Representation of Reproductive Service Advertisements in Gay Parent Magazine

As legislation and opinions surrounding assisted reproductive technology services (ART services) for lesbian and gay families have progressed in the United States, the accessibility and availability of these services have increased. In addition, fertility clinics now advertise their services to lesbian and gay families. The purpose of our research study is to examine ART services advertised in the popular Gay Parent Magazine. We focus on their most recent issues, January-February 2016 and March-April 2016 to examine the ART services that are offered and their strategies for marketing to lesbian and gay families. We look to see if specific ART services are offered at a greater frequency than others, and also whether fertility clinics market their services equally to gay men and lesbians. Using quantitative methods, we have found that more advertisements focus on ART services such as in vitro fertilization, donation programs, and insemination, and a lack of surrogacy resources. We’ve also found that many of the advertisements seem to be directed to either women, or take a gender neutral approach. There seems to be a lack of advertisements focused specifically for gay men. The significance of our research is that Gay Parent Magazine and their advertisers provide more exposure of ART services to lesbians in comparison to gay men parents. As a magazine that services lesbian and gay men parents, it is vital that there is equal representation of ART services and the clinics that offer them to each family type