British taxpayers could soon begin paying for in vitro fertilization for transgender people who were born female and had a male sex change, according to The Daily Mail.
A highly controversial new issue, the possibility of transgender male pregnancy could become reality very soon in England. Dr. James Barrett, a West London doctor who performs sex changes, said three of his female-to-male transition patients had their eggs frozen and want to become pregnant.
Barrett said dozens of his transgender patients have frozen their eggs and sperm so that they could become parents in the future. He said cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy often freeze their eggs and sperm, too.
“As a matter of principle, anybody who loses their fertility as a result of standard [British National Health System] treatment should be able to preserve their fertility,” he said.
There are many concerns surrounding the new procedure, including that it could take away tax dollars from more critically-needed medical procedures. According to the report:
… critics said cash-strapped health authorities should not be spending up to £34,000 [about $45,000] per patient to help them change sex and have children when they are rationing basic services such as cataract operations, hip replacements and even hearing aids.
Tory [Member of Parliament] Peter Bone said: ‘I am not sure why the taxpayer should be funding this. I just sometimes ask if the NHS is getting its priorities right.’
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[Bone continued] ‘The NHS does not have endless pots of cash and, with accident and emergency departments and hospitals bursting to the seams, we should stop pretending that it does. … It’s something that people could surely fund privately if they want to.’
In 2008, Thomas Beatie, of Honolulu, became the first transgender man (born female) to become pregnant and give birth to children, according to the report. Doctors left Beatie’s female reproductive organs in place during the sex change to allow for pregnancy; since then, Beatie has given birth to three children, the report states.
Most transgender people use a surrogate to become pregnant, according to the report.
The news is ethically troubling for multiple reasons. The possible risks to the unborn child are unknown at this time. How the hormone therapy and other aspects of a sex change could affect a transgender person’s unborn child during the pregnancy has not been explored.
In vitro fertilization also troubles many pro-lifers because human embryos are created and often are left over from the process. Embryos are very young human lives, and the embryos left over from IVF often are stored indefinitely, destroyed or used in experiments, rather than given a chance to live and develop.
Last month, LifeNews reported scientists also are considering whether pregnancy is a possibility for males who transition to female. As uterus transplants become a more realistic possibility, some doctors say they are receiving inquiries from male patients who identify as women and have had sex changes and want to become pregnant, according to the Daily Caller.
