removes one of the excuses that insurance companies have attempted to use to deny patients coverage for the medical care they need to have children,” he added.

The previous definition only defined the term as failing to get pregnant after a year of having unprotected sex or undergoing therapeutic donor insemination in women younger than 35, or within six months for women over 35.

The updated definition will be published in about a week as a report in the group’s journal.