Correction: 20 year old refused state-funded IVF

In issue 451 of BioNews we published a news story that implied that guidelines produced by  the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in 2004 for the provision of IVF on the NHS, which recommended that all PCTs should provide three cycles of IVF treatment for suitable couples, also recommended that couples with a child or children from a current or previous relationship should not be offered treatment.

In fact, this was not the case, although some PCTs have themselves since introduced such a criterion. We have amended the original article, which now says:

'The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published guidelines in 2004 for the provision of IVF on the NHS, recommending that all PCTs should provide three cycles of IVF treatment for suitable couples. However, many PCTs also recommend that couples with a child or children from a current or previous relationship should not be offered treatment. Yet Ms Storey's boyfriend's existing children do not live with the couple but 300 miles away. There is a lack of uniformity in the provision of IVF treatment in the NHS across the country with not all PCTs meeting the NICE recommendations, and it possible that Ms Storey would have been offered treatment by another Trust.'