A senator who went through the experience of IVF herself says couples in Ireland shouldn’t be left facing the ‘huge bills’ for the treatment.
Senator Catherine Ardagh has joined up with her Fianna Fáil colleague Fiona O’Loughlin to push for new legislation to ensure free access to IVF.
They’re drafting their own bill on the issue, and say they’re also working with the Health Minister to reprioritise past legislation which has yet to progress.
Having lived through the highs and lows of 5 IVF cycles...the worry, the waiting, the failures, the pain' Senator @cardagh shared her personal IVF story in the Seanad today. Senator @Fiona_Kildare also called for the roll-out of IVF in our public health system. pic.twitter.com/N5u1YNgjJL
— Fianna Fáil (@fiannafailparty) February 1, 2021
Senator Ardagh - who now has one-year-old twins - yesterday told the Seanad she’d lived through the “highs and lows of five IVF cycles, with the worry, waiting, failures and pain involved”.
She said the costs for the treatment in Ireland start at €4,500, but ‘realistically’ can end up costing close to €10,000.
On today’s Lunchtime Live, Senator Ardagh said it was a difficult process for her and her partner - even though they were ultimately one of the lucky couples who successfully went through the process.
She said: “I know so many people are probably listening at the moment and going through various IVF treatments, and many may have gone through IVF in the recent past.
“I want to say you’re not alone, my heart goes out to you, and I’m always thinking and praying of people who are going through infertility.”
Senator Ardagh said she and her partner contacted their GP when their efforts to have a child weren’t working out.
She said: “The GP sent me to the Coombe for investigations. They were lovely in the Coombe.
“Starting off, they began investigating fallopian tubes. Then I started a series called follicle tracking, where they put you on Clomid to increase your eggs each month.
“We did that for about six months, and it just didn’t work out for us. We had no option then but to look at private IVF clinics.”
The couple ultimately went to a clinic in Dublin, and a series of tests revealed that the couple was experiencing ‘unexplained infertility’.
Senator Ardagh explained: “There’s a lot of cost outlay at the beginning, when you’re doing a lot of tests - you can get blood tests that cost almost €2,000. You feel like you have to do every test under the sun to get to the bottom of it… sometimes you don’t get to the bottom of it.
“Sometimes there’s a clear reason, and that’s sometimes better because at least it’s identifiable and you can try to fix it. But sometimes there’s no reason.”
Couples 'can't be left with huge bill'
While Senator Ardagh said the medical language around IVF and fertility can often be quite stark, she doesn’t believe it’s meant to be cruel or unkind.
However, she did find a very supportive community of other women online going through the same process.
After her own experience, Senator Ardagh believes the financial end of IVF is ‘cost-prohibitive’ for many couples who could benefit from the treatment.
She said: “I’ve had lots of people contacting me who are going through it, and they feel really isolated and alone.
“There should be some support for women going through this - especially women who’ve never had any reason to go to a doctor, and then they’re faced with a huge IVF bill… they’d just like a bit of help.
“People don’t like speaking about it. Even I don’t speak about it that much… but for me it’s important to speak about it.
“I won’t be going down the IVF route ever again, but I think it’s important for couples coming after me that they don’t feel the loneliness and isolation, and that they’re not left with a huge bill.”
She said the situation currently facing couples is ‘massively unfair’, and it’s time for the State to ‘muck in’ and provide the service.
The Government has previously been criticised for not publicly funding IVF despite past promises.
