A large UK survey has revealed that there is a huge amount of public support for funding fertility treatment on the NHS, and that many men are willing to donate sperm to help others have a family.
PET, the independent fertility and genomics charity, has marked its 30th Birthday by taking a deep dive into UK attitudes towards issues around fertility treatment and genomics in medicine. The report, entitled 'Fertility, Genomics and Embryo Research: Public Attitudes and Understanding', revealed an openness to helping others with NHS funding and sperm donation.
The report's findings are based on a UK-wide survey of more than 2,000 people carried out by Ipsos.1 Two of the headline findings are as follows.
NHS funding of fertility treatment
Two-thirds of respondents (67%) supported the provision of NHS-funded fertility treatment to people who are infertile and wish to conceive.
This support stands in stark contrast to the availability of NHS funding in England, where the majority of Clinical Commissioning Groups (89.9%) do not offer the NICE-recommended three full IVF cycles to clinically eligible women under 40.2
Sarah Norcross, Director of PET, said:
The commissioning of fertility services needs to catch up with public opinion. These survey results send a strong message to Government, NHS England and commissioning bodies to take action. Infertility is not a lifestyle choice nor a luxury, it is a recognised medical condition which impacts people's physical and mental wellbeing, affecting not just the individual or couple but their wider family.
The postcode lottery approach is unfair and unjustifiable, and we hope that the Government's upcoming Women's Heath Strategy will tackle this issue.
While we welcome the Government's recognition of access disparities throughout England and reassurances in response to recent Parliamentary questions, the fact remains that CCGs have no stringent obligation to follow NICE guidance. It is therefore unclear how that major bottleneck will be addressed in practice, without government intervention.
Louise Brown, the world's first IVF baby, said:
It is time to end the postcode lottery for fertility treatment. For people who don't have much money and desperately want a child, being told 'We won't fund your IVF treatment' must be devastating.
Sperm donation
The survey also found that 53% of male respondents would consider donating their sperm. This is a hugely positive finding indicating a willingness by men to donate sperm to help others have a family.
Despite this goodwill, the latest data from the HFEA shows that more than 75% of sperm used in the UK is from overseas donors.3
Sarah Norcross, Director of PET, said:
Action needs to be taken so that men's willingness to donate is not wasted. The ability to access donor sperm through a licensed clinic is particularly important, given the increase in the use of unregulated online donations, which have resulted in women being exposed to unnecessary risks such as STIs and having children born with genetic conditions. As a third of infertility is down to men, sperm donation is often a crucial step in helping family building journeys.
In Scotland, there is a clear pathway for donation and there has been a recruitment drive for sperm donors.4 England needs to learn from this initiative, so that men who wish to donate can do so.
Professor Allan Pacey, Trustee at PET and Professor of Andrology at the University of Sheffield, said:
Importing sperm from regulated sperm banks outside the UK is a perfectly safe and lawful solution to the UK's sperm shortages. However, it does suggest the UK has a structural problem in its donor recruitment infrastructure, given that so many men in this survey would consider donating sperm yet don't seem to do so.
We need to look again at ways to try and make it easier for men who would like to be considered as a sperm donor to be able to able to register their interest, and – if accepted – be able to donate more easily than is currently possible.
Notes
- Ipsos interviewed a sample of 2,233 adults aged 16-75 in UK using its online i:omnibus between 24th and 27th March 2022. Data has been weighted to the known offline population proportions for age, working status and social grade within gender and government office region.
Survey participants were introduced to fertility treatment as 'medical intervention to help people conceive'. The respondents showed strong support for the NHS offering fertility treatment for people who are infertile and wish to conceive (IVF), with two-thirds (67%) saying this treatment should be offered (31% saying 'yes, definitely' and 36% saying 'yes, probably'). - See data published by Fertility Network UK in November 2021.
- See 'Trends in egg and sperm donation' data from 2017, published by the HFEA in October 2019.
- See 'Could you donate eggs or sperm?' on the Fertility Scotland website.
