Couples trying to conceive through in-vitro fertilisation will still need to pay out up to €2,580 for the fertility treatment – a sizeable sum for those running low on funds, according to parents who have used IVF.
However, the fact that the actual IVF intervention will be offered for free, relieving couples of around €3,500, was a major step forward in easing the financial burden, the parents added.
Prior to the March election, the Labour Party had pledged to offer the procedure free of charge, but a 34-year-old mother, who has a one-year-old daughter through IVF, believes those facing financial difficulties may still not be able to afford to pay for the hormone therapy.
“But the fact that the actual intervention is free, along with the follow-ups, is definitely a step forward,” she added.
Another mother, Carolyn Cassano, said the way IVF was announced as being free was a bit misleading.
“Having said that, the fact the actual intervention is free along with the preparatory clinical appointments is really good. I used to pay around €50 every time I had an appointment with my gynaecologist. Having free counselling is also a great step,” she said.
A Health Ministry spokesman confirmed the services covered by the Government will include preparatory clinical consultations and, for the first time, support services provided by family counsellors and psychologists.
The covered costs will also include free consultations and all the investigative procedures that are required throughout the entire process.
The maximum amount couples will be saving will total €3,500 per cycle.
Women aged under 40 who have not conceived after two years of regular unprotected intercourse will be given the opportunity of having three free IVF interventions. Those aged between 40 and 42 will be given two cycles.
During each cycle, two eggs will be fertilised, unless specific permission is granted by the authority to implant three fertilised eggs.
Unfertilised eggs are to be frozen in case the procedure fails, with the aim of relieving the mother from repeating hormone therapy to stimulate the production of eggs. Treatment costs from €1,800 up to €2,580, depending on the health of the couple involved.
However, the success rate of the fertilisation of frozen eggs drops sharply when contrasted to that of fresh eggs.
As per November 2012’s Embryo Protection Act, the freezing of embryos (fertilised eggs) is not allowed. Prior to the law coming into effect, IVF was not regulated. However, the freezing of embryos or eggs had never been practised in Malta. Doctors used to opt to fertilise and implant around three eggs, at times four.
We are going against the rights of the patient by not offering him the best treatment available
Ms Cassano, one of the parents contacted by The Sunday Times of Malta, spoke of the tough physical and psychological challenges experienced by couples with fertility problems as they undergo each anxiety-ridden stage from hormone therapy to egg retrieval and IVF, followed by uterine embryo transfer and then throughout the nine months’ pregnancy. “I think the current law is very unfair. IVF is a very tough procedure – the current law, allowing the fertilisation of only two eggs and no embryo freezing, really restricts your chances of conceiving.”
According to Paul Sultana, an IVF practitioner and laboratory director at Saint James Hospital, the law enacted last year has only served to slash the success rate of live births through IVF from 55 per cent to less than 25 per cent.
“The Government has bound our hands. We are going against the rights of the patient by not offering him the best treatment available. Ultimately, it works against me, but I advise my patients to go abroad if finances are not an issue. They’ll have a much higher chance of conceiving.”
The ‘two embryos’ limit was imposed to prevent the incidence of multiple pregnancies. Around 25 per cent of IVF pregnancies result in twins while approximately one set of triplets is born each year.
“Despite the relatively low incidence of multiple pregnancies, they could still result in complications for both the mother and the infants. That is why the key to it all is embryo freezing. We are the only country not to allow this,” he said.
Embryo freezing entails the fertilisation of a set of eggs. While some are implanted, the rest would be frozen in case the implanted eggs fail to develop. But are embryos classified as a person?
“In my opinion, they are a potential human life. They are a group of four or five cells which can become human. However, a lot of cells don’t even make it and die naturally.
“We’re trying our best under the current laws. We’re even collaborating with Bologna doctor Eleonora Porcu, Europe’s expert in freezing unfertilised eggs.
“But the way the law is structured means we’re totally handicapped. How long can I witness couples’ pain?”