Lesbians list favourite Doctors

A new list helping lesbian and bisexual women find lesbian-friendly doctors and medical specialists is now operating online.

Australian Lesbian Medical Association (ALMA) spokeswoman Dr Adele van der Merwe said Doclist was developed because there was no one-stop resource for women to seek out doctors recommended by other lesbian and bisexual women.

“What you want from your general practitioner or specialist is someone who understands you’re the whole person and that includes who you love, and what makes up your family,” she told Southern Star.

“These aspects are so important and they have an impact on health. You’re not just abdominal pain, you’re actually a person who has a context and a place in the world. That whole part of you needs to be treated.”

ALMA — which was established in 1999 — will start the list focusing on Victorian health services, before rolling it out to the other states and territories later this year.

So far, 10 doctors and six specialists have been added to the list in the Melbourne area and one GP from Daylesford.

“What we’re all interested in is lesbian health and making sure our community can try and be as healthy as possible,” van der Merwe said.
“You always get the best out when you put the best in.”

If women feel their sexuality has been treated comfortably by a doctor or specialist they can then recommend that a doctor be included on the list.
The doctor is then contacted by ALMA and, once they give permission, is added to the list.

Van der Merwe said she expects the obstetrics and reproductive health area to grow with the increasing number of lesbian couples now starting families.

“We get a lot of questions about [reproductive health],” she said.

“The questions are usually about recommending a good GP for a lesbian couple that wants to start a family and then, after that process starts with a GP, they can give referrals to other services which are lesbian-friendly.”

info: Visit www.doclist.com.au