Jacobean Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 When you consider some things that you can get on the nhs then yes I do think it should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lainey Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 No, IVF should be self funded if it is wanted, a also think that plastic surgery should not be allowed for those who just want something improved ect. An example to explain my feelings: A woman with breast cancer should be entitled to receive every possible treatment to save her life, but when funding is diverted, IVF is one of the things to receive funding, so when that woman is told she can't have a certain treatment because there is no money available to give it to her, she will go home and eventually die, knowing that thousands of pounds (that may have saved her life) has been spent on a couple having IVF The NHS is struggling and a hell of a lot of the public complain about waiting times ect- This is all down to funding. NHS resources shoud be used to treat the sick and the injured. The non-essential treatments (as in, you will not be ill or die without it) should be funded privately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtychicken Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 Surely, because of the long waiting times, etc involved with IVF those people who can afford to go privately will do so Is it really fair to say that "just" wanting to have children and being unable to have them "naturally" will not cause undue suffering in the potential parents or further drains on the NHS? I didn't quite have to go through IVF, but that was purely because things were so drastically wrong medically with my husband that it would have been impossible. We had to go down the donor insemination route in the end, but we had several years of immense stress and worry whilst trying to get pregnant before we were "approved" to take this course of action on the NHS. Stress and worry enough that I ended up taking an overdose. After the overdose, I had to have counselling - funded by the NHS - before we could proceed. Obviously, had I been able to conceive naturally then I would have needed neither the counselling nor the treatment and wouldn't be in here baring my soul But, in my own roundabout way, I'm just trying to illustrate that simply being unable to conceive can have further repercussions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kats inc Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 I think my issue with this,like so many other treatments is the postcode lottery that goes alongside it.I really believe for things like this we need a national policy so all women have equal access to the same service.I think the day the NHS got broken down into smaller NHS Trusts was the downfall of any equity of service and it makes me angry that what is available to some is unobtainable for others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melp Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 Not receiving IVF and so not having children will not kill you! True but it may cause other issues like depression which would be treated on the NHS. Should someone suffering from an illness [mental or physical] because they can't receive IVF have to pay for their treatment? BTW this isnt my opinion, I'm just asking a question. I just don't see where you draw the line. I don't actually beleive that everyone should have the right to children. I also struggle [and am hypocritical in this] to understand the need to live for longer and longer. Natural selection just doesn't happen anymore and maybe sometimes we need to let nature take its course-again though, who decides where to draw the line? Of course I'd not be saying that if one of my children were ill I was lucky enough to concieve naturally and had two easy births and healthy babies. Had I not been able to concieve it wouldn't have been the end of the world for me [which probably puts me in the category of people who shouldn't be allowed kids] but I do understand that for some, the fact that they can't concieve naturally is the end of their world and that must be very very hard. Whether it's right to mess with nature is a whole other thread though. There was a report in the Times this week about a lady who'd tried for [i think] 6 years to have children. She finally gave birth to twins [after IVF] but suffered from such severe PND she walked across a motorway and killed herself when the Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greytgirl Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 True but it may cause other issues like depression which would be treated on the NHS. that is what I was about to post and here I am..proof of it! I suffer from depression now after trying for nearly 6 years after having a baby..she is 7 ! after 4years I got pregnant and lost my baby..this does cause your mind to mess up 'just a little' and, after month after month of disappointment, of feeling a failure, inadequate and feeling like "am I being punished for something here?" yes may sound silly but this IS what this can do to you... and no it wont physically kill you I agree but mentally BELIEVE ME it does!! and I will be looking into paying for it, IF I dont fall pregnant within 6 months, not because of the money side, BUT the waiting side on the NHS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Rumpelstiltskin Posted January 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 The Department of Health was suggesting yesterday that the decision would boost NHS spending on fertility by tens of millions of pounds. Three-quarters of IVF treatments are paid for privately, because patients cannot get treatment on the NHS, at an average cost of £2,000 to £3,000 per cycle. There is less than a one-in-five chance of success and most couples need more than one cycle of treatment before they achieve a pregnancy. Some remain childless even after repeated attempts. Taken from Im sorry if i offeneded anyone but my view is that there is a large (and limited) pot of money and that there are other more life saving areas which could do with it. if the National Health Service (NHS) took over all IVF treatments currently carried out in private clinics, it would cost around 400 million per year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tegk68 Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 greytgirl I hope your dreams come true soon. I don't know what the right answer is here. I do know that those in a position where having children seems to be beyond them can find this incredibly stressful emotionally and in some cases financially crippling too. I know of people where marriages have broken up due to the stress. I have heard of people taking their own life. Conversely I know of people who have managed to forge a happy, childless life. As it stands at the moment, in theory pretty much all Primary Care Trusts offer one free session of IVF to couples having difficulty conceiving who meet a certain critera. These criteria do differ with each Trust, which I find frankly ridiculous. The age range differs depending on which Trust you fall under, for example Wiltshire PCT you have to be 35 and under and next door at Hampshire PCT you have to be 35 years and over before you qualify . For most you have to be a childless couple but for some I believe you can already have conceived a child and now be having problems. The number of years of trying for child varies also. Also for some PCT's they have a set number of IVF treatments they will conduct per year. If free IVF continues to exist then I would like to see contiuity across all the PCT's with the qualifying criteria set the same on the basis of sound medical and practical reasons. My gut feeling is that the criteria should be tightened up and free IVF be offered to childless couples only. I think I agree, if it continues to exist that IVF eligability should be means tested also. Although, sadly, the husband and I are not made of money we could afford to scrape the money together to go privately if need be and may well do so in the future. I don't believe the NHS should pay for us but I do not want to deny other's with less available capital the option of IVF either. I'd be very interested to know, whether those who feel free IVF should be abolished have children themselves or whether they are childless and to what degree they actually want children. Amongst my own friends I get such conflicting opinions depending on who I talk to. The ones with children often tell me that I am missing out on the best thing that could ever happen, the one's happily without children the reverse.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprogsbloke Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 If you are unable to have children could you not consider adoption as there are large numbers of children in foster homes hoping to have a proper home of their own? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melp Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 Adoption isn't an easy option despite the numbers of children needing homes. I think there's an age limit [got it in my head it's 35] and the adoption process is very very long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tegk68 Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 If you are unable to have children could you not consider adoption as there are large numbers of children in foster homes hoping to have a proper home of their own? Yes of course. It is not an easy process either though and these days not something to be taken lightly. When my mother adopted many, many years ago there was a huge amount of babies requiring loving, lifetime parents. Of course today that is very different, there are very few babies given up for adoption; most of the children who need adoptive familes are older (3-10) children, in the care system, sometimes in sibling groups and with complex needs. In addition, adoption is now a much more open process and it is usually considered to be in the best interests of children who are adopted to retain some form of contact with their birth families. So you see it takes a special person/s to consider this route. I'm not sure yet how I would feel about adopting an older child, possibly one with problems and also one which still has contact, for probably all the right reasons, with their birth families. To me I can't really understand the difference between adoption and fostering these days.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lainey Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 I'd be very interested to know, whether those who feel free IVF should be abolished have children themselves or whether they are childless and to what degree they actually want children. Amongst my own friends I get such conflicting opinions depending on who I talk to. The ones with children often tell me that I am missing out on the best thing that could ever happen, the one's happily without children the reverse.... My hubby and i discussed kids and decided that we wanted 2. We decided when the time was right and started trying- without any problems i had my son. Conceiving our daughter proved more difficult, we had a few problems conceiving her and had numerous discussions, we decided that fate would lead the way and we would live with the outcome. We discussed that if we failed to conceive, and were still desperate to have the 2 kids we had planned, then we would apply for adoption. I had been desperately broody since the age of 14, so much so, that taking my options at school was difficult cos all i wanted in my future was to get married, get my own house and have kids! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumpole Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 my nephew and his partner had tried to conceive for a couple of years without success, his partners father then paid for two attempts at ivf which were also unsuccessful and upset her so much that the decided to take a holiday and take time off trying. at which point she promptly became pregnant within weeks unaided (well apart from nephews input ) and three months after having baby billie found she was pregnant again with jj. turned out it was anxiety over getting pregnant that was stopping her getting pregnant it has been discussed and she is glad they went private because she says she'd have felt awful if she had wasted money that the nhs needed elsewhere. i am unable to have children but as i dont want them that is a blessing to me, i do however feel deeply for those who are desperate to have children yet remain childless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tegk68 Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 An additional note on adoption..there are around 4,000 children in the UK each year looking for parents. They come from a wide variety of backgrounds, ethinicty and religious requirements. In the main it is the Agencies wishes that these children are placed with families that can meet all these needs. In addition there is no upper age limit Melp. It is looked at from a case by case situation. That said the older you are then obviously the older the child etc. All this means is that in terms of your potential as prospective parents, for good reason no doubt, it is quite small and very competitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greytgirl Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 If you are unable to have children could you not consider adoption as there are large numbers of children in foster homes hoping to have a proper home of their own? adoption is an option, for me the last resort though as is is nothing like carrying your own child, not because its your own, but the feeling of being pregnant and having a child grow inside you is a bond that NOTHING else can compare to..in my opinion I not only want to have another child..a sis or bro for Katie, which she too desperately wants I want to be pregnant..I want to feel a child move inside my stomach and feel the rush of love you get.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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