Province expanding access to fertility services

The province is expanding access to fertility services to help an additional 4,000 Ontarians grow their families each year.

Starting in December 2015, Ontario will begin to expand access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) services for Ontarians with all forms of infertility, regardless of sex, gender, sexual orientation or family status.

Currently, Ontario only provides funding toward the cost of IVF for women with blocked fallopian tubes.

It is estimated that one in six Ontario couples is affected by infertility at some point in their lives.

To help Ontarians grow their families, the province will fund one IVF cycle per eligible patient per lifetime. One cycle includes one egg retrieval, which may yield multiple eggs and result in multiple embryos. The funding would include the one-at-a-time transfer of all viable embryos to allow for the possibility of multiple chances for pregnancy and to reduce the occurrence of higher-risk multiple births.

The province is also working with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario to ensure that patients receive the highest quality fertility services, whether services are received in a hospital or in a non-hospital fertility clinic. Quality assurance in hospital-based fertility clinics will continue to be managed through the Public Hospitals Act.

In order to ensure patient safety, access and program effectiveness, the province has struck an Implementation Advisory Working Group to advise on best practices for the implementation of Ontario's expanded fertility services program.

Quick facts:

-Women up to age 42, after speaking to their health care provider to determine if IVF is the most appropriate family-building option for them, will be eligible for IVF funding. For clarity, age 42 means 42 years of age plus 364 days.

-The age determination is a recommendation from the Advisory Process for Infertility Services.

-Specific medical circumstances should also be discussed with health-care providers as this will impact the determination of the most appropriate family building options.

-The Advisory Process for Infertility Services established in October 2014 included physicians, lab directors and patients with lived experience of infertility. The expansion of access to IVF treatments in Ontario is based on their findings.

-IVF is a complex medical procedure where an egg is retrieved and then fertilized by sperm outside the body, and the resulting embryo is then transferred to the uterus for implantation.

-Patients receiving IVF and supporting services must be eligible for OHIP coverage and have a valid health card.

-Ontario is adding an investment of $50 million a year to expand access to IVF treatments, in addition to the $20 million per year currently spent on assisted reproduction services.

-Ontario is also helping to grow families by strengthening the adoption system to help more children and youth find forever homes and to help more families care for their adopted children and youth.