18/11/2009

Health Minister Edwina Hart yesterday announced that women in Wales will have access to two cycles of IVF treatment free on the NHS from April next year.

Since 2005, women in Wales have had access to one cycle of IVF treatment.

Mrs Hart said: "I recognise that this is an extremely emotive issue and I have been keen to increase the number of IVF treatment cycles available to women on the NHS within available resources.

"In Wales, our aim has been to have a fair, consistent policy for accessing this treatment.

"We ended the postcode lottery to accessing this service in 2005 when we began offering one free cycle of IVF treatment to women who meet clinical criteria set out by NICE and the All Wales Assisted Fertility Working Group.

"I have had lots of representations on this issue and I am pleased that I am in a position to go some way towards increasing the opportunities for women to try to have children within the available resources."