The couple attracted the attention of campaigning law firm Leigh Day. The private treatment, which costs about £25,000-30,000, has been called a “gay tax” by campaigners.ĭespite a well-documented “postcode lottery” when it comes to accessing NHS fertility treatment, many heterosexual couples can access some form of help, including in vitro fertilisation (IVF), for free.

They were “horrified” to learn that their local NHS required them to pay for 12 rounds of fertility treatment, including six intrauterine inseminations (IUIs) in a private clinic, to “prove” infertility before becoming eligible for NHS help. Megan and Whitney launched their groundbreaking fertility equality campaign in 2020 after learning of the financial burden placed by many NHS groups in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on same-sex female couples and single women trying to start families. Frimley ICB said: “We are reviewing our position on assisted conception and will be sharing information as this process continues.” Minutes from a meeting in September last year suggest the group may abolish the requirement for same-sex female couples to pay for private treatment and instead allow them to “self-declare” home insemination attempts to their GP, like heterosexual couples, but using “unregulated donor sperm”.Ī draft proposal is expected in the next few months, with the rules set to be changed by early 2024. They added: “When we started out, we didn’t think we would achieve equality overnight and the fact that in 2.5 years we went from feeling like this issue was completely ignored, to taking the ICB to the high court, to the government promising to offer equal access to IVF, is beyond what we could have hoped for.”įrimley ICB, previously called Frimley CCG, is due to hold a public consultation on the issue in November. They told the Guardian that the NHS’s decision was “a great step to achieving fertility equality” and it made them “very hopeful for the future of LGBTQ+ families” in Britain. The influencers, from Windsor, Berkshire, who are known on YouTube as Wegan, met online in 2008 and have more than 500,000 followers on social media.

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