Donor egg import program includes gay men

MELBOURNE: A support group for gay men looking to become dads in Victoria has confirmed gay men will soon be able to import donor eggs from overseas.

Gay Dads Australia announced today that Monash IVF now has an arrangement with The World Egg Bank that will allow Victorians to import donor eggs into Victoria for the purpose of altruistic surrogacy, where a woman offers her services without charge to carry the child to term.

According to Monash IVF in Melbourne, Queensland gay men should already be able to access the service.

However, when contacted by GNN, The Wesley Hospital in Auchenflower, Brisbane, which has a Monash IVF clinic, said it did not provide the service to gay men.

According to Monash IVF, other Queensland clinics will accept applications from gay men.

Because in Victoria altruistic surrogacy must be gestational surrogacy – where a fertilised egg is implanted into the surrogate mother – one of the most difficult aspects is finding an egg donor.

At a cost of AUD $19,000, an egg from The World Egg Bank could offer a solution.

Gay Dads Australia confirmed with Monash IVF that Victorian GLBTI people would have the same access to the import service as heterosexual couples, as long as the arrangement has VARTA (Victorian Assisted Reproduction Treatment Authority) approval.

Monash IVF indicated they were hopeful that they would receive the approval within a month.

Unlike most egg donor agencies in the USA, The World Egg Bank arrangement with Monash IVF will supply only altruistic egg donors.

Full details of The World Egg Bank are available at the Monash IVF site here.