In England, in a same sex relationship you need to have around 6 failed cycles of IVF or IUI before getting one funded attempt on the NHS. In a heterosexual relationship, you get an attempt for free if you meet certain criteria. 

In Wales, ALL females regardless of sexuality get 2 attempts on the NHS. In Scotland, ALL females get 3 free attempts on the NHS. In Northern Ireland, ALL females get 1 attempt. You catch my drift here, it’s about time England caught up and offered same sex females equal rights. 

I didn’t choose to be gay, but because I am, we have had to pay up to £6,000 per IVF cycle and around £1,500 for an embryo transfer. That’s not including the cost of donor sperm and drugs. The fertility process isn’t an easy one and this can be quite costly and often result in same sex couples not having children because of the financial implications. 

I am not starting this petition to make a change for us, we are lucky that we have one amazing little girl. But I am hoping that we can change things for hundreds of couples going through this process in the future. We deserve to have the same rights as other females, regardless of our sexuality. 

We understand that it is not easy to make this happen overnight and we are aware of the work and effort it takes to make extensive changes in England. Here are the specific objectives we want our decision-makers to reach to make sure this campaign gets to victory:

1 - Bring this issue to parliament to be discussed with experts on fertility and answer why England has stricter rules than Wales (2 attempts), Northern Ireland (1 attempt), Scotland (3 attempts). We want to know why England's NHS has a higher threshold.

2 - Set an action plan to hold discussions and negotiations to come to a collaborative decision to improve the funding provisions for IVF in same sex couples. 

3 - Work with Clinical Commissioning Groups to make funding more consistent for LGBTQ+ people across the country so it isn’t just a postcode lottery.