Advocates want service continued at fertility clinic
Couples struggling to make a baby will soon be struggling with extra costs and delays for treatment unless the province reverses plans to shut down services at Alberta’s only public fertility clinic, a legislature rally heard Thursday.
“Cost should not be a barrier to starting a family,” said Dajana Fabjanovich, one of the organizers of the event that attracted close to 150 people.
“Albertans are fiercely protective of their families and so I can understand why people have come to support our cause.”
Fabjanovich is a member of United Infertility Edmonton, a group that came together less than one month ago in response to a decision by Alberta Health Services regarding the Regional Fertility and Women’s Endocrine Clinic.
The Royal Alexandra Hospitalbased facility will stop offering non-insured services, such as intrauterine insemination and in vitro fertilization, in February.
The decision means patients will have a choice of transferring to either of two private clinics — one in Edmonton and one in Calgary — or travelling to a different province.
However, costs at those private facilities are already higher than the fees charged at the public clinic, and there are worries prices could climb further due to reduced competition.
Some older couples in a race against their baby-making biology are also concerned wait times will increase as more patients head to the private centres.
A speaker at the rally, Chad Nelson, told the crowd infertility exacts such a psychological and emotional toll on people that it is cruel to impose further burdens.