Struggles with Infertility

Being a parent is not something that everyone has as a goal in life. But once you decide that you want to be a parent, and you are unable to, your life can either unravel, or you can try to find meaning in your struggles. This blog is me trying to find meaning.

Thursday, December 29, 2016

The Commonality of Infertility and Why IVF Should be Funded


According to Resolve, the United States National Infertility Association, one in eight couples have trouble getting pregnant or sustaining a pregnancy (infertility = inability to get pregnant < 1 year).  The World Health Organization estimates global infertility rates at one in four, based on 2004 and 2012 data (infertility = inability to get pregnant <2 years). Within those couples, approximately one third of infertility issues are associated with the female partner, one third with the male partner, and one third remain ‘unexplained’. Derek and I were originally unexplained, but more and more evidence is pointing towards egg quality issues, with potential immunological issues on my part as well.


Because we are open with our infertility issues, others are often open with us as well. In my immediate family, I have one sister who is infertile due to teenage cancer treatments (early menopause), one fertile sister with two children, and a sister in law who has Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome and is in the midst of fertility treatments with her husband. In addition, my mother and father took >2 years to become pregnant with my youngest sister (secondary infertility), and my mother in law had a still birth between my husband and sister in law. I have a handful of current and past coworkers with IF, and multiple friends and acquaintances from past and present who have reached out to share their stories. Infertility is all around me, and I’m sure it’s all around each of you reading this, though you likely don’t realize it.


An aspect of infertility that is gaining attention in the media recently is funding of infertility treatments. In November 2015, the Ontario provincial government announced that it would fund one cycle of IVF for qualified patients (note that funding is not fulsome, some costs are still paid by the patient). Conversely, Quebec’s publicly funded IVF program – paying for up to three IVF’s – was cut to one, and changed to a tax credit program (patients pay for the procedure up front and receive tax credits from the province). IVF is not funded by the public health care system elsewhere in Canada.


In 2013, the Government of Alberta commissioned a study through the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health to better understand the true costs of IVF. Currently, IVF is unregulated and unfunded in Alberta. Patients pay for IVF, and as a result, are driven to transfer multiple embryos – more bang for your tens of thousands of bucks. Multiple embryo transfers result in high rates of multiple pregnancies – the costs of which are borne by the public health care system. High risk prenatal care, preterm births and associated NICU hospital stays for the babies, and longer term health care associated with premie baby births result in $82 million dollars of societal costs over 18 years. Implementing a funded, but restricted, policy for IVF with single embryo transfers would save these costs, in addition to protecting the health and safety of mothers and children.


Infertility is common – more common than you think – and equitable access to infertility treatment not only reduces the long term burden on our health care system, but also provides more hope to your sister, brother, cousins, friends and coworkers in becoming parents themselves. Talk about it more to understand the issue better, and help us get the message out in support of funding for infertility treatments. It not only benefits us IFer's, but also you as the taxpayer.