BSG: Homosexual couples have to pay for fertility treatment

An infertile homosexual woman argues with a health insurance company about the cost of her fertility treatment.

She pulls up to the Federal Social Court.

Now there is a verdict.

Kassel / Hamburg - According to a ruling by the Federal Social Court (BSG) in Kassel, same-sex married couples are not entitled to reimbursement of the costs of fertility treatment by the health insurance company.

The first Senate ruled on Wednesday that the insurance only has to pay if only the spouses' egg and sperm cells are used, but not when donor sperm are used.

In the specific case, a lesbian and sterile plaintiff from Aschaffenburg had requested reimbursement of the cost of fertility treatment.

The Hanseatische Krankenkasse in Hamburg had refused this.

The woman sued against this, but was unsuccessful in the lower courts.

The Bavarian State Social Court had argued that the prerequisite for reimbursement of costs was that the spouse's egg and sperm cells were used - that is, a so-called homologous insemination was carried out.

In a same-sex marriage, however, there is a need to use donor sperm from a third party as part of a heterologous insemination.

This is not covered by the legal regulation - not even in the case of heterosexual infertile married couples.

The distinction between the treatment methods is justified from the point of view of the child's well-being, since a child with homologous artificial insemination - unlike heterologous insemination - automatically has two parents who are obliged to provide maintenance.

The plaintiff saw in the decision in particular a violation of the principle of equality.

However, the BSG in Kassel rejected the appeal as unfounded.

The privilege of homologous over heterologous insemination does not violate the principle of equality, since it also applies to sterile heterosexual couples.

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The introduction of same-sex marriage does not force a different assessment.

“The legislature wanted to align same-sex marriage to mixed-sex marriage.

However, this concern does not result in the obligation to compensate for the reproductive biological limits of such a marriage with the means of the statutory health insurance ”, the Kassel judges justified their decision.

dpa