Soaring living costs and rising treatment fees are pricing fertility patients out of the chance to become parents.
Patients are cashing in on pensions, selling homes and cancelling weddings to fund treatment for infertility, research by Fertility Network UK shows.
The charity is calling for an end to the postcode lottery of funding for fertility treatment in England and for the NHS to commit to funding three IVF cycles, as recommended by the health watchdog NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence).
The survey of nearly 200 UK fertility patients reveals 95 per cent of respondents had experienced financial worries in relation to fertility treatment, and 92 per cent said these problems were exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis.
One patient responded: ‘We have nothing to show for the 10.5K we’ve spent. We don’t have enough savings left for another round and can’t save for it because everything has shot up in price.’
95 per cent out of 200 respondents to a survey conducted by Fertility Network had experienced financial worries in relation to their IVF treatment
Half of respondents said the cost-of-living crisis, lack of NHS-funded support and the high private care costs meant they were unable to move forward with fertility treatment – jeopardising their chances of becoming parents.
Nearly one in four of those surveyed are delaying or cancelling treatment; nearly 1 in 5 (17 per cent) are pausing treatment indefinitely, while 2 per cent have stopped fertility treatment permanently and 6 per cent are unable to afford embryo storage fees.
Comments included: ‘We have one frozen embryo left that we spent two years saving for. We now cannot afford to have that embryo transferred. Next month the year’s freezing expires so we will have to try and find the money to pay for another year’s freezing or our embryo will be destroyed.’
‘Sadly we cannot do anything more, we are broke’
Another said: ‘We are not able to try again yet because we don’t have the spare money because everything else is so expensive and soon I will age out and be too old, so the likelihood of it working will be so low it would barely be worth it.’
To cut costs, some patients said they were having a double embryo transfer rather than the recommended single embryo transfer, opting out of genetic testing which could highlight an inheritable genetic condition.
The survey also investigated the financial actions fertility patients are being forced to take to afford their necessary medical care.
Fertility Network warned that patients were selling homes, cancelling weddings, and cashing in on pensions to fund IVF treatment
To pay for treatment patients are using life savings (28 per cent), getting financial help from family and friends (19 per cent), using credit cards (16 per cent), selling personal belongings (14 per cent). Others were securing bank loans (7 per cent), and remortgaging home (4 per cent)
One respondent commented: ‘Private fertility clinics just want your money. They want to charge you ridiculous amounts for tests you don’t need and do not tailor treatment based on your health or your history. Just a money-making scheme.’
Commenting on the survey’s findings, Dr Catherine Hill, Fertility Network UK’s Head of Policy & Public Affairs, said: ‘As the national charity, we are appalled at the findings of our survey assessing the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on fertility patients and deeply concerned at the short and long-term impact on patients – physically, mentally and financially.’
Fertility Network UK said it was also ‘calling on the government to dismantle the IVF postcode lottery and, as a first step, to honour the commitment it made in the Women’s Health strategy in July 2022 to remove non-clinical barriers to access NHS-funded fertility treatment.’
Dr Raj Mathur, Chair of the British Fertility Society said: ‘The survey by Fertility Network UK reveals the extent to which fertility patients having to pay for their treatment are struggling to afford the treatment they need. ‘
He added: ‘NICE guidance is clear – three full cycles of IVF should be funded where needed. 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.’