Original version

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

Witness History

Podcasts

Factual: Life Stories

Factual: History

History as told by the people who were there

History as told by the people who were there.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

Witness History: Britain’s lesbian families ‘scandal’

Documentaries

lesbian family.jpg

22/10/2021 GMT

Britain’s lesbian families ‘scandal’

BBC World Service - Witness History, Britain’s lesbian families ‘scandal’

A media storm about lesbian mothers caused a heated national debate in 1970s Britain.

When a London newspaper reported in 1978 that several lesbians had used artificial insemination to start families, it caused a national scandal and a heated public debate.

In January 1978 a London newspaper revealed how several British lesbians had conceived babies using donor sperm with the help of a respected gynaecologist. The doctor hadn’t broken any laws in providing the fertility treatment but the stigma surrounding homosexuality at the time meant the revelations started a media frenzy and a heated national debate. There were discussions in the press, in the streets and in Parliament. One MP called for a ban on the practice and called it ‘evil’, ‘selfish’ and ‘horrific’. Dr Gill Hanscombe had used artificial insemination to start a family with her two lesbian partners. When the press found out about them she was terrified that they were about to lose their jobs, and potentially their child. Produced and presented by Viv Jones.

(PHOTO: Gill Hanscombe (left) with her partners Dee and Pru, and their son. Courtesy of Gill Hanscombe.)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Witness History

Britain’s lesbian families ‘scandal’

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

About BBC World Service