Call for IVF ban for obese women

Fertility experts have recommended that obese women should be denied IVF treatment unless they lose weight.

The British Fertility Society suggested that women who were classed as obese - defined as having a body mass index of over 29 - would have to lose weight before starting treatment.

The BFS's Richard Kennedy told the BBC that obese women were less likely to get pregnant and were more likely to encounter health problems.

The BFS also said that women over 40 should not receive NHS funded treatment. However, the society said that single women and same sex couples should receive the same treatment as heterosexual couples and those people who had children from previous relationships should also not be excluded from treatment.

The BFS also said that waiting times should be the same as for any other medical condition.

NHS guidelines state that women aged between 23 and 29 should be entitled to three cycles of IVF treatment. However, following a survey of fertility clinics in England and Wales, the BFS said that only one cycle was being offered in the vast majority of cases, with only 9% of respondents reporting the provision of two cycles of treatment.

The study also found that there was a wide disparity on the social criteria used for acceptance to receive NHS-funded treatment, especially regarding the people who had children from previous relationships, those with high BMIs and those who smoked.

For example, the study found that half of clinics said that their primary care trust would not fund treatment if either partner had had a child previously.

Mr Kennedy said: "There is considerable disparity across England and Wales in the commissioning arrangements relating to a range of social criteria applied for acceptance into NHS fertility programmes. If we are to see an end to inequity of access across the United Kingdom there must be an explicit plan for the provision of three fresh cycles of UVF and consistency in the criteria used for NHS treatment."

(KMcA/EF)