The government has published a call for tenders for the provision of services for In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF).

The call was made in the Government Gazette and the Official Journal of the European Union.

The Embryo Protection Authority said this was the first step towards making IVF  part of the national health care package.

It said applicant couples will soon start to be screened for eligibility. before going on to the clinical phases of IVF. Eligible couples will have up to three free IVF interventions.

To be clinically eligible for this service, a couple has to be referred to the Fertility Assisted Clinic at Mater Dei Hospital (MDH) by its family doctor or specialist.

Assisted reproductive services, mainly consisting of IVF, will follow several phases. They will include the clinical assessment of the couple, hormonal stimulation and induction of ovulation, Oocyte retrieval, production of sperm sample, sperm preparation and surgical extraction of sperm where necessary. That will be followed IVF procedure itself, including embryo culture, assisted hatching and the transfer back of fertilised eggs.

There will then be the Obstetric follow-up till birth.

All the phases through this PPP tender will be done at Mater Dei.