LGBTQ+ Family Building

Aspire Houston Fertility Institute believes that everyone should be able to pursue their dream to have a family. We accept all families just as they are, and we’re proud to serve the LGBTQ+ community and its family-building needs. Aspire HFI has extensive experience providing individuals and couples with all levels of fertility treatments. Together with your physician, you will decide which treatments best meet your goals on the path to parenthood.

Making the LGBTQ+ Family-Building Process Smoother

We know the process of fertility evaluation and treatment can be intimidating and often confusing. The health care providers at Aspire HFI are dedicated to helping you understand all your options and explaining the steps involved. You will discuss your chosen treatment plan in depth at your initial consultation. To make this process even smoother and less stressful, we also have a dedicated team that we call our Third Party Reproduction Department. This experienced team helps patients using donor sperm, donor eggs, and/or gestational carriers in conjunction with the clinical teams located at each office in the Houston area.

IUI and IVF for Same-Sex Couples

We offer a wide variety of treatment cycles to same-sex partners ranging from low-cost natural cycle IUI (intrauterine insemination) to IVF (in vitro fertilization), including:

• Natural cycle with insemination (IUI) of donor sperm
• Ovulation induction with insemination (IUI) of donor sperm
• In vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles, including those cycles involving donor egg, donor sperm, and/or gestational carrier (surrogates)
• Reciprocal IVF cycles

What Is Reciprocal IVF?

Reciprocal IVF, also called partner IVF, shared motherhood, or co-IVF, is a treatment that involves using one partner’s eggs and the other partner’s uterus, giving lesbian couples the opportunity to physically share in the pregnancy.

How Does Reciprocal IVF work?

Like a traditional IVF process, a reciprocal IVF typically involves four stages:

• Ovarian stimulation to mature ovarian follicles
• Egg retrieval
• Fertilization and cell division
• Embryo transfer to the uterus of the partner who will carry the pregnancy

Read more about the four stages of a typical IVF cycle.

IVF and Surrogacy for Gay Couples

IVF with surrogacy is a popular option for male partners who want to have a baby. To assist with surrogacy for gay couples, Aspire HFI works with the best surrogacy agencies in Houston. We’re happy to help you find a surrogacy team that can guide you through the selection process and provide you with referrals to attorneys who can navigate the legal aspects of third-party reproduction. Texas is also a surrogacy-friendly state.

Donor Eggs for Same-Sex Couples

Aspire HFI is proud to have its own large Donor Egg Bank; one of the only donor egg banks in the southern region of the United States. Eggs for both synchronous and asynchronous cycles are readily available from a large number of diverse and rigorously screened donors.

Fertility Preservation and Family-Building for Transgender People

Building a family can be a challenge for transgender people who want to have their own biological children. HFI provides options, including fertility preservation, to help you realize your dream of parenthood. Eggs or sperm can be frozen for future use before undergoing cross-sex hormone treatment and/or surgery. If you plan to undergo either treatment, fertility preservation is advised.

How to Get Started with LGBTQ+ Family-Building at Aspire Houston Fertility Institute

The first step for any family-building plan is a consultation with any of our physicians to go over your medical history, review the appropriate fertility testing, and discuss potential treatment options. This can be done at any one of our locations. At Aspire HFI, we meet all aspiring parents right where they are and support you throughout your entire fertility journey.