Soaring living costs and rising IVF fees are pricing fertility patients out of the chance to become parents
- Fertility Network says the cost of living crisis is putting people off IVF
- Charity patients have to sell houses and cancel weddings to try IVF
- 95% of the 200 patients surveyed said they had had financial worries
Rising costs of living and treatment costs are depriving fertility patients of the opportunity to become parents.
Patients are earning pensions, selling houses and canceling weddings to fund infertility treatments, according to research from Fertility Network UK.
The charity is calling for an end to the postcode lottery of funding for fertility treatments in England and for the NHS to commit to funding three IVF cycles, as recommended by health watchdog NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) .
The survey of almost 200 British fertility patients found that 95 percent of respondents had experienced financial worries related to fertility treatments, and 92 percent said these problems were exacerbated by the cost of living crisis.
One patient replied: ‘We have nothing to show for the 10.5 thousand we spent. We don’t have enough savings left for another round and can’t save for it because everything has gone up in price.”
95 percent of 200 respondents to a survey conducted by Fertility Network had experienced financial concerns related to their IVF treatment
Half of respondents said the cost of living crisis, lack of NHS-funded support and high private healthcare costs meant they were unable to continue with fertility treatment, affecting their chances of becoming parents was in danger.
Nearly one in four respondents postpones or postpones treatment; Nearly 1 in 5 (17 percent) are pausing treatment indefinitely, while 2 percent have permanently stopped fertility treatment and 6 percent cannot afford to pay for embryo storage costs.
Comments included: ‘We have one frozen embryo left that we have been saving for for two years. We cannot afford to transfer that embryo now. The year’s freeze ends next month, so we will have to find money to pay for another year’s freeze or our embryo will be destroyed.’
‘Unfortunately we can’t do anything anymore, we are broke’
Another said: ‘We can’t try again yet because we don’t have enough money, because everything else is so expensive and I’ll soon be older and too old, so the chances of it working will be so slim that it wouldn’t work. are hardly worth it.’
To reduce costs, some patients said they underwent a double embryo transfer instead of the recommended single embryo transfer, forgoing genetic testing that could reveal an inherited genetic condition.
The study also examined the financial actions fertility patients must take to afford necessary medical care.
Fertility Network warned patients were selling houses, canceling weddings and cashing in pensions to fund IVF treatment
To pay for treatment, patients use savings (28 percent), get financial help from family and friends (19 percent), use credit cards (16 percent) and sell personal belongings (14 percent). Others were in the process of securing bank loans (7 percent) and refinancing a mortgage on their home (4 percent).
One respondent noted: ‘Private fertility clinics just want your money. They want to charge you ridiculous amounts of money for tests you don’t need and don’t tailor treatment based on your health or history. Just a scheme to make money.’
Commenting on the study’s findings, Dr. Catherine Hill, Head of Policy & Public Affairs at Fertility Network UK, said: ‘As a national charity, we are shocked by the findings of our research assessing the impact of the cost of living crisis on fertility. patients and deeply concerned about the short- and long-term consequences for patients – physically, mentally and financially.”
Fertility Network UK said it also “called on the government to dismantle the IVF postcode lottery and, as a first step, deliver on the commitment it made in the Women’s Health Strategy in July 2022 to remove non-clinical barriers to access taking away NHS funded healthcare. fertility treatment.’
Dr. Raj Mathur, chairman of the British Fertility Society, said: ‘The Fertility Network UK research shows the extent to which fertility patients who have to pay for their treatment are struggling to afford the treatment they need. ‘
He added: ‘NICE guidance is clear – three full IVF cycles should be funded where necessary. The government’s Women’s Health Strategy made a clear commitment to improving access to NHS-funded fertility treatment. It is time for NHS commissioners and ministers to deliver on these promises.”