By Kerrie Portman

As a lesbian Care Leaver, I have a plethora of lenses through which to view IVF. As a lesbian, IVF is one of my main options if I want biological children. As a Care Leaver, I hope more budding families turn to adoption or fostering rather than to IVF. Researching into the specificities of IVF in the UK, a new lens appears. I am autistic, and it turns out that many IVF clinics in the UK will not accept egg donations from autistic people. 

For egg donation, a person goes through part of the IVF process in order to have their eggs collected and then donated to another person who hopes to get pregnant. There are many reasons why someone might not be able to get pregnant without help, including age, medical history, or risk of passing on genetic conditions to her children. Likewise, there are many reasons why someone might want to donate her eggs, though the most common reason is donating to a close friend or family member. 

The person donating their eggs undergoes a medical screening and tests beforehand to look for medical and genetic conditions that may be passed on to the child or person hoping to get pregnant. In the UK, The Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority’s Code Of Practice does not require fertility clinics to carry out more in-depth screenings, such as Expanded Carrier Screening. A brief overview of the conditions listed on varying UK fertility websites that are tested for includes: HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C, chlamydia, trichomonas, cystic fibrosis, history of heart attacks and cancer. Some websites go further and include hay fever, depression, asthma, previous history of acne or obesity, down syndrome, and autism.

The cause of autism is not definitely known, although genetic inheritance is the most widely believed theory. Not letting autistic people donate their eggs due to autism sends a clear message to them and every autistic person out there: we want to remove you and your genetics from the population. This attitude will not exist in a vacuum and will spread, whether overtly or covertly, into the treatment of autistic people. 

Many of the struggles we face as autistic people are down to an ableist society and their lack of willingness to accommodate disabilities. From personal experience, I’ve lived in only one area where I wasn’t verbally or physically abused by strangers in public simply due to being autistic. I have had to go to A&E with potentially broken ribs and deep yellowing bruises lasting weeks after a stranger beat me up for stimming by swinging in a public playground. The sad truth of the situation is that the struggles of autistic people can be reduced if society accommodates us and our needs. 

When you have a child, you are promising to love and care for that little human being to the best of your abilities, for as long as you can. This includes allowing and encouraging them to be their own individual. If that human being has autism or any other neurodivergence, they still need love and care. It’s important to bear in mind because regardless of attempts at genetic intervention, that baby could still have autism.

As an autistic person, it makes me deeply sad to see potential parents and medical agencies alike not giving people like me a chance to exist. It’s heart-breaking. When I see the idea that people like me should be annihilated from the gene pool, it makes me feel frightened and deeply, deeply rejected. As a society, we need to do better.