IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/socinc/v13y2025a10362.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Lesbian Couples’ Assisted Reproductive Technologies Trajectories in Switzerland and Abroad: Navigating Heteronormative Norms and Healthcare Disparities

Author

Listed:
  • Caroline Chautems

    (Center for Gender Studies, University of Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Mica Palaz

    (Center for Gender Studies, University of Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Marta Roca i Escoda

    (Center for Gender Studies, University of Lausanne, Switzerland)

Abstract

On July 1, 2022, marriage became legal for same‐gender couples in Switzerland, granting married lesbian couples access to assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and recognition of co‐maternity from birth. Before this change, lesbian couples had to resort to reproductive travel to access ART abroad. Yet, significant barriers remain. Restrictive Swiss regulations continue to prohibit certain technologies, such as egg donation (i.e., reception of oocytes from a partner), even for married couples. Legal constraints are further compounded by financial inequities: Unlike heterosexual couples, lesbian couples are excluded from insurance coverage for ART because they do not meet the medical definition of infertility. Additionally, Swiss childbirth and parenting culture are deeply heteronormative, and healthcare providers—including fertility clinics—are ill‐prepared to welcome lesbian couples. As a result, some couples will continue to turn to reproductive travel, with Swiss health providers involved in their medical care trajectories before and after insemination abroad. Drawing on interviews with Swiss lesbian couples who pursued ART abroad, this article examines their experiences with reproductive travel. How did they access information to select a country and a clinic? And how did they navigate the constraints of reproductive travel alongside work, family, and social obligations? Using a reproductive justice framework, this article analyzes how recent legal changes fall short of ensuring equitable access to parenthood for same‐gender couples. It highlights enduring structural inequalities embedded in ART regulations, which intersect with socio‐economic norms and disparities in access to medical treatment.

Suggested Citation

  • Caroline Chautems & Mica Palaz & Marta Roca i Escoda, 2025. "Lesbian Couples’ Assisted Reproductive Technologies Trajectories in Switzerland and Abroad: Navigating Heteronormative Norms and Healthcare Disparities," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 13.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v13:y:2025:a:10362
    DOI: 10.17645/si.10362
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10362
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/si.10362?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Conron, K.J. & Mimiaga, M.J. & Landers, S.J., 2010. "A population-based study of sexual orientation identity and gender differences in adult health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(10), pages 1953-1960.
    2. Anna Lisa Amodeo & Concetta Esposito & Vincenzo Bochicchio & Paolo Valerio & Roberto Vitelli & Dario Bacchini & Cristiano Scandurra, 2018. "Parenting Desire and Minority Stress in Lesbians and Gay Men: A Mediation Framework," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-16, October.
    3. Greer Lamaro Haintz & Hayley McKenzie & Beth Turnbull & Melissa Graham, 2023. "Inclusive Policy? An Intersectional Analysis of Policy Influencing Women’s Reproductive Decision‐Making," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(2), pages 124-135.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhang, Adary & Berrahou, Iman & Leonard, Stephanie A. & Main, Elliott K. & Obedin-Maliver, Juno, 2022. "Birth registration policies in the United States and their relevance to sexual and/or gender minority families: Identifying existing strengths and areas of improvement," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    2. Nick J. Mulé & Luann Good Gingrich, 2023. "Effecting Systemic Change: Critical Strategic Approaches for Social Inclusion," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(2), pages 90-93.
    3. Billy A Caceres & Abraham Brody & Deborah Chyun, 2016. "Recommendations for cardiovascular disease research with lesbian, gay and bisexual adults," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(23-24), pages 3728-3742, December.
    4. Joseph G. L. Lee & Adam O. Goldstein & Leah M. Ranney & Jeff Crist & Anna McCullough, 2011. "High Tobacco Use among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Populations in West Virginian Bars and Community Festivals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-12, July.
    5. Nattavudh Powdthavee & Mark Wooden, 2014. "What Can Life Satisfaction Data Tell Us about Discrimination against Sexual Minorities? A Structural Equation Model for Australia and the United Kingdom," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2014n09, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    6. Nicole A VanKim & Carolyn M Porta & Marla E Eisenberg & Dianne Neumark‐Sztainer & Melissa N Laska, 2016. "Lesbian, gay and bisexual college student perspectives on disparities in weight‐related behaviours and body image: a qualitative analysis," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(23-24), pages 3676-3686, December.
    7. Reczek, Corinne, 2012. "The promotion of unhealthy habits in gay, lesbian, and straight intimate partnerships," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(6), pages 1114-1121.
    8. Saxby, Karinna & de New, Sonja C. & Petrie, Dennis, 2020. "Structural stigma and sexual orientation disparities in healthcare use: Evidence from Australian Census-linked-administrative data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    9. Peggy M. Zoccola & Andrew W. Manigault & Wilson S. Figueroa & Cari Hollenbeck & Anna Mendlein & Alex Woody & Katrina Hamilton & Matt Scanlin & Ryan C. Johnson, 2017. "Trait Rumination Predicts Elevated Evening Cortisol in Sexual and Gender Minority Young Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-13, November.
    10. Powdthavee, Nattavudh & Wooden, Mark, 2015. "Life satisfaction and sexual minorities: Evidence from Australia and the United Kingdom," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 107-126.
    11. Riccardo Ciacci & Dario Sansone, 2023. "The impact of sodomy law repeals on crime," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(4), pages 2519-2548, October.
    12. Andersen, Judith P. & Zou, Christopher & Blosnich, John, 2015. "Multiple early victimization experiences as a pathway to explain physical health disparities among sexual minority and heterosexual individuals," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 111-119.
    13. Gilbert Gonzales & Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, 2018. "The Association between State Policy Environments and Self-Rated Health Disparities for Sexual Minorities in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-11, June.
    14. Alexa L. Solazzo & Bridget K. Gorman & Justin T. Denney, 2017. "Cancer Screening Utilization Among U.S. Women: How Mammogram and Pap Test Use Varies Among Heterosexual, Lesbian, and Bisexual Women," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 36(3), pages 357-377, June.
    15. M. V. Lee Badgett, 2018. "Left Out? Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Poverty in the U.S," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(5), pages 667-702, October.
    16. Cristiano Scandurra & Andrea Pennasilico & Concetta Esposito & Fabrizio Mezza & Roberto Vitelli & Vincenzo Bochicchio & Nelson Mauro Maldonato & Anna Lisa Amodeo, 2020. "Minority Stress and Mental Health in Italian Bisexual People," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-17, April.
    17. Yoo Mi Jeong & Cindy B Veldhuis & Frances Aranda & Tonda L Hughes, 2016. "Racial/ethnic differences in unmet needs for mental health and substance use treatment in a community‐based sample of sexual minority women," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(23-24), pages 3557-3569, December.
    18. Cristiano Scandurra & Benedetta Muzii & Roberto La Rocca & Francesco Di Bello & Mario Bottone & Gianluigi Califano & Nicola Longo & Nelson Mauro Maldonato & Francesco Mangiapia, 2022. "Social Support Mediates the Relationship between Body Image Distress and Depressive Symptoms in Prostate Cancer Patients," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-10, April.
    19. Marco Fonzo & Silvia Cocchio & Matteo Centomo & Tatjana Baldovin & Alessandra Buja & Silvia Majori & Vincenzo Baldo & Chiara Bertoncello, 2021. "Sexual and Gender Minorities and Risk Behaviours among University Students in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-9, November.
    20. Melissa M. Barnhill & Joseph G. L. Lee & Ann P. Rafferty, 2017. "Health Inequities among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults in North Carolina, 2011–2014," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-10, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v13:y:2025:a:10362. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.