Scotland’s Public Health Minister, Aileen Campbell, has announced changes to the admissibility criteria for Scottish couples who could soon benefit from extended access to in-vitro fertilisation services.
The government confirmed that it has accepted the key recommendations published in the National Infertility Group report: couples living with children in cases where one of the partners is not the biological parent will be eligible for IVF from now on. Furthermore, the number of possible cycles will be increased from 2 to 3.
The only National Infertility Group recommendation not to be taken up is the request to withdraw eligibility for couples where the female is between 40 and 42 years old. There will be no changes in this area.
The government must soon plan the gradual introduction of these new criteria.
The Public Health Minister welcomes Scotland’s pioneering role in this area, believing that these changes allow “access as fair and generous as possible to IVF”, “giving more people the opportunity to conceive”. She pointed out that, over the last four years, the Scottish government had invested “£18 million to reduce IVF waiting times and improve the outcome for patients undergoing this treatment”.
The Scottich Govrnement (13/06/2016)