Infertile? You’re on your own

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/01/2010 (5806 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It bugged her when people asked why she didn’t have kids yet.

It bothered her even more when she explained why, and they suggested she "take a vacation."

Kim Smith spent seven years trying to get pregnant after she and her husband discovered they both had medical conditions that cause infertility — she had endometriosis and he had a low sperm count.

The kicker came when Smith realized that government will take care of her father if he develops lung cancer from years of smoking, but won’t help pay for in-vitro fertilization for someone who is struggling to get pregnant.

"It’s very frustrating. My husband and I both have a medical diagnosis that causes infertility," Smith said. "Here we are in a country where they say health care is for everybody. It makes me mad."

Smith is part of a small group of Manitobans speaking out on infertility in an attempt to sway the Manitoba government to pay for one round of in-vitro fertilization. One attempt at in-vitro can cost up to $10,000, and comes with a limited guarantee of success. Women under 35 have between a 45 to 50 per cent chance of getting pregnant with in-vitro, but that rate drops to around 20 per cent for women over age 40.

Medical experts estimate infertility affects nearly one in six couples trying to have children.

Last November, the Selinger government said it will announce a new tax credit to help assist with the high cost of fertility treatment in 2010.

Smith and others say it’s a good first step, but want to see Manitoba go even further.

Quebec now funds three attempts at in-vitro fertilization per woman, and Ontario pays for three courses of in-vitro for women with blocked fallopian tubes.

"It’s a start," said Bev Friesen, president of the Manitoba chapter of the Infertility Awareness Association of Canada. "You want to start a family and find out you have blocked tubes or no sperm and when (you) need the government’s help the government isn’t there for (you)."

Friesen hopes an upcoming conference will put a spotlight on the issue. The one-day Pathways to Parenthood event at Fort Gibraltar on Jan. 24 will offer support and coping mechanisms for couples dealing with infertility, along with discussions on alternatives such as adoption.

Smith, 35, tried her first round of in-vitro in 2005 with no success. She said she was lucky since her husband’s drug plan covered them for a second attempt — one that ended with her giving birth to twins.

"It has its ups and downs," Smith said. "It’s very trying, it’s very tense."

People without full-coverage drug benefits are often left to foot the bill themselves.

Paula Chorney’s partial coverage left her with a $7,000 bill after she and her husband travelled to Calgary for their first round of in-vitro in 2005. While she got pregnant after one try, Chorney said she knows other couples who were forced to take out a second mortgage after it took them three or four rounds of in-vitro to have a child.

"They often have to take on another mortgage on the house, a line of credit," she said. "They’re already taxed to the limit emotionally, (now they’re) wondering where they are going to get the money from."

jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca