British charity to offer hopeful parents IVF at half the current price in new clinic

A charity best known for providing abortions will soon be offering IVF treatment for cost price.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) will open a new clinic in London next year.

It will be the first not-for-profit IVF clinic in England, offering women help getting pregnant for cost price.

BPAS estimates one cycle of IVF will cost between £3,000 and £3,500, not including drugs but with no expensive add ons.

Such add ons include embryo glue and assisted hatching, which can cost several hundred pounds each.

Those who can't get the treatment paid for by the NHS often have to fork out more than £5,000 for a single cycle.

The process will cost between £3,000 and £3,500 (Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)

Many women find themselves in this position, despite the fact the National Institute for Clinical Excellence recommends three rounds of treatment should be available on the NHS.

However, funding cuts have meant some would-be patients do not have their treatment funded.

In England, many CCGs have reduced funding for fertility treatment and as a result, the share of IVF cycles funded by the NHS has fallen from 41% in 2013 to 35% two years ago.

Katherine O’Brien, associate director of communications and campaigns at BPAS, explained the motivations for opening the clinic.

Embryo transfer will take place in the central London clinic (Getty Images)

“In 1968, women were unable to access NHS-funded abortion care and were forced to turn to private providers, who often exploited their desperation by charging extortionate prices,” she told The Guardian.

“Some private providers were also not offering an ethical service and were more akin to snake oil salesmen than medical professionals.

"While not as extreme as the backstreet abortions of the 1960s, it is clear that some private IVF providers are encouraging patients to undergo clinically unproven treatments at a huge personal and financial cost.”

The clinic will open in central London for egg collection and embryo transfer in September next year.

Scans will take place at satellite clinics across England.

There will be no set criteria for treatment, such as age, but patients will be briefed on what the chances of them conceiving are.