A rural mother has to travel six hours interstate every fortnight as she expands her family, an emotional quest that has likely cost her more than $100,000.
Sophie Fletcher, a farmer and mother-of-two from Walcha, in northern NSW, has also taken several 10-hour round trips just to get guaranteed same-day turnaround on blood tests for fertility treatment.
She has to go to these extraordinary lengths to get specialised care on the Gold Coast in Queensland, amid a dearth of local fertility services.
Over several years, Ms Fletcher has had to manage her medical records and find her own support services through an endometriosis diagnosis and several miscarriages.
"My experience is not unique," Ms Fletcher told a parliamentary inquiry into fertility care and assisted reproduction treatment sitting in Tamworth on Wednesday.
