Experts call for fertility support for transgender patients

Transgender patients should be given the chance to freeze their sperm and eggs on the NHS before transitioning, fertility experts told a conference in Edinburgh.

Experts call for fertility support for transgender patients before they transition. Picture: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

Trans men and women can lose their ability to conceive a child after the surgery and hormones involved in gender reassignment surgery.

Professor Allan Pacey, a leading expert on male fertility from Sheffield University, said many clinics treat gender dysphoria as a medical 
condition so patients should be offered the same opportunities for fertility preservation as people with cancer.

Speaking at a conference hosted by the Progress Educational Trust this week, Professor Pacey said: “It is not a clear cut situation but people who manage that do recognise gender dysphoria as a medical condition and therefore sperm storage, if that’s what they want, or egg storage is going in the direction where it is supported.”

James Morton, manager of the Scottish Transgender Alliance, backed the calls, saying trans patients were not always aware they had to preserve their fertility.