Michelle Lorraine Embleton, biochemist at inviTRA, explains in this video what the technique of reciprocal IVF involves and how it means that both women in a same sex female relationship can actively participate in the pregnancy. As Michelle says:
In a lesbian partership we have two sets of ovaries and two wombs, so we can do a type of IVF in which both women feel they actively participate in the pregnancy. One woman is chosen to provide the eggs and the other to carry the pregnancy. The provider of the eggs is usually the younger woman of the two, as in theory, the younger the woman, the better quality her eggs will be.
The woman to be the egg donor will undergo ovarian stimulation with hormonal medication so that several eggs develop. When they are ready they will collected by ovum pickup and taken to the IVF laboratory where they will be fertilized by donor sperm. In a coordinated fashion, the woman who will carry the pregnancy needs to have her uterus prepared and will receive hormonal medication to this effect.
This technique allows one one woman to provide the genetic load of the baby and the other woman to carry the pregnancy, making them both actively involved.
