Generations Ahead brings diverse communities together to expand the public debate and promote policies on genetic technologies.
LGBTQ Rights
New genetic and reproductive technologies affect the gay and lesbian community in a unique way. Advances in reproductive technology have enabled a growing number of gays and lesbians to have children who are genetically related to them. At the same time, this emphasis on genetic relationships has shaped who counts as a family and who does not, thus paving the way for denial of child custody and access to some LGBTQ parents. Just as emerging technologies have the potential to shape families, they also have the potential to shape identity: questions of whether genes determine sexual orientation could play a fundamental role in shaping the identities of LGBTQ individuals. With its emphasis on genetic determinism, research into such questions may also open the door to new forms of discrimination. Generations Ahead seeks to provide the space to ask the difficult questions raised by these emerging technologies and to ensure that the answers we generate affirm our shared humanity.
New developments
Reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization with donor sperm or eggs, and surrogacy with “rented wombs” make possible previously unavailable options for building LGBTQ families by allowing individuals and couples to have children who are genetically related to them. Given the current political and social climate, we have an opportunity to advocate for equal access to: the technologies that provide for family building, legal protections for LGBTQ parents and children, and full social acceptance of LGBTQ families no matter how they are constituted.
Concerns
While emerging genetic and reproductive technologies have expanded options for family formation in the LGBTQ community, access to these technologies and family law have not always kept pace. The result is that many individuals and couples are not able to avail themselves of the benefits of these technologies precisely because they fall outside the norm of the traditional nuclear heterosexual family. Moreover, even when single women and men and LGBTQ couples are able to form families using these new technologies, such families frequently face censure and discrimination. Finally, the emphasis that these technologies put on genetic relationships as the foundation of a family opens the road to denying parenthood to some LGBTQ parents who form families in other ways or who are not genetically related to their children.
Another concern is that some of the technologies themselves are ethically complicated. The social and economic complexities of surrogacy and egg donation in particular, which pose risks to the health, rights and well-being of women require honest, non-judgmental, and safe discussions to explore all sides of the issues. As communities committed to advancing the human rights of all people, we need to come to shared values affirming the dignity of individuals, families and communities.
While some in the LGBTQ community have welcomed research into how biology and genetics might shape sexual orientation, many others have found this trend deeply troubling. For some, the very enterprise of looking for a genetic basis for homosexuality is an act of homophobia, because it is based on the assumption that homosexuality is a disease or a deviance. Equally problematic is the idea that one’s human rights as an LGBTQ person ultimately rests on her or his genetic make-up. Human rights are based on our humanity, not on social identities, however they are constituted.
The genetic determinism implicit in attempt to find a genetic basis for homosexuality is troubling as well, especially in a world in which discrimination based on sexual orientation is legal and widespread, and where any emphasis on immutable and biological differences between straight and LGBTQ individuals can be used as the basis of new forms of discrimination. It is easy to imagine, for example, a chilling form of eugenics, where homophobic parents choose to genetically deselect embryos that exhibit the “gay gene.”
Key questions
How do we ensure that everyone – gay or straight, single or coupled – has access to assisted reproductive services?
How important should it be for anyone to be able to have children genetically related to her or him? Are there dangers in making genetic relationship the basis of family? Does anybody have the right to have genetically related children?
How do we make biologically-related families a reality for gay men and, at the same time, ensure that the women who serve as egg donors or surrogates are not exploited?
Join the dialogue
Invite us to brief your organization on these issues and to discuss these critical questions. We can be reached at 510-832-0852 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).