7 replies to this topic

[SherryLevitan]

Clinics set their own rules and protocols, and they vary greatly from clinic to clinic . Most of those rules can be justified medically, but the Calgary Regional Fertility Program's policy has left us all scratching our heads. Just to be clear, a single Caucasian woman who chooses to get pregnant safely, in a clinic, has fewer options than if she was trying to conceive naturally.  

 

Has anyone been directly affected by the Calgary clinic's policy? What did you do about it? Thoughts? Comments?

[Tess]

"Has anyone been directly affected by the Calgary clinic's policy? What did you do about it? Thoughts? Comments?"
 
 
 
We read about the story and were royally pi**ed.  Then we read the Jezabel story and the comments and felt better.  
 
http://jezebel.com/c...-1612974874/all
 
From the comments in the Jezabel article:

"I would ask you," Green asked in his weekend interview, "why would you not choose somebody of your own cultural background?"

"Because STOP SAYING "CULTURE" WHEN YOU MEAN "RACE", that's why,...."
 

Administrative director Dr. Calvin Green "confirmed" to the Calgary Herald just on Saturday that the clinic would not assist couples or individuals who wanted to conceive children of different ethnicities, saying that the no mixing policy had been in place since the clinic launched in the 1980′s. "I'm not sure that we should be creating rainbow families just because some single woman decides that that's what she wants," he said, in a statement dismissive of both mixed race families and single mothers. "That's her prerogative, but that's not her prerogative in our clinic."

"Mega hostility towards single women up in here..... "Some Single Woman" sounds like the nefarious catch-all villain "Some Hispanic Guy" on South Park. I wonder if she's related to him."
 
 

[gibasgirl]

The online comments are often pretty intense. Often more intense than the way we converse with one another on this site.

In keeping with the spirit of this community, I will remove the closing insult from the online article comment.

[Adrienne Donor]

It's very upsetting and is coming from a perspective of eugenics. Does she have any legal recourse here? 

[SherryLevitan]

I wouldn't try to give legal advice to an unknown person on a legal forum. Remember a few years ago there
was a similar ruckus about a clinic in Ontario denying treatment to women whose BMI exceeded some standard? Recently I read a study that said that weight was not a predictor of IVF success.

Bottom line is that private clinics can make their own rules. It isn't as much of an issue if there is
another clinic that is convenient, but that isn't the case in Calgary. That leads to access to care issues. Also, this is a huge issue for those patients who simply can't find a donor who matches their cultural
background and we all know that it is very hard to find donors of certain backgrounds.

[Tess]

"Bottom line is that private clinics can make their own rules. It isn't as much of an issue if there is
another clinic that is convenient, but that isn't the case in Calgary. That leads to access to care issues. Also, this is a huge issue for those patients who simply can't find a donor who matches their cultural
background and we all know that it is very hard to find donors of certain backgrounds."

 

This clinical practice might be ruled a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  I certainly think the refusal of certain Calgary doctors to prescribe birth control could be attacked under the principle of gender equality.  But legal cases are long, expensive, and the outcomes are unpredictable.  

 

They changed their policy.  As my DH put it:  "they're a** covering."  

 

It's a horrible invasion for a doctor, for non-medical reasons, to use his power to prevent someone from procreating with the person of their choice. 

 

That they conflated race with culture, and worked to prevent "racial mixing" just makes it all the more horrible.

 

This clinic "policy" would almost certainly be ruled unconstitutional in the US.  

 

But racial and other legal restrictions have a different tradition in Canada.  For example, there restrictions allowed in housing complexes against children under the age of 18.  This would be an illegal practice in the US under the 1964 Civil Rights Bill.

[gibasgirl]

I like the Hannam Fertility response:

http://fertility.ca/...onor-selection/

[kerrilyn]

I like the Hannam Fertility response:
http://fertility.ca/...onor-selection/

I loveDr H