Publicly funded fertility treatment comes to Ottawa, but doesn't meet demand

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The waiting list has been growing at the Ottawa Fertility Centre since the Ontario government announced earlier this year it would begin paying for in vitro fertilization for women under 43 by the end of the year.

As of this week, the fertility centre will start calling patients on that list to begin treatment under the new provincial program. It is like an early Christmas present, said one fertility specialist.

Although hundreds of women will get fertility treatment, the money available will not meet the demand, said medical director Dr. Delani Kortaba. She estimated that a little over half of people who want it will receive the publicly funded treatment, meaning a large number will not. She did not disclose the number of people on the waiting list.

“The number we were given is not anywhere near the number of cycles we have done traditionally in the past,” she said. “I appreciate that the Ministry of Health has looked at what they can afford. They understand not everyone will be able to be treated in any funding year. There will definitely be people that will not get treated.”

Ontario’s Liberal government has long promised it would resume funding IVF treatments for women who qualify, something the province stopped doing in 1994, except for women with blocked fallopian tubes.

In October, Health Minister Eric Hoskins announced a funding program, with some limitations. Women under 43 will have access to one round of publicly funded IVF as part of the program that was made available to all residents of Ontario, regardless of sexual orientation or family status. The province will provide a total of $70 million annually for reproductive services.

On Monday, Hoskins announced the treatment would be available at 50 fertility centres across the province, including the Ottawa Fertility Centre. Each one would receive a portion of the overall funding and would determine how to select the women they treat.

While a Windsor fertility specialist said he will run a lottery to determine who will get the publicly funded treatment there, the Ottawa Fertility Centre will use a first-come, first-served system.

“There have been many discussions and meetings to decide how to do this,” said Kortaba. “We felt the first-come, first-serve was the fairest way. You can’t tell somebody their story is more important than someone else’s or their age is more important. Everybody deserves a chance.”

There has been fierce pressure in recent years for the Ontario government to resume public funding of in vitro treatment, which can cost ten thousand dollars and up, making it out of reach for many people.

In Ottawa in 2011, radio station Hot 89.9 held a controversial “Win a Baby “ contest, offering $35,000 IVF treatments to the couple with the most compelling story. In the end, it gave the treatment to all five finalists.

Quebec, meanwhile, has pulled back from its generous public funding program for IVF treatment after it became unaffordable.

Given that, Kortaba said Ontario has taken a measured approach.

“I think Ontario looked at Quebec, did their due diligence and said what can we learn from this and what can we do to not get ourselves into a situation where we can’t afford the program.”

Kortaba said there has been a great deal of anticipation about the funding announcement.

“One of my colleagues had a very good line in November. She said ‘I feel like I am giving a Christmas present to the people who couldn’t afford in the past’. This is good news for the province and it is good news for our fertility patients.”

epayne@ottawacitizen.com

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