Discrimination of Same-Sex Couples

Topic

Discrimination of Same-Sex Couples

Case number

• 2017-006 (F&R date: 2017-04-13)

Issue

The Spectrum of Care (SoC) Supplemental Health Care, Section 3 – Miscellaneous Benefits, states under Infertility that “Eligible persons are entitled to investigation of infertility”.  It does not define “eligible persons”.  However, elsewhere in the policy documentation under “Eligibility” it is clear that “eligible persons” includes all Regular Force (Reg F) members.  The Director Medical Policy (D Med Pol), as the administrator of the SoC, has interpreted the SoC wording as meaning that, for this particular procedure, infertility must be established by the Reg F member as a precondition to eligibility for an investigation of infertility. Therefore, a member in a same-sex relationship would have to spend several thousand dollars to demonstrate infertility through therapeutic donor insemination.

The burden imposed by D Med Pol on same sex-couple is not imposed on heterosexual couples and as such is discriminatory in the Committee’s view.

Recommendation

For the purpose of the investigation procedures, the Committee recommends that the Chief of the Defence Staff direct D Med Pol to deem same sex-couple as meeting the definition of eligible persons under the current SoC, as they cannot biologically conceive and therefore are de facto infertile as a couple.