Single women, same-sex couples to get Medicare rebate for IVF

More people will be able to get Medicare rebates for IVF after the definition of infertility was expanded to include single women and same-sex couples.

Single women using donor sperm and same-sex couples will be able to access Medicare rebates for IVF after the federal health department broadened the definition of infertility.

After years of campaigning, fertility groups received a letter advising them of the change late on Friday last week.

Up until now infertility had been defined as people who couldn’t conceive after a year of regular, unprotected sex.

That meant that solo women and LGBTIQ+ couples might have to pay the full out-of-pocket cost for their first IVF cycle, missing out on rebates worth thousands of dollars.

The new definition however is “the inability to achieve a successful pregnancy based on a patient’s medical, sexual, and reproductive history, age, physical findings, diagnostic testing, or any combinations of these factors”.

Australian New Zealand Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility (ANZSREI) president Dr Alison Gee described it as a “significant step forward” for modern-day families seeking fertility support.

Paris Rodgers is part of the LGBTIQ+ community and is supportive of the change. She relied on IVF to have her baby. Picture: Instagram

The ANZSREI had updated its own definition of infertility in August last year and had been calling for the Albanese government to do the same.

“This means the federal government is adopting a more inclusive definition of infertility that will mean more equitable access to fertility care for same-sex and solo parents,” said Dr Gee, who is also a fertility specialist with IVF Australia.

“There’s been a big push for this over many years from the fertility community, the American society updated their definition, we had updated ours and had the support of the peak professional bodies RANZCOG and FSANZ.

“It made it clear to the government this was an important area of focus.”

But despite calls to, the health department did not update the definition to include surrogacy.

Dr Gee said she would like to see it included.

It means male same-sex partners miss out.

Sunshine Coast couple Max and Paris Rodgers had their baby Windsor via IVF using Rainbow Fertility in 2022.

Mr Rodgers is transgender so the couple used donor sperm.

He said that he was thrilled that the definition would be expanded to be more inclusive.

They were lucky they were able to access the rebate because he was considered an infertile male, Mr Rodgers said.

Max and Paris Rodgers used IVF to have their baby Windsor. Max is transgender. Picture: Instagram

“If we had tried to have a baby pre-transition I wouldn’t have gotten the rebate, that doesn’t seem fair,” he said.

Ms Rodgers added: “For so many in the LGBTIQ+ community, the journey to parenthood is already filled with unique challenges.

“Changing this definition isn’t just about equity – it’s about acknowledging that families come in all shapes and sizes.”

Originally published as Single women, same-sex couples to get Medicare rebate for IVF