How To Navigate NHS Funded Fertility Treatment

NHS funded fertility treatment is a nightmare to work out. There isn’t just one answer as it depends on:

• Where you live
• Your age
• Your gender and your partner’s gender
• If you have done IVF before
• Your lifestyle, such as BMI and if you smoke
• Your family history, i.e. if you already have children

The fact that there are so many factors that come into play makes it hard to work out what you are actually eligible for. It is therefore exciting to see that Fertility Mapper has come up with an NHS fertility funding calculator to make things easier.

Once you have put in all your information, such as age, weight, height and that of your partner, it sends you an email with the results. I put in that I was 35 living in North London, a non-smoker and had no children, but apparently, nothing for me.

Unfortunately, the calculator doesn’t work if you are a single woman, and the form doesn’t work if you don’t put in your partner’s details. Don’t worry, I have emailed them about it!

One thing I would say is that the email that came through to me, once I had filled in the form, was very nice. It wasn’t a uh oh nothing for you, but a nice, friendly email that offered links to more resources and information so that I would see for myself what the eligibility criteria are for my area. Below, you can see what I was sent:

One of the things that is super useful about this tool is that you can change your postcode and put in the same information and see how it changes, so if you are considering moving to take advantage of some funding, you can see the difference it would make.

I have to say that I don’t agree with the ‘postcode lottery’ that fertility funding is in the UK. I don’t understand why there isn’t one policy for all trusts. It seems very unfair to penalise or reward women based on where they live.

What do you think? Is this calculator useful?