France passes bill legalising IVF for lesbians, single women

PARIS (AP) — France’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a bill that aims to give single women and lesbian couples legal access to in vitro fertilisation, egg freezing and fertility medication.

The assisted reproduction measures are part of a broader bioethics bill voted by the National Assembly, the lower house, where French President Emmanuel Macron’s government has a majority.

The bill passed 359-114. It must still go to the Senate for debate.

France’s health care system would cover the cost of the assisted reproduction procedures for all women under 43.

French law currently allows in vitro fertilisation and related procedures only for infertile heterosexual couples.

Many ineligible French women travel abroad to undergo IVF treatment.

Lesbian couples, single women or both already have legal access to medically assisted reproduction in 18 of the European Union’s 28 countries.

France’s pending legislation also would allow children conceived with donated sperm to find out the donor’s identity upon demand when they reach age 18, a change from France’s current strict donor anonymity protections.

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