One year ago, the law in France was changed to make single and lesbian women eligible for fertility treatments. Now, the first baby born to a lesbian couple as a result of that new law came into the world over the summer. The “IVF for all” baby also came into the world 40 years after France’s first test-tube baby, which was another major reproductive healthcare milestone.

The law that allowed for the little girl born to the lesbian couple was enacted in August 2021. Called the Revised Bioethics Law, it allowed for medically assisted reproduction (MAR) to be available to everyone, instead of just heterosexual couples. Baby Zola weighed 3.55 kilos (about 7.8 pounds), and was born at Nantes University Hospital.

One of Zola’s mothers had received a sperm donation that created the pregnancy. The head of the MAR service explained that the hospital was among the first to offer the procedure to single and lesbianl women, which was why the first baby was born there. Both of Zola’s mothers are in their 30s and live in Nantes. They started trying to have a family in 2018, when they traveled to Spain for fertility treatments. Six treatments were all unsuccessful.

The mothers agreed on which one of them would carry their child, and then the bloodwork and other examinations began. Producing a healthy baby with MAR can take some time, as reproductive technology is still imperfect in some ways. But Zola is healthy, and she and her mothers have made history as being the first family created based on the change in the law.

Doctors have been surprised at the number of lesbian women and single women who have come to them seeking medically assisted support to have children. More single women than lesbian couples have begun the process under the new law, and it looks as though France is about to have a baby boom.

To learn more about The Surrogacy Law Center and how we can help protect you and your rights on your assisted reproduction journey, contact us today!