Regulation of clinics providing fertility treatments to couples is necessary to ensure a robust legal framework, according to the Women’s Health Council (WHC).
Director of the WHC, Geraldine Luddy, said: “The need for legislation is really important. The clinics would prefer it. They need it themselves because at the moment anyone can set up one.”
Speaking ahead of the launch today of two publications by the WHC on infertility and treatments for it, Luddy said difficulty conceiving was a significant health issue and needed to be recognised as such. In the UK it was the second most common reason for a woman to visit their GP after pregnancy, she added.
The documents, entitled Infertility and its treatments: a review of the psycho-social issues and Infertility treatments for women: a review of the bio-medical evidence, are aimed at women and health professionals.
The review of psycho-social issues states the recommendations of the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction, published in 2005, should be implemented as a matter of urgency. Its key recommendation was to set up the infrastructure for robust regulation.
Limited access to treatment due to cost was another issue identified. A round of IVF treatment can cost approximately E7,000, according to Luddy.
The review suggests more public funding of treatment would be desirable because it would encourage more couples to seek treatment and ‘better clinical decisions are often made when coverage by the public health care system includes fertility treatments’.
It also recommends promoting younger motherhood through policy measures to support parents economically and socially. “Older women are almost censured for leaving it too late. There are reasons for this. Our biological clocks have not caught up with our lives. Pregnancy has an impact on careers. It is a social policy issue that has to be looked at,” said Luddy.
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