This is occurring, despite the fact that using these clinics can be difficult and costly, ranging from a couple of hundred dollars to $150,000.

At minimum, five percent of people found at many of these clinics are gay or lesbian, according to experts interviewed by the paper. Bay Area clinics are taking notice of this increased interest among gays and lesbians, targeting their services to the population, where once they mostly focused on straight couples, the San Francisco Chronicle said.

Infertility clinics appeal to gays and lesbians for a variety of reasons, one of which is having a child who is biologically connected to them, Judy Appell, the executive director of Our Family Coalition, a same-sex parenting group, told the paper. Appell also told the Chronicle that the advancements in fertility technology play a role as well.

Society’s changing feelings about alternative families also are influencing gays and lesbians' decisions, according to Dr. G. David Adamson, director of Fertility Associates of Northern California. "There's increasing acceptance of nontraditional families, meaning either single women or men or couples of women and men having a life together and sometimes wanting to have children together," he said to the paper. "So there's unquestionably been an increased utilization of these more sophisticated technologies and less traditional approaches to creating families."

In addition, the increase in promotion towards the gay and lesbian community makes more gays and lesbians see this as an option, as they become more aware of it. "In the last decade, [use of infertility clinics has] dramatically increased," Gail Taylor, president and founder of Growing Generations, told the Chronicle. "Once people know the opportunity is out there, absolutely the desire keeps growing."

Until next time!