‘Nothing less than offensive’: Fury after NHS region denies IVF to single women

An NHS region has barred single women from receiving IVF treatment - a policy that has been condemned as discriminatory by a Labour MP.

NHS South East London’s guidelines state that women who seek fertility treatment should be in a “stable relationship”.

“Because of the known disadvantage that providing assisted conception to a single woman would cause both the child and the mother, funding of assisted conception for single women is not available,” the policy reads.

Harriet Harman, the Labour MP for Camberwell and Peckham, has written to Matt Hancock, the health secretary and urged him to “step in and immediately change the policy”.

She said: “There is no evidence that children brought up by unmarried mothers do worse than those brought up by those who are married."

She added that it was "perverse to seek to justify denying IVF to those who are single at the time they seek treatment. Infertility causes such suffering and to adopt a policy such as this is cruel. This is rationing on a discriminatory basis.”

The NHS region’s guidance is reportedly based on a document which says “a woman or man compared to a couple is not equal, and by attempting to think of them as such has no ground or support.

“A sole woman is unable to bring out the best outcomes for the child.”

The document also suggests that children born to single mothers place “a greater burden on society in general”.

Ms Harman has said the policy will deepen the divide between people who can afford IVF and those who are unable to privately fund the treatment.

The Labour grandee urged Mr Hancock to make clear that “this sort of prejudice has no place in society as a whole let alone in our NHS.”

She said: “The adoption of this policy sends a terrible message to all lone mothers and to all the children of lone mothers...that there is something wrong with them. It is nothing less than offensive both to single mothers and to the children of single mothers to assert that they exert less control on their children and that their children are a burden on society.”

A spokesperson for the NHS South East London Commissioning Alliance said it was prioritising a “rapid review of the policy in relation to single women.”

They said: “As part of the provision of prevention, treatment and care, south east London commissioners are committed to ensuring that access to NHS fertility services is provided fairly and consistently within the limited resources we have available. South east London [clinical commissioning groups] follow the criteria for IVF treatment set out in the South East London Treatment Access Policy (TAP) and at present, routine funding of assisted conception for single women is not available.

“All women have access to routine gynaecology services for investigation and management of fertility problems. The treatment access policy only applies to assisted conception. We review and update the treatment access policy on a regular basis and we will prioritise a rapid review of the policy in relation to single women.

The spokesperson added: “All patients can request special consideration for a procedure or treatment which falls outside normal contracts and the treatment access policy through the south east London individual funding request process (IFR). This means that if a single woman is facing exceptional circumstances, she can apply for IVF funding through her GP or the consultant looking after her. All GPs and consultants are aware of the IFR.”