Insurers to Cover Fertility Services for Queer Couples
New initiative does not, however, cover all LGBTQ families
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
Health insurance companies
in New York
must immediately cover
fertility treatments
for at least some queer couples,
according to a new statewide mandate
announced on February 11.
Governor Cuomo is directing the
Department of Financial Services
to eliminate any extra costs facing
same-sex couples seeking fertility
treatments such as in vitro fertilization,
egg freezing, sperm donations,
and more. Queer people are
sometimes forced to pay six to 12
months of out-of-pocket costs for
fertility treatments before qualifying
for coverage, while cisgender,
heterosexual couples do not face
these same barriers.
However, Ron Poole-Dayan, who
serves as the executive director of
Men Having Babies, said the initiative
is limited to people who were
assigned female at birth and does
not include single individuals. The
governor’s offi ce did not respond to
requests for clarifi cation regarding
the scope of the directive, including
whether or not it extends to
transgender people in heterosexual
relationships.
“For too long same sex couples
have been denied coverage for immediate
infertility benefi ts, forcing
them to pay high — often prohibitive
— out-of-pocket costs to start
a family,” Cuomo said in a written
statement. “No New Yorker should
be denied the opportunity to become
a parent, nor the joys of raising
a child, because of their sexual
orientation, and this change
refl ects what we as New Yorkers
know to be true: that love is what
makes a family, that inclusivity
is our strength and that the law
should work for all New Yorkers.”
In a statement, Melissa DeRosa,
the Governor’s spokesperson and
chair of the Council on Women
and Girls, said the move is a step
toward removing barriers in reproductive
health care.
“New York is leading the nation
in protecting the rights of all
New Yorkers and making it easier
to start a family by expanding access
to safe and affordable fertility
treatments,” DeRosa said. “Family
planning is a profoundly personal
and emotional journey, and
it should not be made harder by
bureaucracy.”
She added, “These new actions
mark a major win for women and
the LGBTQ community, and we
will continue breaking down barriers
to family planning until every
New Yorker has access to the protections
and services they need to
start a family of their own.”
Last April, the state legalized
paid gestational surrogacy —
which is when a surrogate carries
a baby who has no biological
relation to them — after a prolonged
fi ght over concerns that
the surrogates carrying babies
and those donating eggs were
not provided with enough protections
and rights. Out lesbian Assemblymember
Deborah Glick
was among those who mounted
resistance to the surrogacy effort,
telling the New York Times that
gestational surrogacy amounted
to “pregnancy for a fee, and I fi nd
that commodifcation of women
troubling.”
Surrogacy-related protections
went into effect February 15.
FAMILY
MIKE GROLL/OFFICE OF GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO
Governor Andrew Cuomo is directing insurers to begin covering fertility services for same-sex couples.
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➤ SURROGACY, from p.12
hand the impact this legislation
will have on our families…”
Ron Poole-Dayan, the executive
director of Men Having Babies,
said, “Today we believe that New
York leapfrogged to have the most
comprehensive and ethical surrogacy
laws ever drafted, with extensive
protections to all involved,
legal clarity and a streamlined process
for parentage rights, and attention
to long term physical and
mental health outcomes. We thank
Governor Cuomo for his leadership
and look forward to working with
him on building upon this historic
achievement for LGBTQ families.”
GayCityNews.com | February 25 - March 10, 2021 13
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