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10 comments
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JoiFoote15y ago
**TL;DR If people cannot have children at no fault of their own why should our national health service not provide a reasonable means to attain this. By reasonable I mean not an unlimited number of times.**
- For context here are some services that are currently a part of our free healthcare. Weight loss surgery which includes gastric band, gastric bypass or a sleeve gastrectomy. There are also some cases where cosmetic surgery like breast implants and ear correction surgery are offered as a part of our free healthcare. It would make sense for a healthcare service like the NHS to provide IVF given what we currently include under the national healthcare service.
- However, I do believe this should be up to an extent. Free healthcare services like the NHS are not an exhaustive means. It should not be the case where we offer an endless amount of IVF treatments for free. Just like with weight loss surgery there are conditions such as BMI that need to be met before one can be considered. So, with IVF a reasonable number of attempts should be provided by the NHS. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/weight-loss-surgery/
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/cosmetic-procedures/cosmetic-procedures-on-the-nhs/
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Nsoper194y ago
Why do people have a right to take tax payers money for their own desires of a child?
Most people who use IVF do so out of sluggishness not health. They waited too long to have a baby and then want the state to pay for it. Just adopt a kid or plan ahead.
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JoiFoote14y ago
To say that most people use IVF out of 'sluggishness' as opposed to health issues is incorrect and rather quite an obtuse way of looking at this. Whilst there a probably a number of health conditions that affect women's infertility, I will just pick up on 2 to elaborate my point. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome(PCOS) is a common cause of infertility affecting [1 in 10 women of childbearing age](https://www.womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/polycystic-ovary-syndrome). Endometriosis has also been linked to difficulties in women becoming pregnant and this affects [around 10% of reproductive age women and girls globally.](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/endometriosis) To put that into figures approximately 190 million women. So it is not the case that the majority of women have simply 'waited too long to have a baby'
This comment also pushes the narrative that women have time constraints when it comes to starting a family, something that obviously does not get applied to men in the same way. Whilst it is true that the chances of women getting pregnant declines as she ages, this line of thinking is quite frankly outdated.
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Nsoper194y ago
How is it outdated thinking? The majority of women who use ivf do so because they are too old. That is simply a fact. Women's fertility drops hugely after about the age of 30. If they had kids younger then they probably would conceive naturally. This has nothing to do with being outdated and nothing to do with men. It has everything to do with natural biology.
If a woman wants to roll the dice with her fertility that is her choice but why should the state then pay when she loses that gamble?
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ParliaMod4y ago
Please read the [Rules of Parlia](https://www.parlia.com/article/rules-of-parlia) and be careful always to play the argument, rather than dismiss it ("obtuse" or "outdated")
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Commentary
epalmer5y ago
**Commentary**
In some countries such as the UK, IVF is included in free healthcare. However, this does not mean _everyone_ is eligible, and there are other complications including extremely long waiting lists. Making a treatment free does not alleviate it of all these practical issues.
- In the UK, IVF is available free on the [NHS](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ivf/) for women under the age of 43 who have been trying to get pregnant through regular unprotected sex for 2 years, or who have had 12 cycles of artificial insemination (which is also free on the NHS). These guidelines are set by [NICE](https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg156).
- However, the final decision on who is eligible is determined by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), and their [criteria](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ivf/availability/) may be even stricter, including factors such as not having any children already (from both your current and any previous relationships), being a healthy weight, not smoking, falling into a certain age range (for example, some CCGs only fund treatment for women under 35).
- Because of this, many people are not selected, or do not want to go through such stressful and lengthy selection procedures just to be allowed the opportunity to have a child.
- Private costs of IVF vary, but 1 cycle of treatment may cost up to £5,000 or more.
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