ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE Making space for every family How London Women’s Clinic is carrying Cambridge’s IVF legacy forward through 40 years of LGBTQ+ fertility progress
L GBTQ History Month is a time to celebrate progress, reflect on resilience and recognise the journeys that shaped today’s more inclusive world. For many LGBTQIA+ people, one of the most personal and long-fought journeys has been the right to build a family. This means feeling welcomed in fertility clinics, respected in consultations and supported without judgement. For much of recent history, fertility care did not offer that welcome. Access was shaped by social attitudes rather than individual hopes, and many LGBTQIA+ patients were made to feel parenthood was something they had to justify. As attitudes shifted, fertility care became a mirror of wider social change moving towards compassion, equality and choice. At London Women’s Clinic Cambridge, that progress is felt every day. Inclusion, respect and empathy sit alongside clinical excellence, ensuring that every patient feels heard, valued and supported. Early barriers to family-making In the 80s and 90s, lesbian couples and single women often faced significant barriers when seeking fertility treatment. Access was tightly controlled, and lots of clinics required ethics committee approval before care could begin. Applications from LGBTQIA+ people were frequently declined, sometimes without explanation, leaving many feeling excluded at deeply vulnerable moments. The wider legal and social climate reinforced these experiences. Section 28 of the 1988 Local Government Act labelled same-sex families as ‘pretend families’, while other legislation required clinicians to consider a child’s supposed ‘need for a father’. Personal beliefs and societal assumptions often outweighed compassion, forcing hopeful parents to either delay or abandon plans. The clinic emerged in this landscape with a clear
POSSIBILITIES FOR ALL Inclusive reciprocal IVF, surrogacy and donor options to explore
mission: to offer care that was inclusive, consistent and centred on patients rather than prejudice. A moment of change For Dr Kamal Ahuja, current scientific and managing director at London Women’s Clinic, witnessing patients get turned away was heartbreaking. It inspired a progressive, compassionate approach that prioritises inclusivity, education and patient support. Over the years, London Women’s Clinic has helped to shape national fertility standards, influence UK laws and clinical guidelines and advocate for pathways that allow all families to flourish. Progress and Cambridge’s IVF legacy Over four decades, social attitudes and laws have evolved. Decriminalisation and the 2008 HFE Act, which recognised same-sex joint parents and equal marriage,
transformed the legal landscape. At the same time, medicine advanced, creating new paths to parenthood through donor conception, shared motherhood/reciprocal IVF and surrogacy. The changes have helped LGBTQIA+ people access treatment and build families with dignity and choice. Cambridge – birthplace of IVF and home to pioneers Sir Robert Edwards, Dr Patrick Steptoe and Jean Purdy – continues this legacy through London Women’s Clinic Cambridge. Community and the future Community remains central to the clinic. Initiatives like The Familymakers Show celebrate diversity, offering reassurance and connection. From exclusion to inclusion, hidden histories to proud families, the journey continues. In Cambridge, families of all kinds can look forward with hope, visibility and choice.
To find out more or start your journey, call us on 01223 080 069 or visit londonwomensclinic.com
CARE WITHOUT BARRIERS The clinic offers inclusive care based on needs, not identity
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