Senin, 04 Juni 2012

Nursery nurse, 24, sues NHS for right to fertility treatment after being told she¿s too young for IVF

Nursery nurse, 24, sues NHS for right to fertility treatment after being told she¿s too young for IVF

  • Andrea Heywood must wait until she's 30 to qualify for a free round of treatment
  • Her lawyer says Portsmouth City PCT's decision is 'unreasonable, unlawful and unfair'
  • Postcode lottery means trusts can pick their own IVF criteria and don't have to follow national guidelines

By Emily Allen

PUBLISHED: 03:03 EST, 4 June 2012 | UPDATED: 04:04 EST, 4 June 2012


A 24-year-old nursery nurse who cannot conceive naturally is suing her local NHS trust which says she is too young to have IVF.

Andrea Heywood, from Portsmouth, was left unable to have children after suffering from appendicitis as a child.

She and her estate agent husband Aaron, 25, have been turned down for fertility treatment three times by NHS Portsmouth and have been told they must wait six years before they are eligible for a free round worth £5,000.

Andrea and Aaron Heywood, from Portsmouth, pictured on their wedding day. She was left unable to have children after suffering from appendicitis as a child

Andrea and Aaron Heywood, from Portsmouth, pictured on their wedding day. She was left unable to have children after suffering from appendicitis as a child

She is now claiming age discrimination after being denied the treatment because of her age.

Lawyers for the couple told Portsmouth City PCT in a letter that the decision was 'unreasonable, unlawful, unjustified and unfair'.

Mrs Heywood, who has been trying to conceive with her husband for the last three years, told the Independent: 'It is bad enough not to be able to have children naturally, but this is like someone is saying 'no you can't have children â€" you have got to wait.

'I feel guilty for my husband because I am the one with the problem. It is very hard for me because I feel like I have let him down.'

According to guidelines issued by the Government watchdog the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) women should be offered three cycles of IVF from the age of 23 to 39 if they cannot conceive naturally, and they must have been infertile for at least three years.

However, these guidelines do not have to be followed and NHS trusts can impose their own restrictions and criteria if they want too creating a postcode lottery for couples.

St James' Hospital, Portsmouth. n Portsmouth, a woman must be aged 30-34 to qualify for an NHS funded cycle of treatment

St James' Hospital, Portsmouth. n Portsmouth, a woman must be aged 30-34 to qualify for an NHS funded cycle of treatment

In Portsmouth, a woman must be aged 30-34 to qualify for an NHS funded cycle of treatment.

Mrs Heywood, who suffered scarring on her fallopian tubes when her appendix burst when she was six, said waiting until 2018 for treatment would make it less likely it would prove successful.

She said the whole situation was stressful and was putting a strain on their marriage and work. 

If they went private it would cost the couple approximately £5,000 per cycle of treatment - money which the couple can't afford.

Her lawyer Louisa Ghevaert, of solicitors Porter Dodson, said the decision by the PCT discriminated against the couple on grounds of age.

She told the newspaper there was no reason why younger women should not benefit from the treatment.

NICE are currently reviewing its guidelines and it is considering getting rid of the lower age limit, saying infertility should be treated sooner rather than later as the chances of success reduce with age.

The recommendations are in draft form and will go through a period of consultation until July. The final guidance still won't be mandatory and individual NHS trusts can decide not to implement it.

NHS Portsmouth declined to comment.

More than 46,000 women had IVF in 2010 and about 40 per cent were NHS patients. Nearly 8,000 were aged between 40 and 42 and would have been treated in the private sector, where clinics set age limits higher than the NHS.

NICE decided to review its guidance to make sure it fully complied with the Equality Act, passed in 2010.

Infertility is thought to affect one in six heterosexual couples in the UK.

Women receiving fertility treatment are 35-years-old on average and have been trying to conceive for more than 4 years.

Last year, an investigation found single women were routinely being given IVF on the NHS while elsewhere married couples were being turned down.



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Very selfish. People may miss out on vital lifesaving treatment because of this. I hope they lose.

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This fat twerp hs the koney to sue a nationla institution, is grossly overweight, and expects me to pay for her inability to bear children. Nauseating obese indulgent creep.

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If this couple so desperately want IVF then they should just "pay for it themselves" (instead of paying the lawyers)........ Simple! Why does this silly women think the tax payers should foot the bill for her impatience??

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If they can't manage to save £5,000 for IVF, which they say they clearly want, then how are they ever going to be able to afford to bring up a child.....I get so fed up with individuals who expect everyone else to pay for everything for them.

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I am a little surprised the age is 30-34. I had IVF PGD at 35 and it didn't work and been ill ever since. There are medical reasons why couples can not conceive and one of them is anti-pholosphoid syndrome. It isn't without its risks of autoimmune disease and bleeding that is what they don't spell out in the literature and also a higher risk of children being born with disabilities. But staying away from the drink, losing weight and also not smoking helps chances of success. It doesn't suit everybody. Not surprised that somebody is bringing an action in relation to the Equality Act 2010.

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/Facepalm

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If they can afford to SUE, they can afford to PAY. Sorry, but she is NOT ILL. There are far more serious cases.

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While I have sympathy for this couple,the NHS was not set up to help people to have babies.Corrective surgery for breast enlargements,gastric band fitting for people who do not have the self control to stop pushing food down their own throats and cases like this are a criminal waste of a valuable resource that the rest of us pay for.

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Would it help if she lost weight? -Jonathan, Hove, East Sussex, 04/6/2012 13:35 Maybe loosing some weight might help the chances of getting pregnant before costing us all a small fortune !!! MARKUS, LONDON 13:20 _________________________________________________________________ No Jonathan Markus it wouldn't help if she lost weight - did you even bother to read the article? She is unable to have children naturally because she has damage to her fallopian tubes caused by appendicitis when she was 6, not due to the fact she may/may not be overweight. How rude and ignorant you both are.

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IVF should not be available on the NHS when people are dying in this country through lack of resources regardless of age.

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