Lesbians, bisexual women and trans people will no longer face additional barriers to accessing IVF.
Stonewall, a leading LGBTQ+ charity, announced yesterday that following their #IVFforAll campaign, the Women’s Health Strategy for England has laid out plans to remove the need for female same-sex couples to pay for intrauterine insemination (IUI) to “prove” their fertility status before they can access NHS care. Now, NHS fertility treatment will begin with six rounds of funded IUI, before moving on to IVF if necessary. For cisgender, opposite-sex couples they must try to conceive for two years before they are able to receive funded IVF.
Described as a “huge win” by the organisation, Nancy Kelley, Stonewall’s CEO, told the ECHO : “We are delighted that the UK Government has listened to our call for fair and equal access to IVF treatment. For years, lesbians, bi women and trans people have been forced to pay for up to £25,000 of private healthcare before they can access IVF on the NHS, or face giving up their dream of becoming parents. This is a giant step towards a world where LGBTQ+ people have the same opportunity as everyone else to build a loving, thriving family of their own.”
