French Court Upholds Excluding Transgender Men from IVF Treatment

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Chris Tomlinson

A top French court has ruled that transgender men, i.e. women who have transitioned, are not eligible for artificial fertilisation treatments (IVF) after the case was brought by a transgender association.

France’s Constitutional Council, the top constitutional authority in France, has ruled that the current law relating to IVF treatment is valid in excluding transgender men from the procedure despite the fact they may have the physical ability to get pregnant.

“The principle of equality does not preclude the legislature from regulating different situations differently or from derogating from equality for reasons of general interest, provided that, in either case, the resulting difference in treatment is directly related to the purpose of the law establishing it,” the court said in its ruling this week, newspaper Liberation reports.

The activist group Information and Action Group on Reproductive and Sexual Issues (GIAPS) brought the case to the court and argued that transgender men should be able to receive IVF treatment, which is covered by the government for male and female couples, lesbian couples, and single women — but not those listed as men in France’s Civil Registry.

Magaly Lhotel, the lawyer for GIAPS, had argued that the current criteria “undermines the principle of equality between women and men,” but the Constitutional Council decided that differences in treatment between men and women could be determined by civil status.

According to Liberation, GIAPS may continue to pursue the case at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), but the group has not formally announced it will be appealing to the European court.

Former French MP Jean-Louis Touraine commented on the case saying France will likely eventually allow transgender men to receive IVF treatment, calling it a “justified and inevitable evolution.”

“[Trans men] have a legitimate desire to have the same rights as others, but it remains to convince a part of society,” he said.

In other European countries, such as Spain, transgender men gained the ability to receive IVF treatment last November following demands by LGBTQ groups.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.

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