A report by the i newspaper has revealed that same-sex couples are still being forced to spend in excess of £25,000 on fertility treatment despite the government’s promise to fix the system
National Institute of Health and Care Excellence(NICE) states in its guidance that NHS-funded IVF is only available to women who have not conceived naturally after two years of unprotected sex or 12 cycles of artificial insemination.
The guidelines mean that heterosexual couples can access the treatment by simply saying they have tried conceiving naturally for two years, but the same cannot be said for a same-sex couple; they must prove that they cannot conceive via artificial insemination, campaigners have told the newspaper.
In July 2022, the government launched its Women’s Health Strategy which pledged to remove the barriers to IVF for same-sex couples but fertility doctors have said little progress has been made in implementing the new policy to the newly-named Integrated Care Boards(ICBs), formerly called Clinical Commissioning Groups(CCGs).
The i said it understands that the government is preparing commissioning guidance to be released to the ICBs later this year when the new strategy is due to come into force.
But according to the LGBTQ+ campaigners, it is unclear what changes have been made and what the timeline for it will be.
It has been reported by Stonewall which fights and lobbies for equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community, that many ICBs will not offer any support for NHS-funded IVF until the same-sex couple has shown it has had 12 rounds of artificial insemination. And worse still, couples can expect to pay in the region of £25,000 for treatment before being told they are eligible for NHS IVF care.
Same-sex couples living in Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, and some parts of Essex will be affected, according to the data obtained by Stonewall.
Kerri Bennett, 31, and her wife have spent months pouring over the finer details of the policy in place where they live in East Sussex, only to hit a brick wall
Kerri said: “We’ve spent so many hours and days trying to dissect the information. You trawl through all that stuff just to find out that you’re not entitled to anything and it doesn’t feel like that’s going to change any time soon.”
Across the country, the varying ICBs have different policies in place with some under a current review.
An NHS spokesperson said in a statement to the i newspaper: “While these decisions are legally for the local health commissioners who have to balance the various competing demands on the NHS locally, it is absolutely right that they provide equal access to services according to the needs of people within their areas and the health service nationally supporting them to do this with further guidance being considered.”
Are you a same-sex couple? Have you struggled to access NHS-IVF-funded support? We would love to hear your story. Email mystory@ivfbabble.com.
