WHO Does Not Consider Involuntary Celibacy A Disability

The World Health Organization did not change its standards to classify people who cannot find a sexual partner as disabled. The image was taken of an article about infertility, which the WHO does classify as a disability.

The full screenshot of the article shows it is from the Swazi Observer. A search of their database does not return the article, however. There are also no citations or evidence given by any media outlet to support their claims. 

The WHO discusses infertility in-depth on their website, noting that “Infertility is defined as a ‘disease of the reproductive system’ and results in disability.” The second paragraph of the Swazi Observer article states that new WHO guidelines will declare anyone unable to find a partner or unable to conceive after 12 months of unprotected sex as disabled — the second part of the sentence is true. (The first part is not.) Even in the United States, infertility is considered a disability. 

In 2016 newspapers reported this same story. The article quotes Dr. David Adamson, a fertility expert: “The definition of infertility is now written in such a way that it includes the rights of all individuals to have a family, and that includes single men, single women, gay men, gay women. It fundamentally alters who should be included in this group and who should have access to healthcare.” The article’s author rightfully concluded that with this logic, a celibate man or woman would obviously not conceive after 12 months, but he made the false assumption that these people also fell into the disability category. 

The WHO has only discussed couples having unprotected sex for 12 months without conception as being infertile, and thus whichever partner’s body is at fault is disabled. People do not fall into the WHO’s description of infertility simply for being celibate, and the WHO repeatedly reiterates that their definition has not and is not changing.