In a bid to save money, the cash-strapped NHS has starting making cuts to the provision of IVF treatment to infertile couples across the country.
Receiving the treatment has become a “postcode lottery” with some areas still offering residents the National Institute for Heath and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended three cycles, and others not providing any at all.
The cuts have left many whose only hope to have a baby via IVF bereft, and facing bills of thousands of pounds if they chose to try private treatment.
One cycle of IVF can cost around £4,000, and with a one in five chance of success for women under 40, it is recommended to have three cycles in order to conceive.
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) across England decide how to fund NHS treatment in their regions and currently just 24 out of 208 offer the recommended three IVF cycles.
Others only offer one cycle, while seven have decided to pull funding altogether, including areas in Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
The issue was discussed on today’s Good Morning Britain with Sarah Norcross from Fertility Awareness speaking out on behalf of infertile couples.
She said: “NICE have ruled that IVF treatment is both cost and clinically effective. It is a fundamental part of the NHS service to offer treatment to people who aren’t just ill.”
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She added that there were far better ways for the NHS to save money, for example by not wasting funds on ineffective investigations for infertile women.
“Women are having treatments such as laparoscopy that would pay for a cycle of IVF,” she pointed out.
Arguing for the other side of the debate was mother-of-five Caroline Farrow.
She said that since IVF treatment isn’t always successful, the NHS would be better off spending money on procedures that are effective and focusing on life-saving treatment.
However, presenter Kate Garraway hit out at her for supporting the IVF cuts when she has five naturally conceived children of her own.
She asked her: “How can you know the pain of someone who can’t have a baby and speak out in support of denying them treatment?”
Caroline agreed she “can’t begin to know how devastating” infertility is but she still felt NHS money could be better spent than helping couples in this situation.
She added: “There needs to be a wider debate on when to have children because more women are leaving it late.”
The debate was a big talking point with viewers on Twitter with many sharing their views. Some said they thought it was unfair for the NHS to pull the plug on IVF funding, while others believed they had to prioritise the sick.
Joining in the debate, Ben Shephard, who has two sons, said he understood that the cash-strapped NHS did need to find ways to save money.
His co-host Kate appeared to make her views clear when she criticised Caroline for supporting IVF cuts.
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Kate has two children, who she had when she was aged 39 and 43, and has previously spoken out about her sadness at being unable to have a third because of her age.