Fertility clinic in Chch to close

CHRISTCHURCH: One of two South Island fertility clinics has closed after losing a ‘‘final straw’’ tender with the South Island Alliance of District Health Boards for public funding, sparking fears patients are being robbed of choice.

Christchurch clinic Genea Oxford Fertility (GOF) plans to shut on October 30, and has asked patients to advise it before August 13 where they wish to relocate their eggs, sperm or embryos to another clinic.

The frozen samples will either have to be transferred to Fertility Associates, in Dunedin, the only other clinic operating in the South Island, or at the request of the patient, to a service in the North Island.

‘‘We are obviously extremely disappointed by this decision, as we know patients and supporters of our clinic will be.

‘‘We appreciate that this news is unexpected,’’ the clinic wrote in a letter to its patients last week.

GOF clinic manager Catherine France said it meant all five staff members had lost their jobs.

She would not comment on how many patients had been affected by the closure but said the clinic had treated more than 1000 patients since opening in 2014.

‘‘That public funding was the final straw and we thought we had a good chance of getting it,’’ Ms France said.

She said the tender was rejected after lockdown in May but the clinic wanted to do all it could to keep running.

‘‘Unfortunately, it saddens us to say it just wasn’t possible,’’ she said.

In the letter, GOF said it was not a decision it wanted to make, but had known for some years obtaining a share of the public contract for fertility services was essential for the survival of the business.

‘‘A huge amount of work went into submitting a recent tender for the contract but unfortunately the South Island Alliance of District Health Boards decided not to offer Genea Oxford any share of it.’’

Ms France said the goal was always to obtain public funding because they knew they would not be able to survive without it.

Invercargill mother Aimee Morison, who had embryos in storage, said the closure was ‘‘so upsetting’’ because it meant people were getting robbed of choice.

‘‘If you are paying for it and you don’t get a choice at all, that just seems so wrong to me, for something that is so personal, so stressful.’’

Ms Morison had both of her two children through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) — her first was publicly funded through Fertility Associates and her youngest 18monthold son was through Genea Oxford, after a failed attempt with FA.

‘‘Genea gave me a different perspective. We tried different medication and doses, we did genetic testing.

‘‘I needed a second opinion to make sure that we had done everything. Even if we didn’t get our son from Genea I felt like I would have been OK because we would have tried everything.

‘‘A different perspective was hugely important to me,’’ Ms Morison said.

The South Island Alliance of District Health Boards has been contacted for comment. — The New Zealand Herald