Media release: Rainbow Families calls for equal access to Medicare rebates for all Australian families
Rainbow Families is calling on the government to provide Medicare rebates to all Australian families, not just heterosexual and cisgender couples. Not all LGBTQ+ people receive the Medicare rebate when accessing assisted reproductive technology (ART) services like IVF, IUI, and domestic surrogacy.
When Rainbow Families polled our community this year, we heard:
- Around half had not received any Medicare rebate at all when trying to conceive at Australian clinics.
- Around 1 in 3 received the rebate but only after they had been deemed ‘medically infertile’ following three rounds of failed treatments.
The decision to provide Medicare rebates to LGBTQ+ singles and couples is at the discretion of the treating doctor, and practices vary even within the same clinics. We heard from families that many doctors expressed embarrassment or frustration at having to delay or deny access to rebates, and often apologized to their patients for the outdated rules.
The costs of trying to conceive are high for anyone using assisted reproductive technology, and this is compounded when access to rebates is refused or delayed. One family had spent $150,000 out of pocket on 17 treatments and had not received the rebate for all treatments.
Lack of access to Medicare rebates affects clinical decision-making, such as when a doctor decides to recommend a patient proceed to use IVF. Even though many of our families also experience medical infertility, just like anyone else, we are automatically assumed to be socially infertile and excluded from access.
Executive Officer Rainbow Families, Ashley Scott said, “Our families find the gatekeeping process of having to prove infertility through multiple failed treatments before qualifying for rebates to be unjust, discriminatory, and distressing.”
Failure to provide Medicare rebates for ART services for LGBTQ+ patients is inconsistent with the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 as well as state-based anti-discrimination legislation.
Because of adherence to rules set down in 1990, people who are trying to conceive through surrogacy get no access to rebates at all, despite altruistic surrogacy being legal across Australia.
Rainbow Families is the leading voice for LGBTQ+ families in Australia.
Examples of medical inequality and discrimination experienced by Rainbow Families accessing the Medicare rebate:
-
“Our doctor apologized for having to get us to do the IUI first before we would qualify for Medicare but said that the clinic had to follow government guidelines. This should be taken out of the doctor’s hands and legislated that anyone can access Medicare regardless of their ‘social infertility’. It was also embarrassing being told that we were being deemed ‘socially infertile.’ And when we told other people they were appalled that the government would treat us like that.” - Lesbian couple, NSW.
-
“LGBTQIA+ families should be able to access the rebate without a fertility diagnosis. We are already infertile due to loving the people we love therefore rebates should be automatically assigned to us.” - Lesbian couple, NSW.
-
“The practice manager told us we were not entitled to any rebate as we were male same-sex partners using a surrogate as she was not having the child for herself. This was distressing and in our view discriminatory.” - Gay couple, NSW.
-
“The doctor said she was not against allowing access to the rebate, after a certain level of failure. But not from the outset. We are very passionate about this issue; it is clear discrimination.” - Lesbian couple, QLD.
-
“Our journey for two women over multiple clinics took over 13 years before we stopped trying for baby number two. Our medical fertility was not fully explored and was assumed as social infertility (which in itself is a term that I don’t like given my understanding of the huge amounts of male infertility factor in heterosexual relationships) for over 10 years and that time likely cost us financially but most importantly the time and financial expense to grow our family more.” - Lesbian couple, QLD.
-
“We cannot access all clinics in WA, some are only for straight people. Then, we couldn’t access the rebate at first until we had 3 failed IUI and then we qualified for infertility support and treatment.” - Lesbian couple, WA.
-
“Although it was very expensive to make our daughter. She was and is 100% wanted and loved and we are so happy she is in our lives, and we get to help create a beautiful kind human.” - Lesbian couple, NSW.
-
“I didn't get the rebates for all treatments - only after 3 unsuccessful IUIs and a miscarriage as endometriosis was diagnosed at that time.” - Lesbian parent, QLD.
For Media Enquiries contact Heather Corkhill on [email protected]
Rainbow Families is the leading voice for LGBTQ+ families in Australia.