Preserving Dignity in Healthcare: Insights into LGBTQ+ Experiences with Fertility Services
(A2025-126085)

AUTHORS

Carolyn Wilson-Nash, University of Stirling; Oluwafunmilola Salu, University of Stirling; Carys Egan-Wyer, Lund University

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the concept of marketplace dignity in healthcare, focusing on LGBTQ+ consumers of private fertility services. Drawing on the three-factor dignity framework – recognition, equity, and agency – we investigate how dignity is upheld or diminished within this context. Using qualitative data from 40 LGBTQ+ service users and 8 fertility service providers, our findings reveal systemic challenges to dignity, including under-recognition, inequity, and limited agency. Notably, LGBTQ+ consumers face dehumanisation through objectification and commodification, undermining their well-being and trust in healthcare providers. While some clinics demonstrate humanisation, treating consumers as individuals with unique experiences, others prioritise financial gain over empathetic care. We highlight the urgent need for inclusivity in fertility services and contribute to marketplace dignity and LGBTQ+ reproductive health literature by centring on the experiences of marginalised groups.