Lesbian mothers with their child conceived with the help of a sperm donor

Cryos

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<p>At Cryos, we take pride in helping everyone create a family no matter their sexual orientation. In this article, we have gathered some facts about the part of our customers who are in a lesbian relationship and want to start a family together.&nbsp;</p>
<h2><span class="display-3">1. 1/3 of Cryos customers are lesbian couples</span></h2>
<p>Lesbian couples are a big part of Cryos' private customers - 34% to be exact. The rest of the people Cryos help are <a title="Single Mother by Choice" href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/about-sperm/why-use-a-sperm-donor/single-mother-by-choice/">single women</a> and <a title="Infertility" href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/about-sperm/why-use-a-sperm-donor/infertility/">heterosexual couples who experience infertility</a>.</p>
<h2><span class="display-3">2. Most lesbian couples begin creating their family between ages of 31 and 40</span></h2>
<p>70% of our customers in a homosexual relationship were between 31 and 40 when they ordered <a title="Donor sperm for fertility treatment" href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/about-sperm/about-donor-sperm/">donor sperm</a> for fertility treatment. This means that they will, in general, be a little older than the average woman if it is their first child. According to <a title="Eurostat: Mean age of women at birth of first child" href="https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/ddn-20200515-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eurostat</a>, the mean age of European women at the birth of their first child is approximately 29 years old.</p>

Graphic with information about lesbian mothers and donor sperm

Ny blok

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<h2><span class="display-3">3. 75% order donor sperm for fertility treatment at a clinic</span></h2>
<p>By far, most lesbian couples <a title="Read our page on how to order donor sperm here" href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/how-to/how-to-order-donor-sperm/">order donor sperm</a> for IUI (intrauterine insemination) treatment at a fertility clinic.&nbsp;<a title="IUI treatment - How it works" href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/blog/iui-treatment-how-it-works/">IUI treatment</a> is a simple form of fertility treatment where donor sperm is injected directly into the uterus. Often, <a href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/blog/how-do-lesbians-have-a-baby/">lesbian couples wanting to fulfil their dream of a baby</a> start with IUI and move forward with other more advanced methods if IUI does not work. However, this is very individual, and the best fertility treatment method depends on different factors such as the woman&rsquo;s age and previous history with fertility treatment.</p>
<p>If you want to read <a href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/blog/heres-10-interesting-facts-about-donor-sperm/">facts about donor sperm</a>, then follow the link.</p>
<h2><span class="display-3">4. 50% choose a donor with an Extended Profile</span></h2>
<p>When you are searching for a donor at Cryos, it is possible to choose between a donor with a <a title="Sperm donor profiles: Basic or Extended" href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/how-to/how-to-choose-a-sperm-donor/sperm-donor-profiles-basic-or-extended/">Basic or an Extended Sperm Donor Profile</a>. The Basic Profile only contains information such as eye colour, hair colour, ethnicity, and blood type whereas the Extended Profile contains a lot of additional personal information about the donor such as interests, education, baby pictures, and voice recording, it is even possible to see <a href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/how-to/how-to-choose-a-sperm-donor/sperm-donor-profiles-with-adult-photos/">pictures of the sperm donor as an adult</a>. The blood type rarely has relevance for the choice of donor, follow the link to read more on <a href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/faq/the-donors/is-blood-type-important-for-my-choice-of-donor/">why blood type is not important for your choice of a sperm donor</a>. Approximately half of the lesbian couples who choose a donor with Cryos want an Extended Donor Profile with much more information.</p>

A lesbian couple travelling for fertility treatment due to legal restrictions in their own country

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<h2><span class="display-3"> 5. 19% receive fertility treatment in another country than the country they live in</span></h2>
<p>All countries have different legislation regarding fertility treatment with donor sperm. In some countries, same-sex couples are not allowed to receive treatment, and in other countries, there are restrictions concerning the type of donor you can choose. Therefore, close to 20% of the lesbian couples who receive donor sperm from Cryos decide to (or are forced to) travel to another country so they can receive the treatment they need with the donor they wish. This is called <a title="Read more about fertility tourism here" href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/blog/fertility-tourism-why-travel-abroad/">fertility tourism</a>, and if you want to read more about the subject, we can recommend our blog post about <a title="Read the blog post here" href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/blog/fertility-treatment-abroad-when-phoebe-and-her-wife-went-to-denmark/">Phoebe and her wife, that travelled abroad to receive fertility treatment</a>.</p>
<p>You can find a list of regulations on <a href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/about-sperm/sperm-donation/">sperm donation</a> based on country, and read more about the <a title="Legal aspects of sperm donation" href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/how-to/legal-aspects-of-sperm-donation/">legal aspects of sperm donation here</a>.</p>
<h2><span class="display-3">6. Three main factors determine who will carry the baby</span></h2>
<p>As two mothers-to-be, there is one very important decision to make: who will carry the baby? We have asked our customers about the three most important factors when making the decision.</p>
<ul>
<li>Will (39%)</li>
<li>Age (28%)</li>
<li>Health &amp; Fertility (18%)</li>
</ul>
<p>In addition, some of the women mention that they plan on taking turns for both mums to experience pregnancy. If you are in a lesbian relationship and plan to use donor sperm to become pregnant, we can recommend reading our blog post on <a href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/blog/who-should-carry-the-baby-what-to-consider/">how to figure out who should carry the baby</a>.</p>

Women in a lesbian relationship must decide who will carry the baby. Some take turns to experience pregnancy

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<h2><span class="display-3"> 7. Almost every second lesbian couples experience legal challenges</span></h2>
<p>As previously mentioned, different countries have different legislation when it comes to <a title="REad more about same-sex families here" href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/blog/rainbow-and-same-sex-families-an-faq-about-the-modern-family/">same-sex families</a>. In our survey, no less than 44% say that they have experienced legal challenges when it comes to being legally recognized as parents in their country.</p>
<p>If you want to read more about the <a href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/blog/common-challenges-for-lgbt-parents-to-be/">challenges LGBT+ parents experience</a>, then we can recommend following the link to our blog post on the subject.</p>
<h2><span class="display-3">8. They highlight five topics that they want more openly discussed</span></h2>
<p>The women we have asked in our survey highlight five topics concerning same-sex parenting that they would like more openly discussed:</p>
<ul>
<li>In most countries, the non-biological mother must go through an extensive process to be recognized as the legal parent.</li>
<li>In some countries, the non-biological mother cannot be recognized as a legal parent at all.  &nbsp;</li>
<li>In some countries, it is illegal for same-sex couples to use donor sperm to conceive.  &nbsp;</li>
<li>Restrictions such as those mentioned above make it expensive for same-sex couples to become parents (additional travelling costs, legal fees, etc.).</li>
<li>Same-sex parents experience discrimination in everyday life as soon as people understand their family constellation. &nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<p>If you wish to read more about lesbian mothers, we can recommend Anna's blog post, where <a href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/blog/my-life-as-a-donor-conceived-child/">she shares how her upbringing was with two mothers</a>.</p>
<p>This article is written based on&nbsp;Cryos International Denmark Private Customer Survey 2020 (125 participants)&nbsp;and <a title="Facebook group Family Dreams" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/FamilyDreamsCryosDK/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Family Dreams Facebook Group</a> Survey May 2021 (10 &ndash; 67 participants). If you enjoyed this article, you may also find our article about <a title="Read more about the use of donor sperm on your way to parenthood here" href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/blog/7-facts-about-using-donor-sperm-on-your-way-to-parenthood/">using donor sperm on your way to parenthood</a> interesting.</p>
<h2><span class="display-3">Resources for lesbian parents</span></h2>
<p>Besides the Facebook group, we also have other resources lesbian parents, future and current, may find helpful. Follow the links below to read the blog posts:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/blog/books-for-lesbian-parents/">6 books for lesbian parents</a></li>
<li><a href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/blog/podcast-recommendations-for-lesbian-parents/">Podcast recommendations for lesbian parents</a></li>
<li><a href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/blog/starting-their-own-family/">Starting their own family &ndash; Caitlin and Leah&rsquo;s journey</a></li>
<li><a href="/en-gb/dk-shop/private/blog/having-a-baby-julie-and-camillas-fertility-journey/">Having a baby: Julie and Camilla's fertility journey</a></li>
</ul>