Over-regulation of fertility treatment in the UK has created a boom in
"fertility tourism" in other countries, as UK couples are driven abroad
to seek fertility treatment that is not available at home. Now
the HFEA, which regulates IVF in the United Kingdom, is wagging a stern
finger at couples considering an "IVF holiday": you'd better
"think twice and consider the risks and implications of going abroad for treatment."
If you live in the UK and you're considering IVF for gender selection,
leaving the country is your only option, because sex selection is
banned in the UK. But couples are fleeing England to undergo IVF
in other countries -- even though IVF would be free of cost at home
under the government health care system -- for many other reasons as
well. In the UK, you may face a long waiting list for IVF; and
often delaying IVF is tantamount to denying it altogether, because one
of the most important factors in IVF success is the mother's
age. Recent regulations denying anonymity to sperm donors
has seen the availability of donor sperm dry up over the past year.
Rules on who is eligible for IVF deny many couples. Strict,
blanket limits on IVF procedures may reduce the chance that IVF will be
successful. And the famous "IVF postcode lottery" in the UK means
that treatment is wildly unequal from one county to the next.
Currently, a saga caused by the arbitrary rules imposed for the
destruction of frozen embryos is being played out in the British
press. The HFEA appears to be insisting on destroying
frozen embryos -- against the wishes of the parents -- because the 5
years permitted to store frozen embryos has elapsed before the couple
could find a surrogate mother. The mother, Michelle
Hickman, underwent an emergency hysterectomy after the birth of
their first child, and cannot carry a baby. The couple hopes to
be allowed to move their embryos to another country, where they will be
safe from the "embryo death row" in the UK. Michelle joins other
families, like the Mastersons and the Whitakers, forced into two
battles: one battle to overcome a medical issue, and another to
convince their own government to permit needed treatment.
Yet, the HFEA urges couples to stay in the UK where "care and treatment
is of the highest standard," and not to travel to another country where
they might be able to make their own decisions regarding treatment, and
retain control of their own embryos and gametes. The HFEA has
taken away choices from its own citizens at home, until little other
option remains to them but to risk seeking treatment abroad.
About Maureen
Click to play the Fountains of Wayne song about Maureen!
"Maureen, you're givin' me too much information!"
My Kiddies
My DH
(And never had a fight!)
About Me
In 1999, my two sons were 4 and 2 years old, and we were ready to have another baby. I hoped to have a daughter, and I turned to the Internet to search for ways of increasing the odds of conceiving a girl. I discovered the iVillage Gender Determination Board. On the board, I found information about at-home and high-tech sex selection methods, but more importantly, I discovered I wasn't alone. I was one among a legion of mothers who longed desperately for a daughter, keeping it a secret so others wouldn't think, wrongly, that we loved our sons less, and feeling guilty becuse we're not supposed to care if a baby's a boy or a girl, "as long as it's healthy". There were, of course, also mothers hoping just as much to add a son to their all-girl family.
After a lot of research and soul-searching, my husband I decided to try MicroSort. In the fall of 2000, I became pregnant on our first MicroSort attempt, by IUI. At 20 weeks of pregnancy, we discovered we were having twins, a boy and a girl! We were thrilled to have a daughter at last, and a new son to cherish too.
During my journey to conceive a daughter, I was so grateful for the support and information volunteered by others on the boards; mothers who didn't even know me, but were willing to help me, hope for me, and cry along with me, when there was no one I could turn to "in real life". I know that without being able to talk personally with women who had tried MicroSort, I would have never gone through with this daunting, complex procedure; and that we would have never had a daughter as part of our family.
Now that my journey's finished, this Web site is just my way of giving some of that help back, to you.