A gay couple is opening up about their legal decision after filing a class action lawsuit against the city of New York last month, alleging the city violates civil and constitutional rights by denying in vitro fertilization benefits to men.
In their lawsuit, filed in May 2024, Corey Briskin and Nicholas Maggipinto accuse the city's health insurance plans of discrimination against employees who are gay males and their partners after preventing them from getting access to IVF benefits that are available to other city employees.
During an interview with "Good Morning America," which aired on Wednesday, the couple said starting a family was part of their dream.
"We wanted to have children and we wanted to do that biologically ... which meant ultimately IVF and eventually surrogacy," Briskin said.
Their journey, however, would become harder than they imagined.
"We had many hurdles to get to the point of even trying to be pregnant," Maggipinto shared.
Gay parents speak out about struggle to build a familyThe couple said the biggest obstacle was health care coverage.
Briskin, who was working as a lawyer in the district attorney's office in New York City, said that IVF coverage doesn't apply to him and Maggipinto.
Maggipinto claimed that the city covers IVF for women but not men. He and Briskin want "to ensure that, when an employer offers a benefit like access to IVF to its employees, it does so on an equal basis regardless of the sex, sexual orientation, marital status."
Added Briskin, "And in our case specifically, it needs to change its definition of infertility and update its policy to include gay men and single men."
In an interview with "GMA," the couple's attorney, Peter Romer-Friedman called his clients' case "historic."
"We're hoping that this case will help establish the principle that gay men deserve the very same benefits to help grow their families biologically," Friedman said.
A spokesperson for New York's City Hall told ABC News in a statement that the city is reviewing the complaint.
"The Adams administration proudly supports the rights of LGBTQ+ New Yorkers to access the health care they need," the spokesperson added. "The city has been a leader in offering IVF treatments for any city employee or dependent covered by the city's health plan who has shown proof of infertility, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation."
The couple said they have spent over $120,000 on the IVF process.
Asked if any of that amount has been covered by their health insurance, Briskin replied, "Not a dime."
Maggipinto and Briskin had saved for a surrogate since they knew that process would not be covered by insurance. They believe the overall costs “will be at least $200,000."
The couple said they are looking to change the current guidelines of the city's health plan policy as well as seek reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses and damages for the emotional distress of having to postpone having a family.
"Everybody deserves equal access … and by pursuing this as an employment issue, which we strongly believe that it is, we can have the greatest outcome for the greatest number," Maggipinto said.
Lynn Schulman, a New York City council member and chair of the New York City Council Health Committee, said she supports the couple and introduced legislation that would provide city employees with equitable coverage. "Equity in health care is something that should be provided to everyone," she said.
Briskin testified about his experience during a New York City Council meeting on Tuesday.
"We are seeking justice for ourselves and for hundreds and possibly thousands of other gay male employees and their partners who have wrongfully been denied IVF access," he said.
