By Jamie Salter
Monash IVF is praising the Victorian Government’s decision to reverse a suspension on IVF treatment for three months.
More than 100,000 people signed a petition calling for IVF treatment to be reinstated in Victoria, after it was set to be suspended for 90 days due to rising Covid-19 cases in the state.
Monash IVF doctor Virochana Kaul said her patients from Berwick and surrounds experienced significant emotional distress following the decision to pause IVF treatments.
“It was quite heart wrenching to see the patients suffer,” doctor Kaul said.
“IVF is an intense journey and most patients experience emotional stress when trying to get pregnant.”
For most women trying to conceive, waiting is simply not an option and could mean losing the chance to have a child.
“Suspending treatment puts a strain on those patients, especially the ones in their 40’s or above,” doctor Kaul said.
Doctor Kaul said patients were “breaking down” on the phone, wondering when services would return to normal.
On Thursday 20 January, Victorian Acting Health Minister James Merlino released a statement which stated some services would resume.
Mr Merlino received advice from the chief health officer that restrictions on IVF procedures could be removed, given the “specialist nature of the workforce and the facilities and equipment used are not imperative to support the pandemic response at this time”.
Doctor Kaul said she was relieved the government worked out a plan to resume services.
“Being a doctor, I know the public system is really under pressure with the pandemic so whenever they make that decision I don’t think its done to impede treatment for IVF,” she said.
“This is a pandemic and the response has to be appropriate to make health a priority.”
Since the announcement to reverse the suspension, doctor Kaul has been contacting patients to inform them of when their treatments will resume, what they can do in the meantime and how to care for their mental health, such as taking advantage of Monash IVF’s counsellors.
“We should be feeling confident that we should be able to continue with these processes that need to go ahead,” she said.
Melbourne IVF medical director Dr Fleur Cattrall said IVF had continued safely in Victoria during six lockdowns.
“Victorian infertility patients have endured 260 days of lockdown and during this time, IVF treatment was allowed to continue,” Dr Cattrall said.
“Many of these patients have already endured years of infertility struggles. Studies show the psychological impacts of living with infertility are comparable to the stress levels of patients diagnosed with cancer.”
