Is the UK fertility sector facing a tipping point?

Writing in BioNews, Sally Cheshire, Chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), believes that in 2019 the UK fertility sector faces a stark choice: seize the leadership agenda and do the right thing for patients through a combination of the law we have and the collaborative initiatives we plan, or ignore the headlines, write them off as just a small unrepresentative minority, and risk the whole sector being tarred with the same brush.

In the article Ms Cheshire states that rarely a day goes by without the UK media mentioning assisted reproduction and the fertility sector. Whether it’s the latest research innovation, the growth in DNA testing and matching websites, the funding and commissioning of fertility services or reports of patients confused as to whether they should pay for expensive and unproven add-on treatments. Most of the headlines aren’t positive for the fertility sector or those who undergo treatment.

She points out that the past few weeks have seen the rapid withdrawal of the widely derided ‘fertility drip’, reports from ESHRE on the overuse of ICSI and the possibility of IVF (in vitro fertilisation) success rates having peaked at less than 30%.

In an era of increasingly polarised debate, Ms Cheshire argues that you might conclude that the fertility sector is facing its own tipping point, where two sides face off along ideological lines between those who claim to pursue innovation under the cover of patient choice and, at the opposite end of the spectrum, those who argue for tighter control of an already well-regulated market.

Stating that HFEA wanted to drive the leadership agenda, Ms Cheshire launched a consultation on their new strategy for 2020-23 to deliver the best care, provide patients with the right information at the right time and shape the future, where we will have to deal with potential changes in science and society, including on consent, gamete storage, surrogacy law and the consequences of the lifting of donor anonymity, which will increase from 2023.