Infertile couples spend heartbreaking average of £11,378 on IVF, with one in 10 ‘paying over £30k’, study says
NHS cuts mean more than half of desperate couples are forced to pay for some or all of their medical care
CUTS to NHS fertility services mean infertile couples must now spend an average £11,378 on their own treatment, a study found.
More than half have to pay for some or all of their medical care, with one in ten spending more than £30,000 and a desperate few up to £100,000.
Even a third of those accessing NHS-funded treatment had to pay for additional tests and treatments.
National guidelines say Clinical Commissioning Groups - which decide how to spend NHS money locally - should offer three full cycles of IVF to eligible women aged under 40.
But more than eight in ten CCGs in England do not comply and a further 14 are currently considering cutting or decommissioning NHS IVF services altogether as a cost saving measure.
Some 39 per cent of patients in England were offered just one cycle of IVF on the NHS last year, and 24 per cent two, the study by Fertility Network UK found.
Of those who received, or planned to receive, treatment last year, 41 per cent were funded by the NHS, 30 per cent funded it all themselves, and 24 per cent were mixed.
The survey of 865 patients - in collaboration with Middlesex University London - also revealed the strain fertility treatment has on couples’ mental health and relationships.
Nine in ten said their inability to have children had made them depressed.
And almost half of those receiving fertility treatment reported feeling sad, out of control, frustrated, helpless, fearful and worried nearly all of the time.
More worryingly, the number of infertile people feeling suicidal has more than doubled from 20 per cent in 1997 to 42 per cent now.
Seven in ten reported some detrimental impact on their relationships with partners, with 15 per cent saying they ended or were strained.
The majority of respondents would have liked free counselling but fewer than half received psychological help and most had to pay.
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Susan Seenan, chief executive of Fertility Network UK, said: “This survey paints an incredibly stark, distressing picture of what it is like to experience fertility problems in this country.
“Sadly, in the UK, the inability to have children without medical help means having to face a series of emotional, social and financial hurdles.
“These include often having to pay crippling amounts of money for your own medical treatment, a lack of affordable, accessible counselling and emotional support, and the deterioration of core relationships.
“Far more needs to be done to help individuals through the far-reaching devastation fertility issues wreak.”
Professor Adam Balen, chair of the British Fertility Society said: “This new national survey shows the true picture of living with fertility problems for many people.
“It can be an incredibly distressing time and undergoing treatment and facing costs can place a huge amount of stress and pressure on couples and their families.
“Worryingly many clinical commissioning groups are offering fewer cycles of IVF and going against the national guidance on this.
“Treatment needs to be available on the NHS and this current situation is unacceptable.”