IVF denial leads to a gay couple suing New York City

A new lawsuit claims that the city of New York, U.S.A., is discriminating against its gay male employees by not offering them the same health care benefits, specifically for in vitro fertilisation (IVF), that it provides to women and heterosexual men. Allegedly, under the city’s health plan, all employees are entitled to coverage for up to three IVF cycles, except if they are gay men.

In what is potentially the first federal case centring on gay men’s access to IVF, a former city employee and his spouse assert that being excluded from these benefits constitutes discrimination based on sex and sexual orientation. The couple contends in the federal court filing in New York, “There is no legitimate, non-discriminatory explanation for why the City’s healthcare plan would offer IVF benefits when the male plan participant’s partner is female but withhold IVF benefits when the male plan participant’s partner is male.”

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While New York City provides comprehensive IVF coverage to its 300,000 employees and their dependents, including single women, women in same-sex relationships, and men with female partners, gay men are the sole exception.

The city’s criteria for IVF access, which requires infertility defined as the inability to conceive through heterosexual intercourse or intrauterine insemination, exclude only gay men. Despite the American Society of Reproductive Medicine revising its definition of infertility to include LGBTQ+ people last year, New York City has not updated its policy. This requirement, as per the lawsuit, equates to sex discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, other state and city human rights statutes, and both the New York and United States constitutions.

According to ‘LGBTQ Nation’, the origin of this lawsuit dates back to 2017 when Corey Briskin started at the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Briskin and his husband, Nicholas Maggipinto, were ready to have children and sought to use the city’s IVF benefits but were denied. This denial, described by Briskin as “an additional kind of pain which was rooted in my sacrifice that I had made to be a public servant,” felt discriminatory especially when other colleagues had access to these benefits.

According to Maggipinto, the refusal suggested, “‘You’re just outside of what we support,’” adding to their feeling of exclusion.

In 2020, New York state required that healthcare plans for over 100 employees cover IVF and prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, despite this and the landmark Bostock v. Clayton County Supreme Court ruling, which recognised sexual orientation and gender identity protections under Title VII, the city continued its refusal to amend its policy for gay men. This refusal led the couple to file a class action charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2022, a preliminary step before proceeding with a federal court case.

Their attorney, Peter Romer-Friedman, criticised the city’s defence in these proceedings for lacking substantial engagement with the allegations and not adjusting to legal and factual standards related to these issues. Romer-Friedman also noted that legislative efforts in the city council to amend the IVF policy to include gay men have so far failed, though he believes Mayor Eric Adams and the city’s Office of Labor Relations could unilaterally change the policy.

The refusal of the city has left Briskin and Maggipinto both mystified and financially strained, driving Briskin to resign from his public sector job in favour of better financial opportunities due to escalating costs associated with their attempts to have a family. Through this lawsuit, the couple hopes not only to recover their costs and effect policy change in New York City but also to set a broader legal precedent under Title VII that could benefit many other gay couples seeking to start families.

Read related myGwork articles here:

UK Ministers to Scrap Outdated & Discriminatory Laws So Couples With HIV Can Have Children With IVF

Lesbian Couple Win Hong Kong Court Victory in IVF Case

South Korean Milestone As Married Lesbian Couple Welcomes First Child Via IVF

Gay Couple Sues New York City Over Exclusion From IVF Workplace Benefits

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