Criminal record & IVF...

[Whatatwatiam]

Beyond embarrassed so have name changed

I am currently being referred for IVF and I understand I'll need to complete a form which requires me to tick yes or no to a variety of questions, one of which I thiiiink asks if you have a criminal record/convictions, something like that.

Here's the thing, I'm not sure if I have. I was a daft twat aged 17 and received a police caution for knicking a facewash. I'm 31 now. Mortified now of course and aside from that blip I'm squeaky clean. I know nothing of the system and not sure how this kind of stuff works...how should I answer this question?????

My DH doesn't know and I'd rather it stayed that way!!! Aghhh this is so cringeworthy but at a hugely stressful time I could do without this worry.

AIBU to think i won't qualify for my NHS funded cycle and I'm better off not applying?? Does anyone have any experience of this dreaded form? Do they write to you to say if you've been accepted for ivf or not?

Tia

Hello

A police caution is not a conviction. You should not have a criminal record. Tick no on the form.

I remember this form (or something similar to it) when we went through IVF 10 years ago. I remember it really annoying me that I had to declare this kind of information. It's not a prerequisite to getting pregnant without assistance!

In any case, it sounds as if you're ok OP. I agree with CruCru, I wouldn't consider a caution to be relevant.

I did something stupid like that when I was 18 - arrested and fined. I've always ticked no crimes on any forms.. and it's always been fine. A caution is just a warning.. not a conviction.

Please don’t worry about this. It’s such a stressful time for you so just take this off the list. As you were only 17 your caution was probably wiped off the record anyway but in the unlikely event it comes to light here is surely no way such a minor incident will have any impact on your treatment. Tick no as pp have advised.

I thought cautions did show up like convictions on criminal records checks?

A caution is a conviction, but it is immediately considered 'spent' under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, so it shouldn't show up unless they require an enhanced DBS check (if you're doing certain types of work with children or vulnerable adults)

I assume this question is to deny NHS funded IVF to people who have been convicted of abusing or neglecting children. It would make no sense to fund IVF, and then have to immediately take any child born, into care.

You do have to declare a caution in an enhanced DBS check, although nobody would care about your situation. In this instance the right answer is to tick no.

Good luck with your IVF.

CruCru is right. You have no convictions. You are lucky that the form does not ask about cautions, but that's how it is.

Much luck to you. My poor niece had one cycle which did not work; then broke up with her partner (and a good thing too) and by the time she met the one she's now married to she was deemed too old. All so damned arbitrary.

@ nicking a face wash and being squeaky clean!

As PP's have said, you'll be fine OP.

Good luck

A caution isn't a conviction so I think you probably don't absolutely need to tell them, but when in doubt, there is no harm in telling them the truth and explaining it. They'll understand it's a silly minor thing and it shouldn't be an issue for you (frankly, I'm surprised this is even a question). I have a criminal conviction (technically) on my record from when I lived in the U.S. (I'm a U.S. citizen who has lived permanently in the UK for many years). I literally ran a stop sign on a bike path on my bike (yes, like a push bike) in a national park. It was a day the police had set up to do a sting and they were sitting behind some bushes spotting any cyclists who didn't stop at the stop sign (who ever heard of a stop sign on a bike path?!?). I got a ticket for it, but because push bikes aren't applicable under traffic laws, I didn't have the option to just pay it. I had to appear in court with a court-appointed solicitor to be formally charged and then fined. It was the most ridiculous thing ever. The entire courtroom that day was all cyclists who had been caught by this same police officer. The judge even laughed because it was so ridiculous but he had to charge us with something and because there are no specific traffic laws related to that sort of violation for cyclists the charge I was given was basically the equivalent of an asbo (but still an actual criminal conviction, not sure if an asbo here is actually a conviction or just a caution). So I've walked around for like nearly 20 years having a criminal record because of this stupid incident on my bicycle. I've had to put it down on every form I've had to fill out in the UK that asks for criminal history, including about 4 rounds of visa applications (and you know the gov't is always looking for good reasons to cut immigration, so they love that stuff). It's never been an issue. I think when it doubt always be honest and include a detailed explanation of how ridiculous the situation is. I think that always looks better than trying to hide it in case it does come up as it makes you look honest and forthright about it all.

Worra

Worra that tickled me

Thanks everyone, this is hugely reassuring. Ultimately my DH would take the piss for the rest of my life if he found out (as would I if this were reversed!!!)

I think I’d be looking at the intention behind why they’d legitimately need to know.

As brasty said, any conviction for child abuse or neglect would be a huge red flag. serious deliberate wounding of anyone too, I’d imagine - unless it was decades in the past (in which case it’s probably spent anyway) and you’v reformed. Even offences not directly affecting a victim could be significant if there are knock-on effects, eg a would-be parent who spends their life in and out of prison - why would the state want to facilitate that kind of life for a child?

On that basis, OP’s Crime of the Century should’t even register.

(I know MH isn’t the same, but I took this approach when filling in the bits related to MH on my IVF form. Again, their main concern being potential impact of long-term poor parental MH on the child. I’d started suffering with severe clinical depression a few months before, and was still not much enjoying life by this point. But I had no previous history, was getting meds and counselling that seemed to be working, and a few chinks of light were starting to appear. Oh, and if anything my illness had made me more meticulous, not less. I concluded that I’d probably be fine (esp with DP being SAH) by the time any baby arrived. I didn’t lie or omit anything on the form, but did fill it as if MH a temporary issue being sorted rather than a hammer of doom. My consultant - who knew of my MH situation - didn’t even look at the form.

Don’t give it another seconds thought

Even if you had been convicted, so many years have passed that your conviction would have been “spent” ie you don’t need to declare

The form you're talking about is called 'welfare of the child' form.

You have to fill it in whether it's NHS funded or not.

It annoyed me to death - so you're wanting me to fill in a form to tell you that I'm not a risk of hurting my potential child that iv got a 5% chance of conceiving, which I'm paying thousands of pounds to do yet 'Vicky Pollard ' down the road can knock 12 kids out and has never had to fill one in?? Well okay then!

It doesn't sound to me as though you have a criminal conviction and to be honest if you had one for shop lifting at such a young age I doubt very much whether this would have a knock on effect for your IVF. It's something that they require you to do, by law, to potentially see any problems in the future of the child.

I don't think you have anything to worry about and good luck with your cycle

It's spent and will have been expunged from your records.

"A caution is not a criminal conviction, but it could be used as evidence of bad character if you go to court for another crime.

Cautions can show on standard and enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks"

From www.gov.uk/caution-warning-penalty

So no not a conviction that you need to declare

OP - if it makes you feel better, I’d say that your teenage experience might even be useful as a parent. While I’m obviously not suggesting shoplifting as a rite of passage, you did something illegal , got the consequences and learned from it. If your future offspring looks like they might be going off the rails, you are likely to spot it, and will be able to talk to them from 1st-hand experience about why law-breaking is a bad idea (although I guess this would depend on your DH knowing by this point...)

(My own DD is only 2, so parents of actual teenagers ,feel free to say I’m being unrealistic!

juddyrocking No one can stop anyone having kids. But can you imagine the public outcry if a clinic gave IVF so that someone who had been convicted of abusing a child, could have a child?

This will be simply checking that any child born is not at risk of harm or neglect. And there have been cases of children adopted from abroad who have then been abused.

Good luck for the IVF