FAMILY PRIDE

Gay Couple Sues NYC for Access to IVF Treatment in Landmark Case

The suit alleges NYC discriminates against gay couples in its definition of infertility.

A former New York City district attorney and his husband are suing the city, Mayor Eric Adams, and former mayor Bill de Blasio to challenge the city’s health care provisions for in vitro fertilization treatment, which could significantly expand family planning options for queer couples who want to conceive. The class-action lawsuit brought by Corey Briskin and Nicholas Maggipinto alleges the city’s health insurance policy infringes on their civil rights because it excludes and therefore discriminates against same-sex couples in its definition of infertility. That policy defines infertility as the failure to conceive after 12 months of unprotected heterosexual sex or intrauterine insemination, which would make gay men the only group of people not included for IVF coverage under the health care provided for city employees. If their suit is successful, it will set a legal precedent that defines all gay men as infertile and compels employers to provide them fertility benefits on par with women and straight couples.