Website Content Analysis Of Fertility Care On Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer Health Clinic Websites
Description
Many individuals utilize lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) health clinic websites as a starting point to gather information on LGBTQ+ care. Unfortunately, LGBTQ+ individuals continue to face many barriers to care, including awareness of and access to assisted reproductive technology for fertility preservation and family building. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the content of LGBTQ+ health clinic websites in the USA to determine whether there are differences in content on assisted reproductive technology options across geographic regions. Website content from a CDC list of LGBTQ+ clinics was analyzed via descriptive statistics. 132 LGBTQ+ health clinics were listed on the CDC website and 42 websites noted (36%) family planning care and 12 (10%) provided fertility care. Of the 12 clinics that stated they provided fertility care, 8 (67%) provided information on fertility preservation and 4 (33%) on family building options such as artificial insemination. There is great variability in the services provided by LGBTQ+ health clinics and in the content displayed on their websites. Many websites lack information on fertility preservation and family building resources. Reproductive endocrinology and infertility physicians should consider reaching out to nearby clinics to increase awareness and access to these services.