Kildare South TD Fiona O’Loughlin has welcomed the news that the government will provide funding assistance for families needing IVF from 2019.
With one in six Irish people experiencing infertility, IVF offers hope to couples desperate to conceive. This can be a very stressful time and leads to huge expense for people seeking help with fertility problems.
Deputy O’Loughlin, whose constituency now includes 10,000 Laois people in Portarlington and surrounding areas, said “I strongly believe that financial support should not be limited just to those on medical cards, many of the ‘coping classes’ who require IVF find themselves in a very difficult position financially and require financial support too.
“We all have friends and family members who have gone through gruelling IVF cycles and removing some of the financial strain associated with the process would be very beneficial.
“The recent TV series ‘The Babymakers’ featured two couples from Newbridge and I think it gave viewers a real insight into how emotionally fraught and expensive IVF is for people.”
The Deputy went on to say that “I feel that the criteria by which people are entitled to receive assistance must be fair to all sectors of society. We are one of the only countries in Europe to not have adequate legislation regarding assisted reproduction and this is not good enough in 2017.”
The proposed legislation will also deal with the issue of surrogacy which is currently unregulated in Ireland and will also establish a regulatory authority to oversee the whole area of Assisted Human Reproduction.
“It is my hope that the proposed legislation will be reviewed by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health in a timely manner to give support to the many couples who are experiencing the stress and emotional pain of infertility,” concluded Deputy O’Loughlin.
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