We have compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions on NHS funding.
If your question is not answered here then please contact us
How do I find out if I am eligible for fertility treatment on the NHS?
In England, decisions about fertility funding are made locally. In July 2022, Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) were introduced, and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) were closed down. ICSs are partnerships of organisations that come together to plan and pay for health and care services, and cover larger areas, often bringing together a number of CCGs.
Some areas now have a fertility policy for all the CCGs in the ICS, but others still have different policies for each CCG so we have kept our data for individual CCGs to help you find out what is offered in your area. Remember, your local area is determined by your own GP Practice address rather than your own home address.
You can find your local ICB here and can call them directly with queries, or request a copy of their most up to date Assisted Conception or Fertility Policy by email.
Click the below link to download the latest data on the fertility funding available to you:
Fertility Treatment Funding Eligibility by CCG
The level of treatment offered in England is very much a ‘postcode lottery’ and is determined locally. Although there is national guidance set by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2013) local areas can set their own local priorities and decide the level of funding, number of cycles they will fund and what additional criteria a patient has to meet in order to qualify for treatment. There are a few areas which do not fund fertility treatment at all.
For details of NHS funding in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales visit the regional pages on our NHS funding section.
Will I receive funding if I or my partner has child(ren)?
In England, this comes down to your local area and what its fertility policy is. Unfortunately, the level of treatment offered is very much a ‘postcode lottery’ and is determined locally. Some areas may not fund treatment if, for example, there are existing children – even if they are not from the current relationship, don’t live with you and/or are grown up. Some may fund if one partner has no children. Find out the situation in your area here: Fertility Treatment Funding Eligibility by CCG
Although the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2013) clinical fertility guideline does not address the issue of existing children as it is purely a clinical guideline, the NICE Quality Standard 73 for Fertility Problems (2014) does. The quality standard states:
The existence of living children should not be a factor that precludes the provision of fertility treatment.
However, as with the NICE clinical guidelines, local commissioners are under no obligation to follow any of the quality standard’s recommendations and can continue to make their own decisions about what level of funding they will offer.
If your local area uses previous children as a barrier to treatment then you can appeal to your ICS for funding, quoting the Quality Standard 73 for Fertility Problems (2014). Our regional NHS funding pages have some template letters which you can use to help write your appeal.
Full details of the criteria in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, including criteria on existing children, are outlined on our regional funding pages.
Will I qualify for funding if my partner or I have been sterilised?
If either of you have previously been sterilised it is unlikely that you will receive NHS funding.
I’m in a same sex relationship; will I qualify for treatment?
In England, this comes down to your local area and what its fertility policy is. Unfortunately, the level of treatment offered is very much a ‘postcode lottery’.
The latest guideline from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2013) does make recommendations for same sex couples who have had 12 cycles of artificial insemination (where 6 or more are intrauterine insemination) and have been unsuccessful in relation to accessing NHS IVF. https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg156/chapter/Recommendations#intrauterine-insemination-2
To find out what your local area funds click here: Fertility Treatment Funding Eligibility by CCG
If your local area does not fund same sex couples then you can appeal to your ICS for funding. You can use the template letters on our NHS funding page to help. You can also find more information for same sex couples on the Stonewall website www.stonewall.org.uk
Full details of the criteria in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, including criteria for couples in same sex relationships, are outlined on our regional funding pages.
I am single. Am I eligible for NHS funding?
In general, NHS funding is only available for couples and not single women. Wales does offer treatment to single women, and full details are available on our NHS Funding Wales page. In England, individual local areas set their own policy. You can contact your ICS directly to find out this information.
I was successful on my first IVF cycle, and my area offers 2/3 cycles; am I eligible for more treatment?
NHS funding is not normally available to couples who already have a child. There are exceptions where the child is not the biological child of both partners, and in England this depends on the the local fertility policy. If your local area uses previous children as a barrier to treatment then, as you already have a child, you would not be eligible for treatment.
While the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2013) clinical fertility guideline does not address existing children (as it is purely a clinical guideline), the NICE Quality Standard 73 for Fertility Problems (2014) does. This quality standard states:
The existence of living children should not be a factor that precludes the provision of fertility treatment.
However, as with the NICE clinical guidelines, the local commissioners are under no obligation to follow any of the quality standard’s recommendations and can continue to make their own decisions about what level of funding they will offer.
If your local area does use previous children as a barrier to treatment, and you do not have a child as a couple, then you can appeal to your ICS for funding, quoting the quality standard 73 for fertility problems (2014). You can use the template letters on our NHS funding page to help.
What can I do if I have been refused NHS funding? ?
If you have been refused funding in your local area, your only option is to appeal. Unfortunately, appealing holds no guarantees – but if you feel able to it is always worth a try; if nothing else it helps demonstrate a need in your area for treatment to be offered to patients in your circumstances. You can use the template letters on our NHS funding page to help.
My local area only funds one cycle – is there anything I can do?
The level of treatment offered is very much a ‘postcode lottery’ and is determined locally. Although there is national guidance set by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2013), local areas can set their own local priorities and decide the level of funding, number of cycles they will fund and what additional criteria a patient has to meet in order to qualify for treatment. There are a few areas which do not fund fertility treatment at all.
If your area only funds one cycle, you can appeal for further funding on the grounds that your ICS is not implementing the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2013) guidelines of three cycles of IVF/ICSI for eligible couples. You can use the template letters on our NHS funding page to help.
Why am I not eligible for funding?
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2013) guidelines recommend that three full cycles of IVF or ICSI should be made available to people where the female is aged up to 39 (inclusive), with a clinical diagnosis requiring IVF or unexplained infertility for two years’ duration. The guidelines also recommend that couples where the female is aged between 40 and 42, has never had IVF and does not have a low ovarian reserve, should have access to one cycle of IVF.
The NICE guidelines are not mandatory and in England individual clinical commissioning groups are able to set their own level of funding and their own eligibility criteria for accessing this. If you meet the NICE guidelines’ recommendations for treatment but not those set locally, then you can appeal to your ICS for funding. Some local areas do not fund any fertility treatment. You can use the template letters on our NHS funding page to help write your appeal.
If you are not eligible because you are under 23 and your local criteria states the minimum age as 23, then you can try to appeal to your ICS on the grounds that the NICE guidelines (2013) have removed the lower age limit. If you are over 42 then you are not eligible for NHS funding and any treatment would have to be done as a private patient.
Can I freeze my eggs on the NHS?
Egg freezing is not normally available on the NHS unless you are having medical treatment which could affect your fertility (for example, treatment for cancer). You need to contact your Integrated Care Systems (ICS) directly and ask if it funds egg freezing.
How do I find an egg/sperm donor? Is this available on the NHS?
In England, NHS funding for egg donation or donor insemination treatment is dependent on your local area and what its fertility policy is.
You will need to contact your ICS directly to find out this information.
If your local area does not fund egg donation treatment or donor insemination then you can appeal to your ICS for funding. You can use the template letters on our NHS Funding page to help.
Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have central criteria for access to NHS treatment, including donor treatment. Full details are on each of our regional NHS funding pages.
Sperm/egg freezing as a cancer patient – now I’m being asked to pay….
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2013) include recommendations relating to sperm/egg freezing for people before starting chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. You should check out recommendations 194 – 206 in the guideline.
However, in England it is up to each local area as to whether it implements these recommendations and provides sperm/egg freezing on the NHS. Again, you can appeal to your ICS using the template letters on our NHS funding pages, and we would recommend enlisting the support of your clinician.