The NHS is prioritising IVF for single women, trans men and lesbians

Nov 28, 2024 by

by Lucy Marsh, Family Education Trust:

This week the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) published new figures showing that the number of single women undergoing IVF has tripled in a decade. Between 2012-2022, the number of single women undergoing IVF or donor insemination treatment increased from 1,400 to 4,800.
The overall number of IVF cycles continues to rise year on year, with 77,000 embryos transferred in 2022 along with an 81% increase in the number of women opting to freeze their eggs since 2019. This trend reflects the number of young women attempting to ‘put on hold’ their fertile years, which is big business in the £658 million UK fertility industry but in reality egg freezing is fraught with health risks and the chance of a live baby being born from a frozen egg is extremely low.
While some question IVF on ethical grounds due to the destruction of embryos, the expansion of eligibility raises broader societal concerns, including fairness and the welfare of children born into intentionally fatherless or fragmented families.
The number of women in same-sex couples using IVF or a sperm donor to have a baby has almost tripled over the same period, with lesbian couples having the highest birth rate among all family types. (Lesbian couples also have the highest divorce rate, being twice as likely to divorce than other couples.)
The HFEA said that the lower birth rates among opposite-sex couples is because they are more likely to be suffering from infertility, whereas single women and lesbians are having IVF ‘for other reasons.’
Julia Chain, Chair of the HFEA recommended that the NHS should consider funding more fertility treatment for single women and lesbian couples, saying those who commission fertility services should ‘review their eligibility criteria and consider whether these have an adverse impact on access to treatment and we hope that this report will generate further discussion.’
Certainly, at least one NHS Trust has already pre-empted the HFEA’s recommendations by running an eight-week public consultation called ‘The Case For Change’. Proposals would prioritise NHS-funded IVF for non-infertile individuals (single women, lesbian couples, and trans men), sidelining heterosexual couples experiencing medical infertility, who would have to prove that they can’t have a baby naturally for two years before being considered eligible.
The proposed changes put forward by NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB on behalf of the East Midlands region cover Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire, and if the HFEA recommendations are taken onboard by the Government, are likely to be rolled out to the rest of the England.
I was asked to provide a quote for this story when it was covered recently by the Daily Mail. I sent over the following quote:
The NHS already has a huge budget shortfall, so it’s bewildering that the East Midlands ICBs are prioritising IVF for same sex couples, single women and women identifying as men over heterosexual couples.
Apart from the fact that this is grossly discriminatory towards the natural family, all evidence shows that children do best when raised by their biological parents within a loving and stable marriage. Children in single-parent households are twice as likely to experience poverty and behavioural issues as those in two-parent families — outcomes that are well-documented in social science. 
Women identifying as men are usually taking testosterone, which is harmful for the unborn baby. Raising children in environments that obscure or deny biological realities creates unnecessary emotional and identity challenges. No-one should be facilitating pregnancy in these circumstances.
Bearing in mind that mental health issues in children are increasing, it’s unfathomable that the NHS is funding an IVF programme where any children born as a result are likely to experience future emotional trauma.
However, I had a reply from the journalist who asked me to edit the quote as she said it was unlikely to get into the newspaper as it was ‘too controversial’. While I did end up being quoted in the story, it was only one sentence: ‘At the very least these proposals seem grossly discriminatory for the natural family.’
What have we come to that statements of fact that are backed up with clear evidence are considered too controversial to be printed? The glaringly obvious issue is that the NHS does not value the natural family, and I would argue further that the State does not believe fathers have any value within the family.
Decades of intervention aimed at ending the stigma surrounding single mothers has now swung so far the other way that the State is now encouraging single women to have babies using a sperm donor, with no intention of the child ever knowing their biological father.
We already know that children who are adopted are at a much higher risk of suffering from emotional and behavioural issues, even those who have been relinquished at birth. So, it is a shocking abandonment of responsibility for the NHS to fund the birth of children who will never know their father and are likely to grow up with attachment issues.
Our recent report, Boys and the Burden of Labels, found that children with active fathers are up to 28% less likely to suffer behavioural problems in their pre-teen years compared to children without an active father.[1] 76% of young men in prison in England and Wales had an absent father.[2] In a joint survey of teachers by CiC Lads Need Dads and University of West London, 93% of respondents believe there is a link between boys with absent fathers or limited access to a positive male role model and disruptive behaviour at secondary school.[3]
The cognitive dissonance within the current Government is incredible when you consider that the Labour Government wants to install a mental health professional in every school in the country to combat the rising level of children experiencing emotional issues. The Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has also just announced that she wants to provide every child in primary school with a free breakfast at school – presumably to tackle child poverty, without admitting that single mothers are at the highest risk of poverty.
In a resource-strapped NHS, funding policies must prioritise genuine medical needs and uphold the best interests of children, ensuring they have the stability and identity benefits provided by both biological parents.
 Do let me know your thoughts!

With very best wishes,
Lucy

[1] Charles Opondo, Maggie Redshaw et al, ‘Father involvement in early child-rearing and behavioural outcomes in their pre-adolescent children: evidence from the ALSPAC UK birth cohort’, BMJ Open, 2016, page 6.
[2] Prison Reform Trust, ‘Prison: the facts’.
[3] Lads Need Dads and University of West London, Teachers’ experiences of the impact of fatherlessness on male pupils, November 2022, page 9.
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