LGBTI+ Families

LGBTI+ Families

families

The LGBTI+ staff members of the EU institutions are still not fully equal to non-LGBTI+ staff members on the questions related to IVF costs reimbursement.

In 2018 the Egalité Committee has requested the European Commission to implement the following points:

  • The Commission’s Legal Service shall offer legal advice to LGBTI+ staff, including those staff members having children, as the LGBTI+ staff, and especially those having children, face particularly difficult legal obstacles which have a direct negative impact on their private and professional lives.
  • The Commission shall update the Decision on Leave to better reflect the reality of the diversity of families, giving male EU staff members having children the right to a leave equivalent to maternity leave in cases where a woman is absent or in cases where she waives her right to maternity leave: 1) In cases where both male parents’ names appear on the birth certificate, leave should be granted to one of the parents (the EU staff member); 2) Where one male parent’s name (EU staff member) is on the birth certificate with a woman who has renounced her maternity rights; 3) Where a male parent (EU staff member) is the only person on the birth certificate.
  • The Commission shall issue guidance related to the JSIS chapter on infertility, using a wide interpretation of the term “confinement” (“maternité”) of the GIPs related to JSIS, so that:
    • LGBTI+ staff may benefit from reimbursement of insemination treatments without having to demonstrate any pathology (such as by providing a doctor’s statement explaining the impossibility to be pregnant without medical assistance);
    • After a number of failed inseminations, LGBTI+ staff may benefit from reimbursement of IVF treatments without having to demonstrate any pathology. (Proposal: either 4 inseminations, taking into account the scientific literature or a specific number of inseminations depending on the situation as assessed by a doctor).
  • The PMO shall train its staff dealing with enquiries and reimbursement of medical expenses related to IVF and insemination, in order to provide consistent information about the rules/practices, and to request reasonable information from staff seeking reimbursement.
  • DG HR shall draft internal guidelines on different types of legal unions that exist throughout the EU and officially recognise all of them. These guidelines shall be updated yearly, and shall be promoted as a standard for the EU administration as a whole.

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