In February, as part of our LGBT+ CELEBRATIONS we annually champion the LGBT+ community, diversity, inclusion and fertility. Since we are based in Leicester, with our diverse community, we are ideally placed to celebrate!
We champion diversity and inclusion among:
- our clients, who we help on their fertility journey to parenthood.
- our kind sperm donors, who go through the detailed screening process and help to make the chance of having a family a reality for so many of our clients.
- our friends in the local community and colleagues who we work alongside.
What is LGBT+ History Month?
In 1994, LGBT+ History Month was founded in the USA by high-school history teacher Rodney Wilson. In the UK, LGBT+ History Month has been an annual event since 2005, following the launch by Schools OUT UK, an education charity that began life as The Gay Teachers Association in 1974. The month helps to educate people about the diversity in the world in which we live, and encourages us to think about our own experiences and how we interact to make the world a better place for all of us.
Taglines & Themes
Claiming our past. Celebrating our present. Creating our future
As well as the above tagline, each year LGBT+ History Month has a theme to highlight different aspects that link to our LGBT+ community.
For 2023, the theme of LGBT+ History Month is #BehindTheLens celebrating how LGBT+ people contribute to cinema and film. This includes many professions including directors, screen writers, producers, animators, costume designers, make up artists, choreographers and beyond.
LGBTQ+ role models found behind the lens include
Angela Robinson - American film & TV director & screenwriter, e.g. The L Word (2004-2006)
Sir Cecil Beaton - British costume designer, e.g. Gigi (1958) & My Fair Lady (1964)
Sridhar Rangayan - Indian director, e.g. Yours Emotionally (2007) & The Pink Mirror (2006)
Have you ever wondered who might be your favourite LGBT+ person Behind the Lens?
Life is your art. An open, aware heart is your camera. A oneness with your world is your film - Ansel Adams, photographer and environmentalist
2022's Theme - The Arc is Long
In 2022, the "The Arc is Long" theme was taken from a quote by Dr Martin Luther King:
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice - Martin Luther King
Dr King was one of the most prominent leaders of the CIVIL Rights Movement in the USA. He was assassinated on 4th April 1968 in Memphis. Yet his words live on, and he inspires us to realise social justice and fairness will result eventually, we just need patience.
2021's Theme - Body Mind Spirit
In 2021, the theme was “Body Mind Spirit”. This has a special relevance for fertility, as having a healthy body, mind and spirit is essential if we wish to bring new life into an open-minded society.
We’re pleased to reflect on the amount of progress in our world, and particularly in the city of Leicester where we are based, which is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the UK.
At X&Y Fertility, we are committed to providing routes to parenthood for everyone.
We offer treatment options to same-sex couples and people seeking solo parenthood, via insemination treatments using fully screened and fertile donor sperm. This is called IUI (intrauterine insemination) and involves transferring a high concentration of super fast fertile sperm carefully into the womb just before ovulation. This gives the sperm the best chance to swim up to meet the egg as it is released from the ovary as part of the menstrual cycle. We do everything in tune with your natural cycle and do not use any artificial fertility drugs.
For same-sex couples who might like to experience “shared motherhood”, this does involve a more complex IVF treatment. Here, one partner provides the egg for fertilisation in vitro, and the resulting embryo is transferred to the other partner. Our Scientific Director proposed this treatment back in 2006 when he co-authored this suggestion of a route to parenthood for same-sex female couples (we actually came up with the concept in 2004, the same year that LGBT+ History Month began, but it took a while before the academic referees finally agreed to publish our proposal!). Shared motherhood is now an option in many fertility clinics, where it may be called intra-partner egg sharing.
For same-sex male couples, we offer sperm testing so that we can look at which partner has the best quality sperm for possible surrogacy arrangements.
For transwomen, we offer a safe sperm bank, whereby sperm can be cryopreserved in the deep freeze to allow the option for future fertility.
X&Y Fertility is proud to be one of the UK’s top LGBTQ+ fertility clinics, always willing to help where we can.
We pride ourselves on providing advice and treatment in a private, discreet and caring manner.
If you’re ready to start a family, we’re here to support you. Please call 0116 3800611 for further information.