Single Embryo Transfer

In view of the perceived potential risks of multiple pregnancy resulting from IVF treatment when weighed against the benefits we are required to transfer a maximum of one fresh embryo to women under the age of 35 when there are four or more spare freezable quality embryos. In these circumstances the NHS will fund embryo freezing for up to one year and a further treatment in which up to two frozen embryos may be transferred if the fresh single embryo treatment is unsuccessful.

It is believed that cumulatively speaking the success rate over the two cycles would also probably be higher than returning two fresh embryos in a single cycle.  

Funding Criteria for Advanced Assisted Conception Treatments (including IVF)

Up to four IUI treatments and/or one IVF treatment cycle would normally be funded for couples satisfying the following criteria:

• preliminary investigations and treatments should have been conducted in line with NICE recommendations
• there should be considered to be a greater than 10% chance of success per treatment
• the welfare of a child born from treatment should have been considered in line with national guidance
• the couple should be committed to a long term relationship to bring up a child together (generally this means the couple should have been together for a minimum of two years)
• the woman should be aged over 23 and under 40 years of age and neither the man nor the woman should have a body mass index (BMI) outside the range 19-30 (the BMI is the bodyweight in Kg divided by the height in metres squared)
• priority with funding is given to couples where one or both have had no children or have not had a parental role
• both the man and the woman should be non-smokers or not have smoked (or used illicit drugs) for more than six months
• neither partner should have previously been sterilised
• Patients may make representations or appeals about the criteria to the chairman of their NHS Primary Care Trust

NHS Funding

Preliminary investigations and treatments are available for most NHS patients with fertility problems through their general practitioners and NHS Fertility Clinics in the SouthWest.

From 2005 NHS Health Commissioners authorised funding for advanced Assisted Conception Treatments such as Intrauterine Insemination (IUI), In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) and Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) as a consequence of new guidelines from the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE)