Infertility & medical ethics

I blogged previously about the US single woman with 6 children, who had IVF and had 8 more children. Ethically, there is something wrong with this.

In a Globe article: Report calls on Ontario to foot fertility bill

JENNIFER MACMILLAN, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009 08:03AM EDT

A new report from a panel appointed by the McGuinty government is calling on the province to approve Ontario Health Insurance Plan coverage of pricey fertility treatments for those struggling to have a baby.

Conversations are interesting, but I fall on the side of caution. Why would our tax dollars go to pay for an unnecessary ($10,000) medical intervention, to correct an infertility problem. Genetics would tell us that those unable to become fertile would procreate and produce children who, as adults, would similarly be unable to procreate.

Then there are the cutbacks to local hospitals. This is not a medical situation, it is a medical intervention. I really wonder if we can afford this?
The article says,

The rate of multiple births from assisted reproduction in Ontario was nearly 30 per cent in 2006, the most recent year for which statistics are available. In jurisdictions that control the number of embryos that can be implanted, the rate is about 10 per cent.

For example, I sit on the Board of Directors for our local Children's Aid and we have very many children who need to be adopted.

Another commentator said,
If the system were flush with money, I'd be more than happy to have IVF covered. But the fact is that our health care system is already desperately short of funds. There is no logic in adding the cost of such an expensive (elective) procedure to the bill when there already isnt enough money to go around. ... Nature did not design humans (esp females) to reproduce later in life. look at the numbers from a well documented study:

• By age 30, 7% of couples were infertile
• By age 35, 11% of couples were infertile
• By age 40, 33% of couples were infertile
• At age 45, 87% of couples were infertile

I really do wonder if this is good use of tax dollars? I think not. With more seniors requiring support for chronic diseases, and increasgin demands for LTC and home care, our system is going to be strained.

Funding fertility: the fight to have treatments covered
After a year of trying to conceive, the couple paid $6,300 for one IVF treatment at an Ottawa fertility clinic. A further $6,500 in drugs was covered by private insurance.