The American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) has released guidelines that deny many infertility patients access to care—such as ovulation induction, intrauterine insemination (IUIs), in vitro fertilization (IVF)—for an indefinite period of time during the coronavirus pandemic.

The ASRM itself defines infertility as a disease: 

Infertility is not an inconvenience; it is a disease of the reproductive system that impairs the body's ability to perform the basic function of reproduction.  

However, while patients suffering from other diseases are widely being given the option to continue treatment, infertility patients largely are not.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines infertility as a condition that generates a disability, which mandates access to health care under international conventions: 

Infertility generates disability (an impairment of function), and thus access to health care falls under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability. 

The US Supreme Court has ruled that:

a person is not considered disabled under the [Americans with Disabilities Act] if the disability can be overcome by mitigating or corrective measures.

However, the ASRM's COVID-19 guidance, which denies care to many infertility patients, will render them disabled for a prolonged, undefined period. For some women who are at the end of their fertile years, this disability may become permanent, especially without access to proper care. The ASRM acknowledges that care for these women is time-sensitive, yet shuts them out of qualifying for "urgent care."

While age and diminished ovarian reserve are time-sensitive, at present these should not be included in the definition of urgent care.

This is despite its own Committee Opinion 589 stating that:

In women older than 40 years, immediate evaluation and treatment are warranted.

At the same time, it counsels providers to continue other forms of time-sensitive care, such as abortion:

To the extent that hospital systems or ambulatory surgical facilities are categorizing procedures that can be delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic, abortion should not be categorized as such a procedure. Abortion is an essential component of comprehensive health care. It is also a time-sensitive service for which a delay of several weeks, or in some cases days, may increase the risks or potentially make it completely inaccessible.

While we applaud the ASRM's efforts to protect health care workers and reduce burden on the medical system through these guidelines, we believe that forcing infertility patients to unwillingly sacrifice their dreams of having a family by denying them care is the wrong approach. Some health care providers agree, and are continuing to provide infertility care, citing do-no-harm principles.

We implore the ASRM to immediately revisit its guidance, especially for women age 35 or older or who have diminished ovarian reserve, who are quickly running out of time to make their dreams of having a family a reality. In its new guidance, we ask the ASRM to give patients a choice and reinstate their autonomy, to counsel patients to postpone treatment if possible, but also to provide care to patients who desperately need it now.

Stories

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/22/parenting/fertility-coronavirus.html​

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/a31905445/ivf-asrm-coronavirus-essay/​

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/25/health/ivf-treatments-postponed-coronavirus-trnd-wellness/index.html​

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katenocera/coronavirus-fertility-treatments-ivf-women-baby-pandemic