Johannesburg – As the world observes Infertility Awareness Month this June, treatment still remains expensive and inaccessible to many couples who want to have children.
Infertility affects one in six couples.
According to Dr Sulaiman Heylen, the president of the Southern African Society of Reproductive Medicine and Gynaecological Endoscopy, fertility procedures can collectively cost R70 000 on average.
Infertility is when you cannot get or stay pregnant after trying for at least a year and you are under the age of 35, or if you are over the age of 35 and are unable to get or stay pregnant for six months.
He said that while many countries cover this, most medical aids in South Africa discriminate against couples, especially women who have a genuine medical problem that prevents them from conceiving naturally.
“If you have a knee problem, they don’t hesitate to cover for knee surgery, but when you have a common problem like endometriosis, fibroids, polycystic ovaries, blocked fallopian tubes or whatever it may be, they don’t.
“Infertility is a medical problem that leads to disability like any other medical condition, like any other orthopaedic or heart problem, but medical aids blatantly discriminate against women to cover infertility,” said Heylen.
He said more women from the age of 35 to 45 are now seeking fertility treatment, adding that this was worrying because egg quality decreases after the age of 35, leading to chromosomal abnormalities in the baby, among others things.
He said an additional recent stumbling block for women delaying getting fertility treatment has been the fear of contracting Covid-19, noting that it is important not to let the pandemic ruin one’s fertility plans.
“Treatment was suspended during the hard lockdown, but clinics are open once again, and particularly ‘high-risk’ patients whose chances of falling pregnant would be further reduced by delaying treatment are encouraged to seek assistance.” He advised couples not to wait too long when they consider having children.
“Especially after age of 40, even if these women are healthy and singing that 40s is the new 30s, they still have difficulty to conceive because egg quality is poor. About half of infertility cases can be linked to the male.
“We test by checking their sperm count and various environmental factors can lead to a low sperm count. Also, men have a biological clock.”
The most common fertility treatment is intracytoplasmic sperm injection. He said this accounts for around three-quarters of all treatments globally, while IVF accounts for around one-quarter.
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