Couple travels to Prague for fertility treatment
Leaving continent is cheaper than going to Calgary
Ashley Gosse and her partner had less than a five per cent chance of ever conceiving on their own.
They started trying for a family in 2015, when Gosse was 25. The couple waited a year for a referral to the fertility clinic in St. John’s.
Her diagnosis: unexplained infertility.
They didn’t lose hope. “We continued to try. I went through numerous ultrasounds to identify eggs and follicles and all kinds of hormonal treatments. We did intrauterine inseminations (IUI). None of those were successful, unfortunately,” Gosse said.
EARLY MENOPAUSE
Five years into their fertility efforts, Gosse faced premature ovarian failure.
“By the time I was 30, I was in full-blown menopause … which is incredibly young and unexpected,” Gosse said.
She immediately consulted the fertility clinic to see what this meant for her opportunities to conceive.
The couple didn’t try in vitro fertilization (IVF) because of the cost. After premature ovarian failure, the option to pursue IVF was eliminated.
Doctors told Gosse she wouldn’t be able to conceive without the use of an egg donor — a process, she said, that presents its own set of challenges.
EGG DONATION IN CANADA
A limited number of clinics in Canada offer egg donation treatment, and the legalities differ from those in other countries.
For example, in Canada, an embryo must be adopted. Individuals cannot pay for an egg donation, and the donor will not be anonymous.
Canadian fertility centres keep egg donor information so any children who result from a donation can access egg donor information once they turn 18 years of age.
In comparison, several European countries, such as Spain, Greece, and the Czech Republic, offer in vitro fertilization using anonymous egg donation.
TREATMENT IN PRAGUE
Gosse just wanted to be a mom.
The couple had already gone through the grief of knowing they couldn’t conceive on their own.
After numerous doctor’s appointments, second opinions, and research, Gosse explored options outside Canada.
“If I was going to use an egg donor, I wanted to be able to do so in a way that I feel comfortable,” she said.
In November 2023, this led them to the Czech Republic.
They connected with a fertility clinic in Prague, but getting there wasn’t easy.
BARRIERS
Gosse received treatment from UNICA, the Czech Republic’s first fertility clinic.
In operation for over 30 years, UNICA’S website said its clinic combines state-ofthe-art IVF technology with a holistic approach to fertility. The price of treatment begins at 2,900 euros.
For those travelling to the clinic from out of the country, Gosse said, UNICA requires the country of origin to assist in the diagnostics through bloodwork and ultrasounds.
She said this wasn’t a problem … until it was.
NO SERVICES FOR TREATMENT OUTSIDE CANADA
The fertility clinic in St. John’s can’t provide services for patients leaving the country for care.
“I’ve had many internal ultrasounds, many external ultrasounds, so I knew it was something that the fertility clinic could do. It’s not like it wasn’t a service that was provided here,” Gosse said.
When the St. John’s clinic told her no, she questioned it.
“The mandate of the fertility clinic is to aid families (to) become pregnant and have successful pregnancies, but you’re telling me that a service that you offer, that I’ve had before, I can no longer get because I’m exploring options outside of the country?”
Gosse said it is cheaper to go to Prague than to Calgary for fertility care, and Europe’s technology is more advanced.
She ended up going to Halifax for private ultrasounds.
POSITIVE EXPERIENCE
Gosse and her partner were in Prague for 10 days. Seven of those days were spent in treatment. She was impressed by the level of care and attention.
“I got to speak with the embryologist, I got to have conversations with all the physicians, all the nurses,” Gosse said.
“Everything was done very professionally, and that’s the level of service you should expect, no matter where you go.”
While in Prague, Gosse found out a reason for her struggles with infertility.
“I have rh negative in my blood type, so that creates a bit of a challenge because my partner is positive,” she said.
“I was developing antibodies against any potential fetus or embryo and essentially attacking it.”
PREGNANT
Gosse and her partner found success in Prague. Today, she is over 20 weeks pregnant and back in Newfoundland and Labrador.
She is now followed by the NL Health Services (NLHS) maternal fetal assessment unit.
“They are wonderful,” Gosse said.
Saltwire asked the NLHS whether or not the St. John’s fertility clinic will provide internal ultrasounds or tests required for families who choose to leave the country for fertility care. They did not respond before print deadline.
NEEDS TO IMPROVE
Gosse said she would love to see fertility services improve in Newfoundland and Labrador.
She would also like to see the government support people looking to start families in the province.
“We have an aging population and the government is always trying to support us, keeping young people here and having families and encouraging us to have families, but when you have somebody like myself, who had a medical condition that prevented me from pursuing regular options of fertility, I think that needs to be taken into consideration when we’re thinking about health-care expenses,” Gosse said.
“I think it’s unfortunate that services aren’t offered here that are offered elsewhere, such as Halifax.”
Gosse said pursuing private health-care options is not feasible for everyone, especially in cases where the service is available in a person’s home province but the health-care system won’t treat the person because they’re not staying in Canada.
“It creates unnecessary barriers in an already challenging process.”