“First comes love;
then comes marriage;
then comes Lena with her baby carriage…”
Sounds simple enough, right? Love, marriage and babies – preferably in that order. And I’m not going to lie; I was that girl. My husband and I had procreational sex exactly twice – and if you do the math, I have two little boys.
But it doesn’t always happen that way. And it doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate the emotional toll and financial stress on couples desperately trying for a baby. In fact, I’m willing to bet that everybody knows someone who has struggled with fertility – and has witnessed the highs and lows of trying to conceive firsthand.
I want to discuss in-vitro fertilization (IVF). It may be a taboo subject depending on your religious, cultural or political views, and for that reason I invite you to check out of this conversation if you’d rather not read on. To tell the truth, when first approached to blog about this topic, I questioned whether my readers would find it “too touchy”. But for those who feel that sometimes nature needs a little push – and have healthy, beautiful and vivacious children in their life because of successful IVF, please do hear me out.
I’m sure you all will agree that infertility is an emotionally painful experience. But did you know that it impacts 1 in 6 Ontarians? That’s more than 15% of our society – made up of friends, colleagues, family members and peers – suffering with the inability to conceive. Infertility is certainly not a choice; it is a devastating medical condition.
Did you know that IVF was once fully funded in Ontario?
Of course, making babies was not on my radar back then (phew!) so it’s no surprise that I was out of touch with that particular piece of legislation. But in the mid 90’s the government severely restricted infertility funding; hence couples were left to incur the hefty costs of IVF should they choose to seek assistance in realizing their dreams of starting a family.
We can change that.
Quebec recently introduced funding for up to three cycles of IVF to help create families. In turn, this helped reduce the number of multiple pregnancies in that province from 27.2% to 5.2% in just 6 months. And Quebec is now on track to save hundreds of millions of dollars as the number of twins and triplets in neonatal intensive care units is expected to drop significantly.
Furthermore, it’s estimated that Ontario could realize similar savings by providing OHIP coverage for IVF – between $400-$550 million in savings over 10 years, actually. And if you’re following my train of thought, you’d see that these savings could offset the cost of providing IVF and other “Assisted Reproductive Technologies” to patients who require treatment to start their families. Making babies and saving money in the long run? Yes please.
Introducing Conceivable Dreams.
“Conceivable Dreams, the OHIP for IVF Coalition, is the provincial voice for thousands of infertility sufferers and their supporters across Ontario. Their goal is to have OHIP coverage of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) reinstated by the Ontario government.”
Connect with Conceivable Dreams on Facebook.
So what can you do? Make your local candidates earn your vote; ask them where they stand on public funding of IVF. You can bet I’ll be posing this question to every candidate who calls, knocks on my door or asks me to participate in polls.
You know how much I love feedback – would you like to share your personal fertility story?
This is awesome! I know several people who have had difficulties. One friend in particular went through IVF to have her 2 girls and although she feels blessed to have her children, the process added $200,000 of debt. I am fully in support of bringing OHIP back to IVF!!
I just read this post and it could not have hit home more. My husband and I suffered our fourth miscarriage last month and will likely need to consider assisted reproduction if we want to continue along the path to having a family. I fully support OHIP for IVF. Thank you for the post and support.
Lena you are an angel for bringing such an important cause to the attention of your readers. I am with you all the way.
A couple very near and dear to me is suffering unexplained infertility.I fully support OHIP's involvement and will do what I can to bring more attention to this subject.Thanks for the post Lena :)
I don't live in Canada, but I can certainly see where this would be important legislation. I would love to see something like that happen here. I have several friends/family members who have had terrible trouble getting pregnant. One was finally able to get pregnant after trying for 2 years, one has decided to adopt, and one has just stopped trying altogether (I feel the worst for her, because she married a man with 5 kids and they don't appreciate her at all, and she just wanted one of her very own; they tried IVF twice paying out of pocket and it didn't work). It's heartbreaking hearing about women who want babies desperately and for whatever reason can't get pregnant. I just keep hoping for all those moms without children to finally have their dreams realized.
Both my husband's aunt and good friend conceived through IVF. This is definitely something that should be supported!
@silverbullet71 – Wow, $200K! That is incredible. So happy to hear that she had two successful pregnancies – and has two beautiful girls :)@Tanya B. – I am so sorry to hear about your recent loss. {HUGS} I will send copious amounts of baby dust your way.@Carlee – :)@LizaDee – thank you for lending your support! When you factor in the substantial cost savings for the province coupled with the fact that you're allowing people greater access to the ability to start a family, it seems like a such a win-win.@dannyscotland – thank you so much for weighing in. I think you nailed it: "I just keep hoping for all those moms without children to finally have their dreams realized."@Erlinda – thank you for your support!
I too have been blessed with my son. But I also know of couples that are struggling and have strugggled with conceiving. With the Election in ONtario coming up, you have a chance to vote in a government that may support this initiative. The PC party has a $14 billion gap in their platform. And you know what that means, cuts. Cuts to health care. Do the right thing for your family by protecting health care and education in Ontario and vote Liberal in October. Sharon Navarro
@Runnermama – thank you, as always, for weighing in with your informed (and in this matter, expert) opinion. You are blessed, indeed!
I had not heard this. wow. We were waiting for my new cycle to start so we could begin IUI (a less expensive route to start the process) when low and behold we were finally preggers! the costs are insane, I would love families to get some gov assistance on this. every deserving couple should have the right to a family.
As a young woman who has struggled to conceive I applaud you for using your voice and influence to shed light on this matter. I am 26 years old and have been TTC for 2 years now (married for 3). I have been told everything from take more vitamins to lose a little weight. Nothing has worked and IVF is not a reality because we can't afford it.All I can do is wait now and hope we elect someone who believes in funded IVF as much as we do.Brightest Blessings.
I am so amazed at how you always manage to write so elequently and with such great poise. You are in inspirational writer and thank you for supporting this important initiative.
@MVTB – Thank you so much for your feedback! And, I know you can appreciate the apprehension at started a method of assisted conception – every woman truly should have access to this!@Daria – I will cross my fingers and toes for you and send much baby dust your way. I am so sorry for your heartache.@Dee Dee – *blushing*. Thank you.
Hi Lena,You are bang on in this post and I love the way you presented it. If the Ontario Liberals knew how to keep their election promises they would have funded this back in 2007. We know how this story plays out to date. It makes sense (cents?) to fund this for monitary and humanitarian reasons. Keep up the great work!