Fertility: LGBT+ People
Question
Daisy Cooper
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Women's Health Strategy for England, published 30 August 2022, what recent steps his Department has taken to require integrated care boards to provide equal access to NHS fertility treatment for LGBTQ+ people.
Answer
Funding decisions for health services in England, including in vitro fertilisation (IVF), are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their local population. We published the first Women’s Health Strategy on 20 July 2022, which contained a number of important changes and future ambitions to improve the variations in access to National Health Service funded fertility services. This includes improving access to IVF for female same-sex couples by removing the additional financial burden they face when accessing treatment. We expect this to take effect during 2023.