Fertility in transgender persons

Only few studies have investigated the desire of transgender persons to have children, but they all conclude that half of transgender persons wish to have children. There are many fertility options available for transgender... [ view full abstract ]

Only few studies have investigated the desire of transgender persons to have children, but they all conclude that half of transgender persons wish to have children. There are many fertility options available for transgender persons. If a transgender person has a genetically related child wish, transgender men require own oocytes, transgender women require own spermatocytes. Until 2015, sterilization was mandatory in many European countries to change one’s legal sex. The decision to preserve gametes was previously made early in the transitioning process andof minor importance to transgender persons, as they were eager to start the hormonal therapy as soon as possible. Since 2015, in some countries, sterilisation is no longer needed to change the legal sex. However, both hormone therapy and surgical interventions have a negative effect on fertility. Therefore, it's important to discuss the consequences for future fertility with the patient before any treatment has started. In this symposium, we will focus on the fertility options for transgender persons who wish to have genetically related children.

Adapted from: De Roo C, Tilleman K, T’Sjoen G, De Sutter P. Fertility options in transgender people. International review of psychiatry. 2016. 28(1). p.112-119

This work is supported by FWO TBM T001816N

This multidisciplinary symposium is intended to provide all health care workers with sufficient knowledge about the subject of fertility in transgender persons, in order to be able to inform the patient about different... [ view full abstract ]

This multidisciplinary symposium is intended to provide all health care workers with sufficient knowledge about the subject of fertility in transgender persons, in order to be able to inform the patient about different options, pro’s and contra’s, possible consequences, etcetera. Further research topics in the field of assisted reproduction will also be discussed during the symposium.