State-funded IVF to be expanded 'imminently' to couples facing difficulty conceiving second child
COUPLES EXPERIENCING 'SECONDARY infertility', whereby they are having difficulty conceiving a second child, will soon be eligible to avail of free fertility treatment, such as IVF, under the government-funded scheme.
While the Department of Health confirmed to
The Journal
that the plans are 'currently being finalised', it is understood the expansion of the scheme will be launched 'immently' and by the end of the month.
Last October, the government said the scheme would be expanded to couples who already have children, however there have been criticisms about the delay in rolling out the expanded services.
The expansion will mean the reversal of one element of the scheme's current criteria which requires that a couple accessing publicly funded IVF or fertility treatments must have no living children together.
The so-called
'existing child limit' had been criticised by GPs
.
500 referrals per month to fertility hubs
While many couples will welcome the news of the service expansion to include couples who have difficulty conceiving a second child, concerns have been raised about current delays with the service and whether enough resources are being given to fertility hubs tasked with handling the high number of referrals.
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Nationally, the six regional fertility hubs receive approximately 500 referrals per month for fertility assessments.
As of the end of May, the six regional fertility hubs have made 2,335 referrals to HSE authorised Assisted Human Reproduction providers for advanced fertility treatment, including IUI, IVF or ICSI.
Wait times to see a consultant following completion of required investigations are on average three months nationally, the department told
The Journal.
Previously, Clinical Director of the HSE's National Women's and Infants Health Programme Dr Cliona Murphy told RTÉ that waiting time for patients who are due to attend a regional fertility hub for an initial appointment is approximately ten to 11 weeks while most are seeing a consultant within around six months.
Currently, a total of 45 staff work across the six fertility hubs, including consultants, fertility clinical nurse specialists, and administrative teams.
This figure includes 13 consultants who manage and provide fertility services as one of the duties and roles assigned to them while they also work as consultant obstetricians and gynaecologists in maternity and gynaecology services.
The remainder of the staff work full time in public fertility services.
Recently, Labour TD Marie Sherlock hit out at the false starts of the service, stating that some families have delayed adding to their family on the promise from government that this would be addressed.
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Criteria
'It's beyond cruel to treat women and families in this way,' she said. Sherlock also criticised the 'very restrictive' criteria applied to scheme.
Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has confirmed that she hopes to be in a position 'in the coming weeks' to make the announcement to expand the government-funded scheme to 'secondary infertility', but only 'as long as, of course, they meet all the other existing criteria'.
There are commitments in the Programme for Government to both 'expand eligibility to State-funded IVF' and establish the first public AHR treatment centre.
While the minister has said consideration of possible further expansion of the relevant criteria will continue, she has clarified that 'it is highly unlikely that changes will be made to clinically-based criteria such as those
in relation to BMI limits
'.
Decisions on further proposed changes to the access criteria or the scheme more broadly requires continued consultation between Department of Health officials, colleagues in the HSE and with specialists in the field of reproductive medicine, she said in a recent reply to a parliamentary question.
Ireland's first public AHR centre is scheduled to open in Cork later this year where it is anticipated service provision will commence in late 2025, with the facility fully operational by 2026.
Currently, fertility treatments through the state-funded model, are largely outsourced to private operators.
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The term 'property' does not appear once in the Human Tissue Act, nor does the term 'ownership'. The term 'owner' does appear three times, but always in relation a building or business, e.g. 'the owner of the hospital'. Instead, dead bodies and organs are legally put under 'authority', a far more limited concept than that of property. 'Next of kin have certain rights and responsibilities with respect to a dead body including with respect to burial and decisions regarding post mortems and organ donation,' Kilraine said. 'This does not amount to ownership.' 'Where a death is sudden, unexplained or in suspicious circumstances, the coroner has legal authority over the body and can order a post-mortem and or retain the body for investigative purposes. 'This authority when in force supersedes any rights of the next of kin or family. It is however as a custodian, and neither the coroner or the State have ownership of a dead body. 'None of the above are changed by the Act. 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'I've witnessed, over the years, donor families coming up to the transplant recipients to say 'thank you', which is mind blowing. The recipients say 'No, hold on there! It's your loved one and your decision that has allowed me to do what I'm doing'. 'But the donor families say: 'No. It brings some degree of meaning to the loss of our loved one.'' 'We have to think of organ donation, not only in terms of the recipients, but equally of the donor family,' White said. 'We've lost a loved one, but there are other families out there who are getting to celebrate another of life's milestones, to see another Christmas, to share another sunrise.' The Human Tissue Act introduces a new framework for organ donation, however the rights of surviving family members remain paramount. 'Empower your family. Have the conversation,' White implored. 'Or, some might put it a different way: take the decision out of your family's hands by letting them know what you want.' Want to be your own fact-checker? Visit our brand-new FactCheck Knowledge Bank for guides and toolkits The Journal's FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network's Code of Principles. You can read it here . For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader's Guide here . You can read about the team of editors and reporters who work on the factchecks here . Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... It is vital that we surface facts from noise. Articles like this one brings you clarity, transparency and balance so you can make well-informed decisions. We set up FactCheck in 2016 to proactively expose false or misleading information, but to continue to deliver on this mission we need your support. Over 5,000 readers like you support us. If you can, please consider setting up a monthly payment or making a once-off donation to keep news free to everyone. Learn More Support The Journal
