Who we are

We are Whitney and Megan Bacon-Evans, a married lesbian couple. We recently celebrated our 13th anniversary together, after getting married in 2017, and we were excited to start our family together. 

Unfortunately, we were shocked and devastated to discover the discrimination that lesbian couples and bisexual women face in starting their family. LGBTQ+ couples are not entitled to the same access to fertility treatment as cis heterosexual couples.

Having a child can be one of the most meaningful and transformational things that can happen in a person’s life, and so we have instructed the top UK law firm Leigh Day with barristers Jude Bunting and Marlena Valles to represent us to take action against the discriminatory policies which prevent us from having equal access to fertility treatment. We need your help to bring this claim. 

Our hopes are to be able to help create a future where LGBTQ+ families are treated as equal and we need YOUR help

Please donate what you can and share this page via social media and WhatsApp or email. Everyone deserves the right to form a family and together we can achieve equality for all.

Our case

Our local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CGC) policy states that female same-sex couples must self-fund 12 rounds of artificial insemination, 6 of which must be IUI in a private clinic. This forces female same-sex couples to pay tens of thousands of pounds in artificial inseminations in expensive private clinics to prove that they are infertile before they are eligible for any fertility treatment on the NHS. 

However, cis heterosexual couples can qualify for IVF on the NHS if they have not become pregnant after two years of unprotected sex, with no financial cost to them whatsoever. 

By only providing fertility treatment to couples who are “medically infertile”, our local CCG policy fails to recognise that female same-sex couples like us are “de facto infertile”. 

This is because even if both women in a couple are tested as having normal fertility, they will still be unable to become pregnant without the help of medical intervention. 

When it comes to creating a child in our relationship, we are in the same position as an infertile man and a fertile woman, or a fertile man and an infertile woman. This differential treatment towards female same-sex couples amounts to direct and indirect discrimination contrary to the Equality Act 2010.  

Demanding Fertility Equality for all

Our CCG’s policy is unlawful, as are many other CCG policies that use the same eligibility criteria. If you are a same-sex female couple seeking fertility treatment, there is a postcode lottery which determines the treatment that you are entitled to. This doesn’t just affect gay women, but also bisexual and single women, and individuals with wombs. Our CCG covers 800,000 people in our area. 

If found to be unlawful, this could positively impact the lives of tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of LGBTQ+ people embarking on their path to parenthood now and in the future to come. It is time for discrimination to end and for there to be equal treatment with heterosexual couples in the healthcare system.

We're being supported by both Stonewall and BPAS:

“At Stonewall, we imagine a world where all LGBTQ+ people are free to be themselves, are treated equitably, and can live their lives to the full. Everyone who wants to have a child should be able to; and LGBTQ+ prospective parents should have equitable access to NHS-funded care to help them conceive.

The current NICE fertility guidelines create significant practical and financial barriers for LGBTQ+ prospective parents, particularly lesbians and bi women. Depending on your local CCG, LGBTQ+ people could have to spend up to £25,000 before being eligible for NHS fertility services. For many couples, these barriers are insurmountable, and they are unable to start a family.

Whitney and Megan’s case highlights the human impact of restricting access to NHS-funded fertility services, and we are proud to support their fight to make sure that no one is excluded from the right to form a family.” 

Eloise Stonborough, Associate Director of Policy and Research at Stonewall, (she/her)

“Fertility services are crucial in supporting the development of different family structures. However, our research has found that female same-sex couples and single women are disproportionately impacted by policies which require that they self-finance costly, and less effective, artificial insemination, in some cases for at least 2 years, before becoming eligible for funded IVF. 

These restrictions amount to a tax on LGBT+ families, and the impact can be truly devastating. One same-sex couple told us that their experience of trying to access NHS-funded fertility treatment caused them to feel, for the first time in their life, a "deep sadness at being gay.” The need for reform is urgent.

BPAS Fertility is committed to not only being at the forefront of ethical, compassionate, high-quality fertility care and research, but also campaigning for fair and equal access to NHS-funded treatment.  We are proud to stand with Whitney and Megan in their fight for fertility equality, and  we applaud their courage for publicly sharing such a personal struggle." 

Marta Jansa Perez, PhD, Director of Embryology at BPAS Fertility

Why we're raising funds

If we lose in court, we need funds to be able to cover the costs of the defendant’s fees, as well as any fees owed for the court application and our barristers’ fees. We have applied for a cost capping order of £25,000. Should the case be refused by the judge at the outset, we will owe fees to the defendant straight away (approx. £5-7k). Should we go to court, then we will require approx. £25k (if cost capping order is approved).  Without raising funds, we cannot bring this claim.  

If we win our case, we will donate the funds raised to help fight a similar legal case or into the Access to Justice Fund or donated to charity. We will not be using this money in any personal way and the funds will be sent directly to our lawyers, Leigh Day. (Leigh Day are acting on a ‘no win no fee’ basis).

We need your support!

Please donate and share this crowd fundraiser on social media and tag us @whatwegandidnext.

 #fertilityequality