B.C. to pay for 1 round of in-vitro fertilization starting 2025
$68 million earmarked in budget for program to begin in 2025
As part of its 2024/2025 budget, the B.C. government says it will begin paying for one cycle of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) beginning April 1, 2025.
"People who want to start a family should be able to, regardless of their relationship status, who they love or how much money they make," said Finance Minister Katrine Conroy during her budget speech in the B.C. Legislature.
In-vitro fertilization is a medical procedure where an egg is fertilized by sperm, but outside of the body. It is often used by people facing infertility due to circumstances such as age or reproductive problems.
"I know this will be welcome news for many," said Conroy.
"Whether it's a person looking to have a child on their own, people who are experiencing infertility or a same-sex couple who has tried other methods."
Catching up with other provinces
The province has earmarked $34 million a year for the program. The proposed program brings B.C. in line with at least seven provinces in Canada, which offer either coverage or a reimbursement scheme for people undergoing IVF.
Starting this year, the province will form an expert clinical group to help create the program and plan how it will roll out. They will consider age limits.
Ontario has an age limit of 43 for its in-vitro program, while Quebec's age limit is 41, said provincial officials in Victoria.
B.C. plans to cover the costs of one cycle of IVF treatment, meaning one attempt at getting pregnant through the procedure.
Officials said the average cost of one cycle of IVF is between $15,000 and $20,000, and would-be parents — regardless of their relationship status — would be eligible.
'Trying to create families'
The government said the process would begin with people interested in the program seeking care and fertility testing through their health-care provider, where they would determine if IVF is an appropriate course of action to conceive.
Kristan Ash with the Midwives Association of B.C. welcomed the program.
"There are so many people that are trying to create families and this is such a great opportunity," she said, while noting any provincially backed IVF program would have to address how to deliver it to people living in smaller communities.
Laura Spencer, a Vancouver-based fertility coach and advocate, said she and many others have been advocating for the province to cover IVF for years and she has been "doing cartwheels" since Thursday's announcement.
"To go from nothing to one cycle, I'm absolutely very grateful," she told CBC's On The Coast on Thursday.
However, Spencer says many people are delaying having children due to skyrocketing costs of living and older patients often require two to four IVF cycles to get pregnant.
"Having more than one cycle would be ideal," she said, because one cycle "definitely wouldn't be enough for a lot of people."
The province has not provided a detailed estimate of how many people would benefit from the program, but a calculation of the amount of money earmarked for it against the average cost of one IVF treatment cycle means more than 4,000 people could stand to benefit.
Spencer says she hopes the province will set an age limit as high as possible and look at covering multiple rounds of IVF, as well as the medications required for the procedure and genetic testing. She also stressed that IVF can be difficult to access outside of Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna, and said she hopes the province will expand services elsewhere and pay for people outside those cities to travel for IVF.
B.C.'s proposed IVF program follows spending in last year's budget that covers the cost of prescription birth control in the province.
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With files from CBC's On The Coast