«Breaking News» Hope for childless couples as MPs vote to end 'disgraceful' IVF postcode lottery

Childless couples have been given fresh hope that 2019 will be the year where the NHS IVF postcode lottery will finally end.

MPs will be asked to change the law to force all local health authorities in England to offer three free cycles of treatment.

Currently only three areas give this assurance while the majority offer one course or even none at all, despite official guidance saying couples trying for a baby for two years should get three cycles. 

Emma and Lee Edey, 44, from Colchester, Essex, were about to start IVF three years ago but the funding was axed.

They won an appeal only for the cash to be withdrawn again, and the couple, who married nine years ago, are still waiting for their chance.

Mrs Edey said: 'The last three years has been hell. I am praying the law goes through Parliament quickly'. 

Emma and Lee Edey, 44, from Colchester, Essex, were about to start IVF three years ago but the funding was axed and are praying the law changes this year

She added in an interview with the Daily Mirror: 'None of us is any younger. I could have a three-year-old child now. Instead I am full of anger'.

The funding lottery in England forces couples to spend thousands on private treatment - but many more cannot afford to do pursue their dream in this way.

WHO GETS FREE IVF?

IVF is only offered on the NHS if certain criteria are met. 

In 2013, the NICE published new fertility guidelines that made recommendations about who should have access to the treatment on the NHS in England and Wales.

However, individual NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups make the final decision about who can access it in their local area, and their criteria may be stricter.

According to NICE, women aged under 40 should be offered three cycles of IVF treatment on the NHS if:

they've been trying to get pregnant through regular unprotected sex for two years, or they've not been able to get pregnant after 12 cycles of artificial insemination.

If you turn 40 during treatment, the current cycle will be completed, but further cycles should not be offered.

If tests show that IVF is the only treatment likely to help you get pregnant, you should be referred for IVF straight away.

Source: NHS Choices

Birmingham Labour MP Steve McCabe hopes his private member's bill to change the law could be passed by the end of 2019.

Mr McCabe told the Mirror: 'Infertility is a medical ­condition and it is time we started treating it like one. It is simply unfair that access to IVF is down to where you live and not your medical need.'

The axing of IVF treatment comes despite guidance from the NHS group Nice (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) that women under 40 should be offered three cycles if they have been trying to conceive for two years.

The number of centres no longer offering any cycles has increased from four to seven in the past 15 months.

Clinical commissioning groups offering the recommended three cycles has fallen from 16% (33) to 11.5% (24) in a year.

Experts said patients now face a postcode lottery of services, with some families even moving across the country to find an area that offers three IVF treatment cycles. Others are travelling abroad for treatment

The Fertility Network UK had also heard of one family moving 200 miles from Berkshire, in the south-east of England, to Bury in Greater Manchester so they could get three cycles of IVF.

Anne-Marie Minter, 33, and her partner Craig, 34, made the move to maximise their chances of having a baby because they were only entitled to one cycle of treatment at their previous address.

'We were apprehensive at first as it is so far away from friends and family,' she said. 'But we are lucky the area is really nice and both our jobs are allowing us to work from home and be so flexible.'

The IVF funding lottery in England forces couples to spend thousands on private treatment - but many more cannot afford to do pursue their dream in this way

Since last year, Herts Valleys and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have removed all IVF services. Southend and west Essex have cut the number of cycles offered from two to one.

Other CCGs have reduced the the age limit for prospective fathers and same-sex partners to 52.

The CCGs will now fund treatment only for couples where neither partner has a living child.

In a bid to save £836,000 annually, Croydon last year became the first London borough to stop funding for IVF,

NHS Clinical Commissioners, the organisation that represents clinical commissioning groups, said: 'CCGs are led by GPs whose first priority is always to the patient. Wherever possible they want to give them what they need. Unfortunately, the NHS does not have unlimited resources ... there are some tough choices that have to be made.'With huge pressures being felt across the whole health and care system, the NHS has to review services to ensure they are sustainable and improve the health of the wider population.'

WHY WOMEN ARE NOW GOING ABROAD FOR IVF 

A study by Fertility Clinics Abroad and Fertility Network UK revealed restrictions on NHS treatment and the high cost of private treatment in Britain were the major factors in pushing couples overseas.

Key findings were  

• Restrictions on NHS treatment and the high cost of private treatment in Britain were the major factors in pushing couples overseas


• The most popular countries are Spain and Greece, where IVF is half the price


• This is followed by Greece and the Czech Republic


• Clinics in Nigeria and South Africa are also cashing in on the boom in 'fertility tourism' 


• Around one in seven couples in the UK suffer from problems conceiving and infertility is rising as more leave it later to start a family

Susan Seenan, chief executive of Fertility Network UK, said couples were being failed by 'substantial cuts to services'. 

She said: 'Britain's pioneering achievements in fertility – such as creating the world's first test tube baby 40 years ago – sadly does not mean anything if women cannot access the help they need on the NHS. 

'Many people simply cannot afford the cost of private treatment in the UK. Some are forced to get into debt and re-mortgage their house. It's desperately unfair. 

'Access to clinically and cost effective treatment for any medical condition should never be dependent on your postcode.' 

 

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https://hienalouca.com/2019/01/01/hope-for-childless-couples-as-mps-vote-to-end-disgraceful-ivf-postcode-lottery/
Main photo article Childless couples have been given fresh hope that 2019 will be the year where the NHS IVF postcode lottery will finally end.
MPs will be asked to change the law to force all local health authorities in England to offer three free cycles of treatment.
Currently only three areas give this...

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