IVF clinics 'exploiting women' who feel pandemic robbed them of the chance of children

Would-be mothers charged 'eye-watering prices' after repeated lockdowns rob them of chance of a family

Latest figures show the number of women freezing their eggs has risen almost ten-fold since 2010
Latest figures show the number of women freezing their eggs has risen almost ten-fold since 2010 Credit: Science Photo Library

Women who feel the pandemic has robbed them of their chance to have children are being exploited by IVF clinics charging “eye-watering” prices, the head of Britain’s fertility watchdog has warned.

Sally Cheshire, former chairman of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) urged ministers to give the regulator stronger powers to protect those seeking to start a family from false claims. 

Mrs Cheshire, who has just stood down as chairman, after 15 years at the HFEA, said that repeated lockdowns meant many of those seeking to find a partner, and start a family, felt they had “lost a year of their lives”.

In an interview with The Telegraph, she said too many clinics were trading on the desperation of those struggling with fertility, promoting unproven techniques and exaggerating statistics about effectiveness. 

Mrs Cheshire urged the Government to overhaul legislation that is now 30 years old - predating the commercial market in fertility - by giving the watchdog the power to set prices, and to fine clinics who make false claims. 

“This would mean there wasn't exploitation for self-funded patients going to private clinics and that prices don't all reach the eye-watering levels that we have seen,” she said.

Some centres are charging as much as £20,000 per cycle, warned the HFEA chief, who said she would set a limit of around £5,000. 

And she said too many clinics were still making claims - in particular about costly and unproven “add-on treatments” - which could not be justified. 

“They need to think really carefully about what they're offering, particularly when the success rates are still lower than we would expect. It's a false promise,” she said. 

Latest HFEA figures show the number of women freezing their eggs has risen almost ten-fold since 2010. 

The official statistics, which show almost 2,000 freezing cycles in 2018, predate the pandemic, but clinics have said inquiries tripled at some centres last year compared with 2019.

Mrs Cheshire said: “I think the pandemic has made an awful lot of us think about life ..  we know that more women are thinking about that [egg freezing].  

“Lots of people feel like they’ve lost their chance; lost a year of their lives, women who are who are older who are coming up to the cut-off age for fertility treatment, the couples or women who had planned to have treatment this year and haven't been able to, and those who feel that their chances has come and gone, because they are now over the age for NHS funding.”

“I think this has had a devastating impact, with people who see their dreams of having a family disappear,” she said. 

While clinics were only forced to close completely for the first month of lockdown, some NHS services were closed for longer as staff were diverted to deal with Covid, she said. 

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that women who are struggling to conceive naturally should be funded for three cycles of IVF, if they are below the age of 40, with one for those aged 40 to 42. But just 12 per cent of areas provide this. 

The legislation behind the creation of the HFEA 30 years ago assumed that the sector was state-funded, but NHS rationing means the vast majority of fertility treatment is privately funded now, she said. 

“We need to have some curbs on that commercial competitive environment, given two-thirds of fertility patients fund their own treatment,” she said. 

But Mrs Cheshire said she would like her successor to be given more powers than she has had, in setting the rates charged by the private sector, and putting protection of patients at the heart of its role. 

“We don’t have powers such as economic sanctions, we don’t have powers over patient funding, and we would want to see regulatory powers which allow us to support care which is ethical and effective, as well as safe; about quality of care, which isn’t mentioned at all in the original act,” she said. 

In the short-term, the regulator will use existing powers to “we try and stamp out as much exploitation as we can,” she said. 

In May, new guidance from the Competition and Markets Authority and the Advertising Standards Authority will set out rules instructing clinics not to make false unsubstantiated claims, or “unrealistically low headline prices” which gloss over the true costs. 

Mrs Cheshire said she is particularly concerned about the need to address the use of social media to target those vulnerable to exaggerated claims. 

“Social media has had a huge impact in targeting certain groups of women - so women of a certain age get targeted with ads about egg freezing for example,” she said. 

“Looking at challenges for the future, there is something about protecting vulnerable patients, in a competitive and commercial environment,” she said. 

The HFEA has cautioned against the use of “add-on” treatments which promise to boost standard fertility treatment, such as endometrial glue and scratches the most common. 

Their research found that two in three patients undergoing fertility treatment will pay for some such treatment, despite a lack of evidence to support them. 

Mrs Cheshire said: “I think all clinicians have a duty to be honest with their patients about the safety or potential harms and the effectiveness of those treatments. 

“We do know that when patients are vulnerable, particularly when you're older, or when you feel like your might be your last chance your time is running out, it can be very easy for you to accept whatever is discussed with you, or offered to you.”

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