Lesbian couples make up half of patients at IVF clinic

A growing number of women in same sex relationships are turning to IVF to become mothers.

Figures from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority show the number of IVF cycles in Wales involving women in same sex relationships and single women in 2013 had doubled to nearly 300, and the figure for 2014 is expected to rise again.

Now one in every ten IVF cycles use a donor, and a third of all patients having treatment using donor sperm are either single women or women in same sex relationships.

The total number of women in same sex relationships having children is difficult to measure as many other women have chosen other methods of having a child, or go outside Wales for private treatment or overseas.

Consultant gynaecologist Peter Bowen-Simpkins, medical director at the London Women's clinic, said they have seen a huge increase in same sex women seeking fertility treatment.

About half of its patients at its Cardiff clinic are lesbian couples.