This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Petition Fund free IVF for women with Endometriosis and are in a same sex relationship
Fund free IVF for women who have Endometriosis and are in a same sex relationship on the NHS.
More details
When I was 18, I was told that I could not fertilise and egg but I could carry my child through free IVF due to Endometriosis. At this time, I was in a heterosexual relationship but now I am in a same sex relationship, I have been told I no longer fit the criteria and I cannot have free IVF treatment. This is discrimination and I believe anybody in my situation is entitled to free IVF. Especially, as I have been told prior that I was entitled to it.
This petition is closed This petition ran for 6 months
Related activity
New Women's Health Strategy published by the Government
On Wednesday 20 July the Government published the first ever Women's Health Strategy for England. This document sets out the results of the consultation the Government ran in 2021 on women's health, and the actions it is taking to improve the health of women and girls.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Steve Barclay MP, made a statement on the Strategy and took questions from MPs in the House of Commons, to coincide with the publication of the strategy.
The Secretary of State's statement outlined the key ambitions and elements of the Strategy. These include:
- Ensuring that women are better listened to in the NHS
- Better access to services for all women and girls
- Addressing the lack of research into women’s health conditions
- Better information and education on issues relating to women’s health
- Targeted action on specific areas such as fertility treatment, pregnancy loss, and female-specific health conditions such as endometriosis.
Actions the Government has said it will take to help achieve these goals include introducing mandatory teaching and assessment on women’s health for all graduating medical students and incoming doctors, and undertaking new research and data gathering to increase understanding of women's health issues.
You can read the Strategy in full on the UK Government website. The Strategy only covers England as government policy on health matters is devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Commitments on fertility care
The Strategy commits the Government to working with NHS England to address geographical variation in access to NHS-funded fertility services across England. This includes more equitable access to fertility services for female same-sex couples, and an end to non-clinical eligibility criteria used by some Clinical Commissioning Groups.
It also states that the Government will explore publishing data nationally on the provision and availability of IVF, to drive greater transparency of the provision of IVF services across the country.
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