While “public fertility centers” are to open in September in Ireland, PMA is still not covered by social security in this country. Couples wishing to have a child via medically assisted procreation must sometimes spend tens of thousands of euros.
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Will the public “fertility centres” announced for a few years in Ireland be launched in September? In the only European country where medically assisted procreation (PMA) is not covered by social security, the deployment of these centers is constantly delayed. In vitro fertilization (IVF) was to become free in 2021, while many couples have to turn to private clinics. In this country, starting a family is sometimes a luxury.
>> PMA for all: one year after the law, nine women tell of their joys and their disappointments
In their pretty red brick house, Aidan and Isabel have a completely ordinary life. Good jobs and two healthy kids. The particularity is that the conception of their second boy cost them 20,000 euros. Isabel recalls: “We’ve been together since we were teenagers. When we were young and naive, we thought we would have three children without any problem! But it didn’t go as planned…”
“Each infusion cost 300 euros”
After three miscarriages, the couple then decided to turn to PMA to conceive Henry’s little brother. Aidan says: “We didn’t set ourselves a limit, we would have tried to find money somewhere because we wanted a second child so badly. There are difficult thoughts. You make decisions about a member of your family. Is it financially viable to welcome a child?”
There were three years of deprivation, without holidays, before being able to welcome little Theo. “Looking at the prices, we saw that IVF started at 8,000 eurosdetails Isabel. We said to ourselves that we could get by, by depriving ourselves of holidays. I had a nurse who came regularly to give me egg yolk infusions to boost my immune system… Each infusion cost 300 euros.”
Isabel criticizes a system that takes advantage of the situation of certain couples: “We were really doing everything we could. I know of clinics that voluntarily transferred poor quality embryos. In the end, it’s a lucrative business for the clinics.”
No third child
The couple finally decided not to have the third child they dreamed of at the start. Aidan explains: “We still have viable frozen eggs, but we decided that we are not going to make any more. The financial aspect and the challenges of PMA convinced us to stop at two”. For Isabel: “We laugh today saying that this child will not go to school because he has spent all his university fees!
It was so much money and there are so many people who can’t afford it, it’s heartbreaking.”
The lack of care particularly penalizes LGBT couples and single women who rely on science to found their families.