Change the rules for IVF and stop the postcode lottery

Sarah Johnson looks on longingly when she sees mums out for a stroll with their babies. For years it’s been her dream to have a precious child of her own.
But the 34-year-old has a host of health problems which means her fertility is low. She’s known for a long time that her chances of conceiving naturally are poor but that doesn’t make it easier to bear.

Starting a family has always been part of the plan for Sarah and husband Levi and they’ve been trying for a baby throughout their six year marriage. Yet as each month has passed, any last hope they’ve had has been slipping away and Sarah now fears she’ll never be able to hold a baby of her own in her arms.

For thousands of desperate couples, the only route left open when fertility problems get in the way is IVF. The Johnsons thought IVF was their only hope of having a child too.

But those hopes now lie in tatters because Sarah doesn’t meet the tough criteria set out on an NHS Portsmouth tick list. ‘I’m devastated,’ says Sarah. ‘I know I can’t have children naturally and IVF was my only option. ‘We had been going for tests and we thought we were going to be put forward for IVF but then the consultant just turned round and said “I’m sorry there’s nothing more I can do for you”. He said we didn’t meet the criteria.’

She adds: ‘They have a tick list you have to meet and if you fall down on any one that’s that. I think it’s completely unfair. ‘There are reasons I don’t meet the criteria. They should base it on the individual person, not a tick list.’

Sarah was told she had polycystic ovaries around 13 years ago and that means cysts on her ovaries stop her from ovulating frequently. That makes conceiving naturally harder and she also has endometriosis, which is a problem affecting the womb lining. For a lot of the time she’s in pain and both conditions also make it hard for her to lose weight. To add to her problems, being overweight also makes it more difficult to conceive.

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