When Craig Minter and his wife Anne-Marie wanted IVF treatment on the NHS, they never imagined it would mean moving more than 200 miles from their home in Berkshire.
But after several years of trying for a baby the couple have decided to make the move from south-east England to Bury, Greater Manchester. In the area where they live at the moment, the NHS only offers one treatment cycle of IVF, as opposed to the three that are available in Bury.
“We wanted to give ourselves the best chance,” says Craig, 34, adding that he had not realised the disparity in the treatment on offer until he had initial testing at a clinic in Oxfordshire. He later found out that the clinic had stopped taking NHS patients.
“We were told we could go to other hospitals in the area but our local commissioning group only offers one IVF cycle ... We spoke to a fertility charity and they explained to us that it was a bit of a postcode lottery. They sent us a list of clinical commissioning groups and what they offer.”
Craig says that it was the first time his family had thought about the differing level of provision and they decided that moving might be the best chance they would have of success.
“We were apprehensive at first because it is so far away from friends and family. But we are lucky the area is really nice and both our jobs are allowing us to work from home and be so flexible,” Anne-Marie, 33, says.
Craig says that at first he was annoyed the patchy provision. “It’s harsh and it is the communication around it too ... what an area offers isn’t always clear. They don’t provide the information on a plate but you have to really ask about it.”
His wife adds: “Everyone should have the chance to get three cycles because it means they have a fair chance to conceive. Infertility is becoming more prevalent than ever before due to environmental factors and people wanting to start families later in life and have a career first.”
While Bury clinical commissioning group is one of just a small number of areas in England to provide three full IVF cycles, at a meeting of its governing body reducing the number of cycles was discussed. No formal consultation has been launched yet but the CCG said it would liaise with the chair of the health, overview and scrutiny committee about it at a later date.
“The mental health aspect is often ignored. If you go from offering three cycles to just one or none then you have told a lot of people that it does not matter if you have kids or not... You have to deal with a lot of people getting depressed,” Craig says.
He adds: “You don’t get a lot of help [with infertility] ... For me personally, when I found out that the problem was me, it’s not really something that guys talk about. I had sperm tests and in my second test the count had dropped significantly ... as a bloke you almost feel like you’re not a bloke.”
Craig adds that lots of couples go through fertility problems but it’s not always discussed and he thinks it’s important the NHS takes it seriously.
Anne-Marie says: “Those deciding to cut services should speak to fertility charities and find people like myself and Craig who are willing to talk about such a sensitive issue. To explain why it is an important part of the NHS and not everyone can afford to go privately ... I hope this encourages others to speak out and that they are not alone in their struggles.”
