Free IVF: Just 66 couples accepted
Low take-up of scheme sparks criticisms that it’s too restrictive and needs to be expanded to cover more cycles of treatment
JUST 66 couples have been referred to the State’s free IVF scheme since it was introduced two months ago, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The low take up of the first State supports for couples struggling to conceive, confirmed on the eve of World Fertility Week, sparked criticisms that the scheme is too restrictive.
There are also renewed calls for Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to expand the scheme, which covers one cycle of treatment per couple, costing between €4,000 and €6,000.
The IVF support scheme formed a key part of Mr Donnelly’s women’s healthcare initiatives, which have been thrown into doubt as a result of health spending cuts sparked by a projected €1.1bn in cost overruns in his department this year.
Minister Donnelly announced the scheme in the MoS last year, after pressure on the Government to end Ireland’s status as the only country in the EU not funding IVF.
In July, the minister was criticised after it emerged the Government would only fund one cycle of treatment, in contrast to other EU states, 12 of which fund up to six cycles of intrauterine insemination (IUI), according to a survey by the European Fertility Atlas.
There was also criticism of restrictions meaning that only women aged between 18 and 40, who did not previously have more than one round of IVF, could apply.
Figures provided by the Health Service Executive (HSE) following three weeks of queries appear to confirm criticism of the scheme for being too restrictive.
They say just 66 couples across the country have availed of the scheme – and almost half of these were referred onto private fertility clinics by just one of the HSE’s six regional hubs.
The HSE’s sole fertility hub in the West of Ireland referred its first couple under the scheme last week, a day after the MoS queried why the Galway facility had yet to secure a single round of IVF treatment.
In order to qualify for the scheme, a couple must be referred by either their own GP, or a consultant to one of the HSE’s fertility hubs, which are located at the National Maternity Hospital, the Coombe and Rotunda maternity hospitals in Dublin; Cork University Hospital; Galway University Hospital and Nenagh General Hospital.
An applicant who meets the criteria for the scheme is reviewed by staff working at the centres,
However, it can take months for successful applicants to undergo the treatment. This weekend, the HSE confirmed that 70% of patients approved under the scheme are seen at its fertility hubs within three months.
The health authority refused to provide a detailed breakdown of waiting times for each of the fertility hubs.
In response to queries, it said: ‘Sixty six referrals have been made to the private providers, as of Friday, November 3’.
A HSE spokesperson said: ‘Given the relatively small number of patients (still fewer than 100) referred to date, we cannot provide hubs’ specific figures so as to preserve patient confidentiality. As previously mentioned, every patient is unique and will follow the necessary clinical pathway for them. Comparing numbers at this early stage is not meaningful, as a small number of very complex patients in one hub can distort the figures.’
The spokesperson said the Galway fertility hub only made its first referral last week, because of problems providing ‘consent packs’. However, the MoS has learned around 30 of the referrals nationwide were made at one of the Dublin-based hubs.
Commenting on the low take-up of the scheme to date, Labour Senator Marie Sherlock criticised the scheme for being overly ‘complicated’ and ‘convoluted’.
She told the MoS: ‘To see only 66 referrals would indicate slow progress on behalf of the provider, but I am in no doubt there is huge demand out there.
‘It seems to me the process is convoluted and we have this complicated process where the hubs have to refer onto the private provider.
‘The State should have got its act together to commence its own services.’
While Senator Sherlock acknowledged it will take ‘a bit of time to get it [free treatment scheme] up and running’, she added: ‘We know that just short of 12,000 IVF cycles take place in the country in a year, and of course that’s not a reflection of the demand that is out there.
‘The State should have got its act together’
‘That’s only a reflection of those who can pay.
‘There are many more who can’t and we would expect the true demand for IVF is well north of 12,000.’
The chair of the National Infertility Support and Information Group (NISIG), Caitríona Fitzpatrick, said the charity would ‘like to see those number of referrals for IVF grow in the coming months’. Ms Fitzpatrick told the MoS: ‘I wasn’t aware that Galway didn’t make any referrals until this week. The Galway regional fertility hub serves a huge area. It serves the whole of the northwest… Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon, Leitrim and Donegal.
‘So that is a huge number of people who are only now having the opportunity to access the publicly funded system.
‘We must be mindful of the stress on people who are waiting to access the publicly funded IVF services and ensure we minimise any delays in the referral process.
‘This is a new scheme, but we would like to see, by the end of the year, that those numbers would have really improved and that the system will be functioning at full capacity.’
Underlining the need for IVF State supports, figures compiled by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show Irish women are increasingly leaving it later to give birth.
According to its most recent analysis, the average age of first-time mothers is 31, while the average age of women giving birth is 33.
In 2021, 5,101 women aged over 40 gave birth, a significant rise on the figure of 3,827 recorded 10 years previously. Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane said the low number of referrals for the scheme may be because the qualifying criteria is too restrictive.
The Waterford TD told the MoS: ‘I don’t know why the numbers are so low and maybe it is because of the limited nature of the actual system that is being made available. ‘The scheme is quite limited and I would say that is part of the problem. It [funding] wasn’t built on in Budget 2024 to expand further and that maybe partly explains why the take-up is so low.
‘But we need to better understand how the fertility hubs are working. For me, the numbers that are being referred and are going through the hubs seem to be very low given the demand that is there.’
In response to queries from the MoS, a spokesperson for the Department of Health said: ‘The criteria which prospective patients should meet, to access fully-funded AHR (Assisted Human Reproduction) services were finalised following consultation with experts in the field of reproductive medicine.
‘They include limits in respect of the age of the intending birth mother, body mass index (BMI) and the number of children a couple already have. The criteria are in keeping with those applied in other jurisdictions, even though in most European countries, such treatments are only partially funded and require often significant out-ofpocket payments by patients.’
The spokesperson added that ‘all aspects of the newly introduced scheme will be kept under ongoing review as new evidence becomes available, an understanding of how the service provision is working in practice emerges and the specific text of the AHR legislation becomes finalised.’
‘I don’t know why the numbers are so low’