I'm really saddened to see that so many people on here are of the opinion, sorry your medical situation isn't as serious as others, you want a baby and that's a lifestyle choice, accept it, move on and save up or adopt etc etc tough shit essentially.
I'm glad that we have a more compassionate health care set up in this country.
I personally think that we have some other very serious health problems in this country, which could be avoided by improvements to lifestyle and better education, which could save much more significant amounts of money. 10% of the health budget is now spent on treating diabetes; a huge number of these patients are type 2, largely caused by poor diet and over consumption. We could reduce this number and we could reduce health care spending loads. In fact, there are loads of areas where health care could be more efficient. IVF is not the downfall of the NHS, it's not the 'drain' that so many of you imply that it is.
And no, I don't think their medication should be withdrawn I'm just saying that we don't not treat people because we don't agree with their lifestyles or their choices or their particular problem!
For all those tough shitters... I can think of so many examples of how this could touch your life in the future and how you may come to regret how harsh you are being!
IVF isn't readily funded; there are some big old hoops and long old waits and years of heartbreak before you can even be considered for IVF. This sort of treatment isn't on a par with antibiotics and isn't an emergency treatment (generally) so you don't rushed through - you wait the long game if you are eligible. I know, because I was in that system.
I struggled to conceive for a very long time (including 2 pretty horrific miscarriages) and had to wait a year after the second miscarriage before my GP was even able to start doing blood tests to see if there was anything wrong with me. This was almost 3 years of trying and not being able to seek any help. Luckily (said with a big hollow laugh) for me the stress of long term TTC and absolute devastation of 2 miscarriages ruined my cycles for a couple of months and started to reek havoc with my mental health too. I then had a suspected chemical pregnancy - that's a third miscarriage to those not in the know. So, fertility investigations started. Along the way, I had invasive scans, blood tests, appointments with consultants (who do not generally have a compassionate and consoling tone) etc etc... Last August I was very close to being put onto a programme of fertility treatment but luckily fell pregnant in September and this time the baby decided to stay inside me. So, I won't be costing the NHS £££s in fertility treatment. However, I lost 3.5 years of my life (the end of my 20s) to TTC and it has taken a huge emotional toll on me. I'm glad I got there naturally and I hope that in some small way you can see that the system stops people like me from accessing IVF after a small amount of time, because there can be natural successes. There are some people out there with problems which mean they will never conceive naturally and will never have the funds to do a round of IVF naturally. And they will have to live with this for the rest of their lives. Because of a genuine medical problem that could have been gotten around.
In the case of the OP, both have children, so no they wouldn't qualify for funding. If you read the NICE guidelines this is very clear. I very much doubt that any PCTs would fund their round for them. As for those who have a partner with children from their past but don't have children themselves, I do think they should have the same access to funding as a couple without children.
I feel very passionately about this topic and how off hand people can be. You have no idea how awful you are already making vulnerable women feel. TTC and infertility brings with it depression / anxiety / sense of failure / isolation from friends and family because they can't have children easily like you can in a way you cannot possibly begin to understand. If you don't believe me, there are plenty of boards over on the TTC section of MN where you can read just how much pain and anguish these "undeserveds" actually are.
I see a lot of people on MN who are completely anti-benefits bashing because, you know, these people are needy, these children need feeding, you wouldn't want to be in their shoes, how can you be so unfeeling yet, don't carers deserve a holiday or isn't that old man who has no other pleasures entitled to use state money to buy fags and a sky subscription YET they can come on here and make very short comments about how we don't have enough to go around for IVF?! It really isn't that much to give a couple one round of IVF against some of the other costs the state has foot.
It's interesting that almost none of the people with the tough shit attitude have commented upon how long it took them to conceive and how many DCs they have etc etc. I know it's hard to put yourself in someone else's shoes but I think a bit more compassion would go a long way. Imagine your life without your children, your biological clock ticking, no money to foot huge private medical bills (because once you go private IVF does not cost £3,000 - it's much more like £6,000 - the NHS benefits from economies of scale) and a primal need to have a child. Then imagine going through a year of not conceiving, a year of invasive tests, another year of hormone treatment, more tests, more consultants time and then getting to the end of that time and being told that after 3 years of trying, IVF is your only answer but sorry, we don't do IVF on the NHS because well, it's too expensive. Go home and save up or think about your childfree future.
Ladies, I urge you to think about it hard before coming on here and just saying "sorry, there isn't enough to go around. Other people's medical problems are more important than yours." Or "couldn't you adopt?".
Just think about it a bit more, please. Oh and arm yourself with the facts that as said above, IVF is not a default and is not a given and isn't available to everyone who snaps their fingers and says, shagging isn't working - I want a free baby on the NHS please.