LESBIAN TURNED AWAY FROM CT HOSPITAL

A lesbian inquiring about fertility treatment at a Catholic Cape Town Hospital was told “we don’t help people like you.”

According to a report in the Cape Argus, Dr Natasha Distiller, an academic at the University of Cape Town, was turned away by a nurse at Vincent Pallotti Hospital.

When asked if this was not unconstitutional, she was told to phone another fertility clinic.

The hospital has since been bought by the private Life Healthcare group, but the policy apparently remains unchanged.

The newspaper quoted a spokesperson for the hospital saying that under the terms of the purchase of the hospital from the Catholic Church the institution is barred from offering fertility treatment to unmarried women or gay couples.

Distiller and her partner of five years, Lisa Retief, who married in May, went on to have a baby boy with the help of the Cape Fertility Clinic.

To request a list of gay-friendly and NOT gay-friendly clinics and medical professionals contact www.baby-ventures.za.net.