World’s first test-tube baby says patchy NHS funding for IVF is ‘devastating’
Louise Brown has spoken out against current NHS funding for IVF after several regions have recently cut provisions to save cash
THE world’s first test-tube baby has called patchy NHS funding for IVF “devastating”.
Louise Brown said it was unfair that it was not readily available across the UK.
The 39-year-old Brit said: “For someone who hasn’t got money and desperately wants a child, being told, ‘We’re not giving you funding’ must be devastating.”
Guidelines urge three free IVF cycles for under-40s unable to conceive naturally for two years.
But in the past year 13 NHS regions have cut or halted provision to save cash. Louise, of Bristol — now a mum of two sons — said: “It’s horrible, but a lot of it comes down to money.
“In an ideal world it would be lovely for everyone to have three tries, but it’s not an ideal world.”
She said she would like a baby girl — but would not use IVF or treatments abroad that let parents pick an infant’s sex.
She told the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in San Antonio, Texas: “There’s no choosing. You get what you’re given and love what you got.”
Her 1978 birth at Oldham General Hospital made global headlines. More than 6.5 million IVF babies have been born since.
