Cancer patients will receive free IVF before undergoing treatment

A cancer diagnosis won’t mean giving up the dream of starting a family after doctors agreed to waive the costs of freezing eggs and transferring them back to the woman’s uterus after chemotherapy.

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• Free IVF rounds proposed under $42m election promise

EXCLUSIVE: Women fighting cancer will have their eggs, embryos and ovarian tissue frozen for free before they undergo chemotherapy.

Leading obstetricians from Westmead, Randwick’s Royal Hospital for Women and Royal Prince Alfred agreed on Monday to give cancer sufferers their best possible chance possible of having children.

The Sunday Telegraph revealed last week major hospitals wanted to provide some free IVF for all women and the cancer deal is the first step.

Women who are fighting cancer will be able to have eggs, embryos frozen before undergoing treatment. Picture: iStock

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The fertility preservation for cancer patients will take effect from January and will not be subject to means testing or an income test.

The patients there will be subject to medical criteria that will likely exclude women over 40 and obese women with BMIs higher than 36.

Doctors haven’t yet decided if, or for how long, the free treatment will cover storing frozen eggs in liquid nitrogen.

“There was unanimous agreement that there should be fertility preservation for people undergoing treatment for cancer and want to ensure they have the potential for babies down the track,” NSW Health deputy secretary Nigel Lyons said.

The free IVF move comes into effect from January 2020. Picture: iStock

The free treatments will be funded by the state government’s $42 million election promise to make IVF more affordable, which also includes rebates of up to $500 for fertility screening. Doctors had been hoping the election pledge would stretch far enough to offer all women under 40 two free rounds of IVF treatment, but on Monday decided not enough women would benefit.

Doctors now have two months to calculate just how heavily they can discount IVF while reaching their target of helping 6000 women in NSW.

“All meeting attendees agreed it is important the new funding is used efficiently.” said NSW Health.

Originally published as Cancer patients will receive free IVF before undergoing treatment