Accessibility is really important to me. I would love to live in a world that is fairer, where things are more equal no matter what your circumstances, skin colour or sexual orientation.
A more level playing field, if you like.
One that isn't so flipping difficult and often determined by an arbitary set of rules, with no flexibility that haven't been very well thought out, other than to pre-clude people.
I care deeply about accessibility. I'm so passionate about it, so much so, it's part of my mission statement at Your IVF abroad.
I really want to impact as many people as possible by helping them to access more accessible IVF and fertility testing and treatment in Europe.
Because infertility is already unfair. So unfair.
Access to state funded fertility treatment is so inaccessible. Here in the UK there is an NHS IVF postcode lottery, with differing rules dependent on where you live and with very strict eligibility criteria for IVF treatment.
And then for some groups of people it is even more unfair.
Common reasons people do not qualify for funded treatment - you already had a child, BMI too high/low, older, single, in a same sex female couple, you may be experiencing secondary infertility, have disability, or a partner who already has children.
I've experienced this myself first hand. I was refused fertility treatment on the NHS due to my BMI. I was sent away, with no support and asked to lose 6 stone, which I did to get my BMI down to under 35. In the time I was losing weight the rules in our area changed so without knowing I was working towards a target that no longer existed. Two years of my fertility journey wasted and if I had lived a few miles down the road I would have qualified for treatment, not fair!
There are also barriers when it comes to accessibility with private fertility treatment in the UK and other countries too, such as Australia, Canada and America, due to the high cost of fertility treatment and in some cases very strict BMI rules.
I believe that if it’s safe to have treatment then it should be your choice to go ahead (or not), rather than it being somebody else's choice. And we are not stupid, we know that really in the majority of cases it’s to pre-clude people from treatment and to save money.
But it's not going to get better. In fact, things have got worse as budgets for fertility treatment continue to be slashed and there are people now who are even being denied fertility testing to determine if there is an issue, until they meet the criteria for IVF/IUI treatment, which to me is discrimination.
It’s good to understand that more accessible, safe fertility treatment, without waiting lists, is more readily available when looking to go abroad for IVF, IUI, own egg, donor egg, donor sperm treatment etc in Europe.
Hopefully this gives you some hope and some food for thought in terms of considering safe IVF or fertility treatment abroad. You need to do your research to make sure that you are eligible for treatment in the country you are interested in having treatment in and that you do your due diligence around safety and ethics too, both for the destination and clinic.
If you need any help and support with planning or having IVF abroad, or finding a best fit, safe fertility clinic in Europe then I offer a range of services to help with all this kind of stuff. You can click here to take a look www.yourivfabroad.co.uk/services
And then if you want to discuss further then follow the steps to arrange a free, no obligation 30 minute consultation, to see how I can help you to take some control back on your journey with infertility, give yourself the best chance to have a baby and look back with no regrets, whatever the outcome.