Philadelphia Weekly

Share this Story:

Cast members of Showtime's hit series The L-Word are coming to town to raise money for women's services and programs at the Mazzoni Center, Philadelphia's leading LGBT healthcare center. Mazzoni Executive Director Nurit Shein says that in addition to medical services like PAP smears and mammograms, the new funds will support a progressive collaboration with Pacific Reproductive Services, a lesbian-owned sperm bank founded in California in 1984 to serve the reproductive needs of women planning alternative families.

Pacific has the nation's largest selection of "willing to be known" donors, which means that at 18 the child can discover his or her biological and cultural heritage, an important option for many lesbian parents.

According to Shein, the collaboration allows Mazzoni to become a one-stop shop for lesbian motherhood in Philadelphia. Potential parents can browse Pacific's donor profiles online and if they see stats they like, they can order the sperm and have it shipped to Philadelphia. Then the medical center, which handles about 7,000 patient visits each year, can provide the insemination procedure and standard prenatal care as well as the psychosocial support specific to starting an alternative family.

This family planning component is important. But there's a need to close the gaps overall in healthcare for lesbians and bisexual women, a historically underserved population with specific health risks and barriers to treatment.

Many organizations that market health services to the LGBT community were founded in response to the HIV crisis, but lesbians and bisexual women have never been considered high-risk groups for HIV by the Centers for Disease Control. There are relatively few funds available for healthcare services catering to them.

Yet studies show that lesbians are at higher risk for breast cancer, cervical cancer, heart disease and diabetes, in part due to the fact that they smoke and drink more than their heterosexual counterparts. They're also more likely to be overweight and they don't get pelvic exams or mammograms as frequently.

"There's a double-edged sword here. There are women who need to access services out in the world with mainstream providers, and those women often encounter judgmental, non-supportive providers," says Brian Green, executive director of the Safeguards Project and LGBT Health Research Center. "And when they're not open about their sexual orientation, there are a lot of assumptions going on. Providers don't often ask questions that are deep enough to get at risk factors."

Internalized and societal homophobia prevents many women from seeking basic treatment at mainstream doctors.

"Even in the 21st century, at least 20 to 30 percent of these women are not out to their providers. Not being out to your provider is truly a health hazard," says Shein.

Despite using inclusive language, hiring women who identify as lesbian or bisexual and tabling at gay-friendly events, standardized training in the risk profile of lesbian and bisexual women doesn't exist even at progressive healthcare centers like Planned Parenthood.

Mary Banecker, senior vice president of Southeastern Planned Parenthood, says that despite doing the best to make Planned Parenthood a friendly environment, she can understand why some lesbians or bisexual women might go elsewhere. "It's about birth control, specifically," she says, "even though we do lots of standard gynecological care."

"I prefer offices that don't need or want to give me a pregnancy test at every visit," says bartender Candice Archibald, 38, who also works at Mazzoni. "Last time I checked, I can't get pregnant, and it's always a little uncomfortable when I have to prove why I don't need one," she says.

If she changes her mind about pregnancy, Shein says the Mazzoni Center expects the expansion of reproductive health services to be up and running within six months.

The L Word in Philly, Thurs., Oct. 30, 7:30pm. Sold out. Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue, 200 S. Broad St. 215.563.0652. www.mazzonicenter.org