Women moving house for IVF

Two thirds of women would consider upping sticks and moving house to beat the NHS postcode lottery of IVF funding to enable them to start a family

A new report reveals that 66 per cent of women would move to a different area of the country to ensure NHS funding for IVF treatment.

Many couples have suffered fertility problems and four-fifths know at least one couple who have experienced problems conceiving, with 25 per cent having visited their GP to discuss fertility concerns.

In 2004, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence announced that the NHS should fund three cycles of IVF treatment for women aged 23 to 39. But a 2009 Department of Health survey showed only 30 per cent of health trusts offered these three IVF cycles.

Clare Lewis-Jones, from the Infertility Network support group says that couples in England still struggle to access IVF treatment: ‘If people are staying in England, then moving would not guarantee them treatment – they could move and then find out the next day that their PCT has stopped funding IVF.’

The Metro newspaper this morning highlighted the case of Tracey Richardson-Lyne, a 32-year-old from Leicester.

After three ectopic pregnancies, she found herself a victim of the postcode lottery of IVF funding and has now been denied access to IVF because her husband has two children from a previous marriage.

‘I feel angry and cheated,’ says Richardson-Lyne. The couple are now saving up for the expensive treatment, budgeting up to £6,000 for each attempt.

Have you been a victim of the IVF postcode lottery? Should the NHS automatically fund three cycles of IVF for women desperate to conceive?

Tell us your story in the comments box below.

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