Research gaps
The current literature presents several limitations on this topic. The terminology used over the past ten years to define sexual minority individuals has been quite heterogeneous and inconsistent limiting the ability to perform adequate data synthesis to assess the state of the science, identify gaps or suggest adequate clinical recommendations.4 Lack of consistent terminology also affects the possibility of performing national population studies. Only in 2020, the United States Census Bureau attempted to remedy the lack of data on sexual minority individuals, by including responses from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer community and persons in a same-sex relationship.12 Additional limitations are that previous studies have focused more on sexual behaviors and risk of pregnancy rather than health, access to care, or pregnancy outcomes in this population.5 Other factors to be considered are the paucity of prospective studies on this research topic, and difficulty in recruiting sexual minority patients due to their limited access to health care and academic centers, as well as possible stigma that these individuals experience.4 All of these limitations affect the information and knowledge available to health care providers, advocates, policymakers, and researchers. For the healthcare provider, this translates into limited training. In 2018, less than half of board-certified American obstetricians-gynecologists reported having any training with regards to care for sexual minority patients.10