Donor gamete use excluded from publicly-funded treatment in Ireland

Long awaited eligibility criteria for Ireland's publicly-funded IVF treatment scheme have been published, but excludes treatment involving use of donor gametes.

Eligibility criteria published on 25 July 2023, due to come into force in September 2023 via health executive-funded treatment at private IVF clinics, includes three rounds of intrauterine insemination, a single round of IVF and a single round of ICSI, for Irish citizens who have been in a relationship for at least one year, and have no living children from the existing relationship, including at least one partner with no living child. All couples using donor gametes are ineligible for treatment as a result of the failure to pass the Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) Bill (see BioNews 1186). This includes all single mothers and same-sex couples, as well as any heterosexual couples intending to use donor eggs or sperm. Those planning to have a family with more than two parents are also excluded.

'In establishing eligibility criteria, we have considered an array of factors to ensure that public money is being used to fund clinically-safe care that prioritises the safety and wellbeing of the child and mother,' said Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly.

He added: 'I look forward to progressing this Bill and to ultimately expanding advanced AHR services to wider categories so that we can help more people to fulfil their wish of starting a family.'

In order to be eligible, patients must be resident in the Republic of Ireland, and fulfil relationship criteria. Female patients must have a BMI of 18.5-30 and be below the age of 41 at the time of referral. Male patients must be below the age of 60. Individuals who have previously undergone more than one cycle of IVF or voluntary sterilisation will also not be eligible.

Beginning in September, patients seeking fertility treatment will be able to receive a referral from their GP to their local Regional Fertility Hub before undergoing publicly funded treatment in the private sector. There are plans to increase public sector capacity for IVF, with the first public clinic due to open in Cork in 2024, offering around 500 IVF cycles a year.

LGBT Ireland spokesperson Paula Fagan told RTÉ News At One that although 'female same-sex couples are required to undergo clinical conception to be jointly recognised as parents' under the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015, 'the State is now saying that it won't fund these required procedures'.

Delays to publication of the eligibility criteria had led to people delaying seeking private fertility treatment, a survey by a private fertility clinic showed earlier this year (see BioNews 1187).