On a rare sunny day last November, Cayley Benjamin was standing in the hallway of her Vancouver apartment when she received the call she had longed to receive for two years.
Benjamin had spent more than $30,000 on fertility treatments including in vitro fertilization (IVF), a treatment where eggs are fertilized by sperm in a lab and the resulting embryo is surgically transferred into the uterus. “Congratulations,” said the clinician. “You’re pregnant.”
“I’ll remember the joy and the relief that I felt to get such great news after the difficult, personal journey to have a child,” said Benjamin tearfully, who is due in July.
A lot of other women and couples will be waiting for a similar call after British Columbia announced last week that it would fund in vitro fertilization. The new program to fund one round of IVF will put the treatment within reach for many people, says Laura Spencer, a fertility coach who has advocated for public funding for IVF in B.C. It will “change lives,” she said.
Benjamin, who coaches women in their journey to motherhood, “burst into tears” when she heard the announcement. “There was such a celebration… because of the doors that it will open for people in the future who I know suffer.”
B.C. Finance Minister Katrine Conroy announced the public IVF program in the province’s 2024 budget. The province will spend $68 million over two years on the program. No other details have been announced. An expert advisory group will be tasked with organizing the program, set to launch April 2025.
For most infertile women, the number one barrier to trying IVF is its cost, which ranges from $10,000 to $20,000 for one round. Patients who live in communities that don’t have fertility clinics can incur significant additional costs for travel to clinics and overnight stays, Canadian Affairs recently reported.
With B.C.’s public IVF funding, families will not have to put their lives on hold to save up for IVF treatment, says Carolynn Dubé, executive director of Fertility Matters Canada, which advocates for more accessible fertility treatment.
Many patients do not go forward with fertility treatment because of the high cost, said Penny Blesch, 53, who founded the Fertility Coalition of British Columbia, a fertility advocacy group.’s experience working at a fertility clinic for eight years. “At least a third of people don’t even try to do IVF treatment… because they know it’s out of their means.”
Spencer says some IVF patients incur significant debt to pay for treatment. It becomes “really challenging when [couples] do have babies, to bring them up when they have that huge financial burden,” said Spencer.
Increase waiting periods
Advocates warn the new program needs to be prepared to serve a deluge of new clients. Otherwise, the months-long waitlists at the province’s three fertility clinics could grow even longer.
Waitlists are not a B.C. phenomenon. Long wait times to access IVF is a challenge across the country, Canadian Affairs has reported.
“I am afraid that this will actually increase waiting periods, and people will be waiting even longer — potentially years,” said Blesch.
Blesch said she hopes the government will do a gradual roll-out so the fertility clinics are not inundated with new clients. She also wonders whether funding should be means-tested, so only middle- to low-income families in B.C. would qualify for the publicly funded IVF program.
Bleach and other advocates would also like to see staffing at clinics increased to expand capacity. And more help for people living in rural areas who must travel to cities for treatment, such as perhaps satellite clinics or funding to cover travel expenses, which Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador offer.
They would also like to see public funding for more than one round of IVF, since many patients do multiple rounds to reach a pregnancy.
But advocates say they are pleased with the step the province is taking.
For Blesch, who took six years to get pregnant, says the province’s IVF program recognizes the struggle people like her go through to have a child.
“I don’t want anyone to suffer the way that I suffered,” said Blesch, who went through multiple surgeries and fertility treatments before having her daughter. “I want my daughter — if my daughter ever needs help — I want her to have access.”
