Proposed IVF funding in B.C. leading some patients to delay treatment [Video]

It’s National Infertility Awareness week, which brings attention to a medical condition that impacts one-in-six adults in B.C.

As people across the country mark the week, doctors are encouraging conversation to decrease shame and stigma.

With high fertility treatment costs, patients are struggling to make ends meet to afford having a child.

It can cost anywhere from $18,000 to $20,000 for one round of in vitro fertilization, or IVF, which is a medical procedure that involves retrieving egg and sperm before combining the two in a lab and transferring the fertilized embyro to a uterus.

The B.C. government’s 2024 budget outlined the province’s plan to launch a $68 million IVF program, to fund one round of treatment and medication starting in spring 2025.

Dr. Caitlin Dunne, a fertility specialist at the Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine, says the funding announcement is validating for patients struggling with infertility, but there are …