Doctor Tells Lesbians To “Find A Man To Sleep With”
A lesbian couple says a doctor they consulted about fertility treatment options advised them to sleep with a man to get pregnant.
A lesbian couple in the United Kingdom wishing to have a baby was stunned after a doctor suggested that one of the women — in a twist that sounds like it came out of a bad porno film — “find a man to sleep with” in order to become pregnant.
Elissa Hillier, 32, and her wife Kaylee, 35, from Manchester, say they were left feeling “scared, disappointed, and upset” by the encounter at the Orient Road Medical Practice in Salford, England.
Hoping to discuss their options for fertility services, the women were instead met by a male doctor who appeared confused by their request and did not know how to proceed.
“You do know that you need a man to have a baby?” the doctor reportedly asked them. “You do know that it needs to be human sperm?”
“He just stared at us for a bit and was like, ‘Why don’t you just go out and find a man to sleep with?” Elissa told the U.K. newspaper The Independent.
The doctor offered to put them on a “three-year” waiting list for a fertility appointment with Britain’s National Health Service.
“He gave no explanation about what that would entail and basically said, ‘I don’t really know how to help you or why you are here,'” Kaylee said. “All he said was, ‘I’m going to put your name on this list and you’ll get a call.'”
“He wasn’t being rude or mean. You could tell that he was genuinely just trying to understand,” added Elissa. “He did suggest a number of times, ‘why don’t you just go find a man?’ and we kept reiterating that I don’t want my wife going off and sleeping with someone else.”
The couple were frustrated by their experience.
“We went in really excited thinking this was the start of our journey and that we were going to be having a baby,” Elissa said. “When we left, we just sat in the car in silence and were like, ‘Did that actually just happen?'”
“Do straight couples get asked if they know that you need human sperm to have a baby?” queried Kaylee, referring to the fact that many heterosexual couples struggle with fertility issues as well.
The pair began researching private options online and booked a free consultation with a private clinic in Manchester, but were subjected to a seminar that focused primarily on male fertility issues.
“There was only one slide which said, ‘We can help same-sex couples’ and it was a picture of two men,” Elissa said.
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
