Repromed founder and Fertility Doctor Dr Guy Gudex spoke with TV1 this week about the need for more IVF funding to help reduce public wait times.
Wait times are between 12 and 18 months and women must be under the age of 40 to be eligible. “To wait a year for your treatment when you’re 38 or 39 can be quite stressful,” Dr Gudex explains.
The last significant increase in funding was in 2006, which resulted in couples having a second treatment cycle.
Repromed clients Gauri and Apurv Puranik also share their personal experience and challenges with fertility treatment and waiting for publicly funding IVF.
“To be honest, I have had some terrible times. I have been through quite a bit of counselling during the process,” Gauri said. “It was never an easy journey at all. Because every cycle, every period is a grief.”
This year, the demand for publicly funding IVF has increased by 20%. With around $15 million spent on fertility treatment annually, Dr Gudex suggests that another four or five million a year would significantly reduce wait times.
Published December 2022.
