IN vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedures will resume in Victoria after women voiced fears they could miss out on having children.
The State Government yesterday announced that following advice from Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton procedures could start again as early as after the revere decision was made.
Mr Sutton’s advice was that the specialist nature of staff and equipment used for IVF did not impact on the pandemic response.
Confirmation of cancelled treatments was sent to patients on Monday, leaving them in the dark until at least mid-April.
IVF was included in a slew of elective surgeries put off to divert resources to COVID-related healthcare.
The move comes after Premier Daniel Andrews apologised, saying he understood it was deeply distressing for those affected.
“It’s a very, very challenging journey for anyone to go through,” he said.
“It’s made even more difficult in the midst of a global pandemic.
“I’m sorry that these services have been impacted by the global pandemic, I’m sorry that any services across the board have been impacted.
“I want to assure everyone who’s impacted by this, that we’re working as hard as we can to get day procedures back up and running.”
Acting Minister for Health James Merlino said he was deeply sorry for the distress the pause had caused.
“IVF is a challenging journey for anyone to go through, let alone in the midst of a global pandemic, and we’re deeply sorry for the distress caused by affected services in recent week,” he said.
“We thank Victorians for their patience as we’ve worked through critical workforce issues, and we’ll keep working to have other services restored as soon as we can.”
The government said the Department of Health would work with the Royal Women’s Hospital to prioritise urgent patients.
“While the IVF restrictions were in place, services were still available to those who needed to complete a treatment cycle they had started prior to January 6, 2022, or those who required future IVF procedure due to health treatment that would render their eggs non-viable,” the government said.
Earlier, Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh slammed the decision, saying “emergency powers are now dictating whether or not Victorians can have a family”.
“If this is how (the government) are planning to produce those thousands of beds they promised – but never delivered – you have to wonder who will be turfed out of the health system next as this sham of a government runs around with not enough fingers to stick in the dykes,” he said.
“Multiple IVF providers have warned the protocols will definitely disrupt procedures for some couples.
“Successful IVF treatment is not a stop and start process.”
