Victoria Has Reversed Its Decision To Pause IVF Treatment Following Public Outcry
"I am so, so, so thankful they heard us and they came to their senses."
The Victorian Government has backflipped on its decision to pause IVF treatments amid the state’s Omicron outbreak after receiving backlash from the community, who pointed out that IVF should not be considered “elective.”
The state government announced the pause on IVF treatment as part of the non-urgent elective surgery reduction on January 6, which was introduced to take pressure off the medical system.
Victorian people due to begin IVF cycles after January 6 were told they would have to wait until mid-April to resume treatment. But, as 45-year-old Melanie Swieconek said in a now-viral Instagram video, some people simply do not have three months to wait.
“This is something we’re doing as our only opportunity to have a child,” she said in the video, which has now been viewed more than 1.7 million times. “To just put a blanket ban on IVF for three months…you can’t have any idea what this will do to some women.”
Thankfully, the government has since reversed the pause, with Deputy Premier James Merlino announcing that some services will return immediately, while others will kick back off next Tuesday.
Merlino noted that the reason for the reversal is because IVF doctors, due to the specialist nature of their work, are “not imperative to support the pandemic response at this time”.
“Following advice from the Chief Health Officer, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedures suspended as part of the temporary changes to protect our hospitals will recommence to support Victorians who are wanting to start or grow their families,” Merlino said in a statement.
The decision comes after 139,676 people signed a petition for IVF treatment to be removed from the “elective” category.
Following the ban’s reversal, Swieconek took to social media in tears to express her joy. “I am so, so, so thankful they heard us and they came to their senses,” she said.”We can all get back on track and start our cycles.”
The IVF and its “elective” categorisation discourse has also prompted an important and much-needed conversation regarding fertility in same-sex couples and the stark differences in cost of treatment.
A lot of ppl shocked to learn that assisted reproductive tech like IVF is on Medicare for straight couples but not for same-sex couples who have to pay thousands more.
Would love to see the same energy against 3 month delay extended to removing barrier faced by LGBT people ❤️ https://t.co/zQsdBDvTzI
— Sally Rugg (@sallyrugg) January 19, 2022
The Victorian Government is seeking further advice on which other aspects of health and medicine may be able to resume “without a critical impact on current hospital workforce capacity”.