REGINA – Rod and Jayleene Sully have been married for nine years, and have decided it’s time to add a child to their family photos.
“We started trying and ran into some problems,” said Jayleene.
The couple consulted a fertility specialist and were told they were unlikely to conceive without help – either from a sperm donor or in vitro fertilization (IVF).
The Sullys prefer not to go with a donor, but IVF is a pricey procedure – costing upwards of $10,000.
“We had hope, (thinking) ‘Maybe we can do this,'” Jayleene said. “Then we found out the cost and said, ‘I don’t think we can afford that.'”
Depending on the province, some in vitro treatments are paid for by health care. In Saskatchewan coverage is only provided for infertility investigation, including sperm testing.
Infertility Saskatchewan – an advocacy group pushing for public funding of infertility treatments – wants to change that, citing a new report from the University of Alberta.
It says funding some forms of IVF could actually be more cost effective for the health system.
“We can try and reduce the financial barriers so couples are more inclined to transfer a single embryo during their fertility treatments, there will be fewer multiple pregnancies,” said Dr. Adrian Gamelin of Saskatoon’s Aurora Reproductive Care – the province’s only fertility clinic. “Therefore, the government will actually save money.”
While treatment is on the rise, doctors say, too often infertility isn’t recognized as a health issue.
“Infertility is a medical condition,” Gamelin said. “It’s not a choice any couple would make not to be able to have children.”
Rod and Jayleene don’t believe IVF funding will arrive in time for them, but they’re not done trying – to conceive and to effect change.
“Anything we can do, so that someone doesn’t have to say ‘no’ to a family because they can’t afford it.”
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