LONDON – Gay and lesbian couples will be eligible for free fertility treatment on the NHS (National Health Service), the publicly funded healthcare system in the United Kingdom, under controversial new proposals.
According to a Sky News report, same-sex couples would be allowed artificial insemination, even if they don’t have a diagnosed fertility problem, according to draft guidelines from an NHS watchdog, The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). It will be the first time that same-sex couples have been allowed NHS fertility treatment.
The recommendations are included in updated guidelines to NHS fertility provision that NICE is currently consulting on. People with infectious diseases such as HIV and those with a physical disability that prevents them from having sex would also be eligible for treatment. The guidelines also increase the upper age for in vitro fertilization from 39 to 42.
But religious groups have condemned the inclusion of homosexual couples in the guidelines.
Josephine Quintavalle, director of Comment on Reproductive Ethics, told Sky News, “The NHS does not have enough money to go round. It’s one thing to treat people with genuine fertility problems. But just because someone’s sexual persuasion does not allow them to have children does not mean we have to kowtow to political correctness.”
Ruth Hunt of campaign group Stonewall, the largest gay equality organization in Europe said, “Despite vital legal protections secured by Stonewall for same-sex couples who wish to become parents, many tell us they find it hard to access treatment either because of varying policies across primary care trusts or outright discrimination. Stonewall will continue to work closely with NICE and the NHS to make sure that lesbian and bisexual women are fairly treated.”
The NHS is primarily funded through general taxation rather than requiring insurance payments and provides a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom.
